Cyber Security Architect / Cyber Security Tech Lead

Thales; Belfast City District; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Half day every Friday

28 days annual leave

Volunteer days

Life cover

EAP & wellbeing app

Employee discounts

Job summary

Thales is seeking a senior security architect to shape national‑level cyber resilience across UK programmes. You will own the Digital Trust technical strategy, drive SbD, ZTA, and DCS, and lead cryptographic design with PQC integration across complex multi‑domain environments.

You will provide architecture governance, engage senior stakeholders, and guide engineering teams to deliver robust, secure-by-design solutions in line with UK standards and global Thales directions.

Qualifications

• Experience in security architecture for national-critical systems and SbD principles.
• Experience leading secure-by-design and zero-trust architecture initiatives.
• Ability to translate cryptographic concepts into strategy and governance.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive UK Digital Trust technical strategy; embed SbD, ZTA, and DCS across programs.
• Lead development of cryptographic architectural patterns including PQC integration.
• Provide technical leadership to engineering teams and engage with senior stakeholders.
• Shape internal standards, patterns, and governance; represent Thales in external forums.
• Drive innovation in security capabilities and AI-enabled security concepts.

Skills

Security architecture

Zero Trust Architecture

Data-Centric Security

Post-Quantum Cryptography

SbD (Secure by Design)

Cryptography leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Architectural governance

Tools

HSM integration

Cryptographic frameworks

Job description

Thales is a global technology leader with more than 83,000 employees on five continents. With over 7,500 people in the UK, operating across defence, space, aerospace, and digital security, we help build a future we can all trust. Thales supports the security and stability of our nation by providing extraordinary technology to our customers, as well as delivering social value to the UK with our products and services.

Location:

Ebbw Vale, Reading, Crawley, Bristol, Templecombe, and Cheadle (any Thales office)

Step into a role where your cyber expertise shapes national‑level resilience and the future of secure critical systems!

What the role has to offer

• Enterprise-wide technical influence – shaping consequence informed, secure‑by‑design and AI‑enabled security technologies, and steering the evolution of Thales’ future cyber design capabilities
• Own the UK Digital Trust technical strategy, ensuring consequence informed, SbD principles are embedded from concept to decommissioning.
• Lead development of design patterns for Zero Trust Architecture, including supporting and guiding on the adaption for products, identification of variance and applicability, segmentation, continuous verification, and policy-driven access.
• Define and evolve Data-Centric Security model product, including the classification, tagging, encryption, attribute-based access control strategies.
• Contribute to the global approach to DCS across the wider Thales enterprise.
• Drive inclusion of cryptographic architecture into solutions, including
• Hybrid classical/PQC key exchange
• Cryptographic agility frameworks
• Secure key management and HSM integration
• Develop defensible design patterns, for high-assurance systems, ensuring alignment with NCSC, NIST, ETSI and sector specific standards.
• Provide technical leadership to engineering teams, guiding implementation, testing, and assurance.
• Engage with senior stakeholders, translating complex trust and crypto concepts into clear, actionable decisions.
• Shape internal standards, patterns, and governance, ensuring consistency across programmes.
• Represent the organisation externally, contributing to working groups, standards bodies, and partner ecosystems.
• Innovation leadership – driving next‑generation of security capabilities, defining and using new technologies and architecture patterns such as ZTA, DCS and SbD, leveraging AI opportunities, and shaping Thales’ long‑term cyber resilience strategy.

You will lead the technical direction for our Digital Trust capability, shaping how we design, assure, and deploy trust‑enabling technologies across complex, multi‑domain environments. This includes Secure‑by‑Design (SbD) engineering, Zero‑Trust Architecture (ZTA), Data‑Centric Security (DCS), and the integration of advanced cryptographic technologies such as Post‑Quantum Cryptography (PQC) into modern design patterns.

This is a role for someone who can operate at architecture engineering, and governance levels simultaneously – and individual who can define the blueprint, assure the implementation, and influence the organisation.

Building a Future, we can all trust.

Are you looking for the opportunity to directly shape and deliver world‑class solutions to our customers? If so, then Engineering & Technical Management may be just the ticket. Whether focusing on leading large teams or working as a technical expert, roles in this area provide you with an opportunity to shape the world we live in today.

• Performance‑related bonus
• Half day every Friday, usually finishing around 13:00
• 28 days annual leave (plus bank holidays) with opportunity to buy up to 40 hours/year (pro rata)
• 24 hours volunteering paid for
• Life cover
• 24/7 Employee Assistance Program and access to mental wellbeing app
• Employee discount shopping schemes on major brands and retailers

Security Clearance Requirement

Due to the nature of the work that we do at Thales, many of our roles are subject to security restrictions. This role requires you to be a UK National and achieve Security Clearance (SC) without any caveats. It would be advantageous if currently held, however, if not currently held, it is a requirement that the successful applicant undergo, achieve, and maintain SC Clearance prior to commencing employment. If approved by the MOD, a dual national from a non‑ITAR country may be considered.

To be eligible for full SC, you generally need to have resided in the UK for the last 5 years. In some circumstances, a minimum of 3 years’ residence in the UK over the last 5 years may be accepted, with additional overseas checks.

Please visit the UKSV website for further guidance:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels.