Senior Security Architect - Department for Work and Pensions - G7

Manchester Digital; Manchester; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

The Department for Work and Pensions is seeking a Senior Security Architect to lead secure architectures for complex digital and cloud-native services. The role emphasizes secure-by-design, governance, andStakeholder engagement across large teams.

You will mentor others, shape architecture standards, and drive security across the product lifecycle within a major government programme.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Security Architect in large-scale government or digital environments.
• Strong understanding of secure-by-design principles and cloud-native security.
• Experience working in Agile, multidisciplinary teams delivering user-centric services.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders and communicate complex security concepts clearly.
• Experience shaping architecture standards, roadmaps and governance frameworks.
• Passion for mentoring others and developing organisational capability.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and delivery of secure architectures with security baked in from the start.
• Develop secure solution options during discovery to inform design decisions.
• Collaborate with Solution Architects and Agile teams to produce secure designs.
• Create clear security architecture artefacts and governance documentation.
• Ensure designs comply with the Digital Blueprint and Enterprise Architecture standards.
• Provide expert security guidance across the full product lifecycle, including assurance activities.
• Own and evolve security product roadmaps and reusable patterns.
• Mentor and grow the Architecture community within the organization.

Skills

Security architecture

Secure-by-design

Cloud-native security

Agile delivery

Stakeholder communication

Mentoring & leadership

Job description

Location

This role may be located in one of the following locations; Birmingham, Blackpool, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle Upon Tyne and Sheffield.

Please find further information on the Corporate hub locations here.

Please note: for candidates requesting to work in Newcastle, the role will initially be based at Benton Park View. It will then move to 1 Pilgrim Place in Newcastle city centre by the end of 2027.

For candidates requesting to work in Sheffield King's Court, please note these roles will initially be based at King's Court and then move to 1 West Bar by early 2028.

About The Job

Job summary

Please note this role requires you to pass Security Check clearance. For further information, please see 'Selection process details'.

Do you want to solve large-scale security challenges, designing resilient architectures, leading threat mitigation and embedding security across modern cloud-native services?

We Are Looking For a Senior Security Architect Who

• Has proven experience as a Security Architect within complex, large-scale digital or government environments.
• Has a strong understanding of secure-by-design principles, enterprise architecture and cloud-native security.
• Has experience working in agile, multidisciplinary teams delivering user-centric services.
• Has the ability to influence senior stakeholders and communicate complex security concepts clearly.
• Can demonstrate experience of shaping architecture standards, roadmaps and governance frameworks.
• Has a passion for mentoring others and developing organisational capability.

As our Security Architect, you will use your technical knowledge, architecture design knowledge and development skills to help secure services used by millions of people against cyber threats.

DWP is a huge and complex organisation. We have unique architectural and security challenges that you won't find in other roles. The reason for this vacancy is for a security architect to provide advice and guidance to this team. This role will involve our Corporate Centre Services function.

We also welcome applications from candidates from a range of backgrounds including those with academic, consultancy and military experience, who hold a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification or a Master's degree in Information Securityor willing to work towards obtaining either qualification as this will support your career development.

Job Description

The Security Architect will provide guidance and advice ranging from scoping IT Health Checks, providing guidance in risk assessment, providing security guidance, checking the cloud posture management platform for vulnerabilities.

Responsibilities

Each team is made up of a number of architects, so relationships will need to be built with other teams, the security community and the design authority. Key responsibilities include:

• Leading the design and delivery of secure architectures, ensuring security controls are embedded from the outset of product development.
• Developing and recommending secure solution options during discovery and inception to inform design decisions.
• Collaborating with Solution Architects and agile teams to produce secure, value-for-money designs aligned to user needs.
• Creating clear security architecture artefacts and documentation to support governance and enable secure engineering practices.
• Ensuring all designs comply with the Digital Blueprint, Enterprise Architecture standards, and agreed product roadmaps.
• Providing expert security guidance across the full product lifecycle, including assurance activities such as control self-assessments.
• Owning and evolving security product roadmaps, contributing to Digital Blueprint improvements and reusable security patterns.
• Build organisational security capability through mentoring, sharing best practice, and supporting the growth of the Architecture community.

Person specification

• Enterprise-Scale Architecture Experience:Demonstrable experience operating as a Security Architect within a complex, large-scale, national or multinational organisation. You are confident working across enterprise architectures, aligning solutions with strategic roadmaps and Digital Blueprint standards.
• Threat Analysis, Risk Management & Cryptography Expertise:Ability to identify, assess and mitigate sophisticated cyber threats using tools such as SIEM, IDS/IPS, and endpoint detection platforms. Strong understanding of risk assessment practices, encryption and cryptographic standards (e.g. TLS, IPsec, PKI, VPNs) to protect data in transit and at rest.
• Identity, Access Management & Security Leadership:Deep knowledge of authentication and authorisation protocols (e.g. OAuth2, OIDC, SAML, JWT) and their application in identity and trust platforms. Proven ability to communicate security solutions, influence stakeholders, and build capability through collaboration, mentoring and leadership within architecture communities.