Security Practice Lead / Solutions Architect

Cloud People; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Cloud People is seeking a Security Practice Lead / Solutions Architect to shape and evolve a forming security practice within a Microsoft-focused MSP environment. The role blends hands-on delivery with strategic portfolio development for managed and professional services.

The successful candidate will drive service design, pricing, and presales support, while maintaining a strong focus on Microsoft Security stack and automation to scale delivery and margin.

Qualifications

• Hands-on security services background in MSP/MSSP, now aiming for service ownership.
• Technologist at heart who stays close to tooling and security trends.
• Strong Microsoft Security experience: Sentinel, Defender, Purview, Identity, endpoint security.

Responsibilities

• Shape and evolve the security services portfolio across managed and professional services.
• Productise services with clear scope, SLAs and pricing, aligned to the service catalogue.
• Lead hands-on delivery across engagements, ensuring consistency and quality.
• Support sales on security-led opportunities with technical discovery and design.
• Develop security proposals, assessments and bid responses for senior stakeholders.

Skills

MSP/MSSP experience

Microsoft Security stack

Presales expertise

Security strategy

Automation scripting

Tools

HaloPSA

Tenable

Job description

Security Practice Lead / Solutions Architect

Flexible location with London office attendance a few times a month

Company & role

This opportunity sits with a Microsoft focused Managed Service Provider serving mid market organisations across professional services, public sector and regulated industries. Security is central to how the business differentiates, and this is a newly created role built specifically to evolve and mature that capability across both managed and professional services.

You will step into a forming security practice as the first dedicated hire. To begin with this is a player/leader role without a team beneath you, but the direction of travel is clear. As the practice proves itself, the person in this seat is the natural choice to build and lead the team around them. The remit spans three connected areas: shaping the security services portfolio across managed and professional services, delivering those services to clients hands on, and supporting sales with presales expertise on security led opportunities. The core is Microsoft Security, but the practice is broad and other security services will naturally come into scope over time.

This one suits someone technically strong who is ready to take the next step. That might be an individual contributor moving into service ownership for the first time, or someone around a year into a leadership or practice role looking for broader scope. Above all it suits a technologist at heart, someone who genuinely enjoys the technology, stays close to where Microsoft Security is heading, and also understands the commercial side, how technical services are scoped, costed and sold.

Why This Role Stands Out

• Genuine ownership of a security practice as it takes shape, rather than inheriting someone else's structure
• Real influence over service design, positioning and how security is packaged and sold
• Player/leader remit today with a clear route into practice leadership as the function grows
• Broad scope across managed and professional services, from portfolio development through delivery, presales and technical authority
• Working within a Microsoft aligned MSP where security is a strategic priority, not a bolt on
• Direct exposure to the commercials of the practice, including margin, attach rates and recurring revenue

Key Responsibilities

• Shape and evolve the security services portfolio across both managed and professional services, spanning MDR, SIEM, Identity, data security and compliance, and AI SOC
• Productise services with clear scope, SLAs and pricing, and align them to the wider service catalogue
• Develop the security attach strategy so that security is embedded across Modern Work and Cloud propositions
• Lead hands on delivery across managed and project based engagements, ensuring consistency and quality across the client base
• Build out standardised delivery processes, reducing reliance on bespoke engagements
• Work across the Microsoft Security stack, including Sentinel, Defender and Purview, alongside the wider tooling such as Tenable, NinjaOne and HaloPSA, and look for opportunities to extend automation further
• Stay ahead of the Microsoft Security roadmap and where the market is heading, from Sentinel and Defender through Purview and whatever comes next, and translate that into services the business can sell
• Support the sales team on security led opportunities, leading technical discovery, scoping and solution design
• Produce proposals, security assessments and bid responses, and present credibly to senior stakeholders
• Develop sales enablement content, including service overviews, battle cards and objection handling material
• Act as the technical voice on security across delivery, sales and client engagements, and represent the business with key vendors such as Microsoft and Tenable

Ideal Experience

• A hands on background delivering security services within an MSP or MSSP environment, now ready to take on service ownership
• A technologist at heart who lives close to the detail, enjoys getting hands on with new tooling, and keeps pace with where security is going
• Strong technical expertise across the Microsoft Security stack, including Sentinel, Defender, Purview, Identity and endpoint security
• Experience with vulnerability management tooling such as Tenable, and a good grasp of remediation workflows
• Commercially aware, comfortable thinking about how services are packaged, costed and sold, and what drives margin, attach rates and recurring revenue
• Some exposure to shaping or standardising service delivery, not just configuring tooling
• Confident communicator, able to lead technical presales conversations and present credibly to senior stakeholders
• Experience with HaloPSA or similar PSA platforms and workflow automation
• Microsoft Security certifications such as SC-200, SC-300, SC-400/SC-401, AZ-500/SC-500, SC-100
• Automation scripting and integration of security tooling via API or workflow platforms
• Familiarity with compliance frameworks including ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus, NIST or DORA
• Background working with mid market UK organisations or regulated sectors such as Legal, Finance or Public Sector

If you are a technologist at heart who has built your career on the technical side of security and want the chance to shape a practice as it forms rather than slot into someone else's, this is a strong one to look at.