Principal Security Architect

### Posting ID
PIP11915

On behalf of the MOD, we are looking for a Principal Security Architect (Inside IR35) contract until 31st March 2027 based hybrid in Corsham or London on an as and when needed basis .

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is a central government department with a mission to protect our country and provide the ultimate guarantee of its security and independence , as well as helping to protect its values and interests abroad.

The MOD is one of the biggest public procurement organisations in Europe and the single largest customer for UK industry. It currently manages approximately £20 billion of spend on capital investments in equipment and infrastructure every year. Over the next decade the MOD is committed to spending over £190 billion on equipment and support. The MOD’s customers include both the armed forces and national security agencies, and it has a diverse range of requirements, including military fighting vehicles, education services, nuclear submarines and facilities management .

The MOD’s aim is to provide its armed forces with the best capabilities to enable them to protect the UK’s security and advance national interests, both now and in the long term.

To do this the MOD has an annual budget of almost £53 billion and a workforce comprising 197,000 people. of which 54,000 are civilians working for the UK MOD.

The work really matters; the MOD offers a range of engaging roles which have a direct impact on the quality of services they provide, in many locations across the UK. We support teams working in HR, Primary Health Care, Corporate Services, and many others.

As a Principal Security Architect , your main responsibilities will be:

- Work on projects with high strategic impact, setting a strategy that can be used in the long term and across the breadth of the organisation
- Communicate with a broad range of senior stakeholders and be responsible for defining the vision, principles and strategy for security architects
- Recommend security design across several projects or technologies, up to an organisational or inter-organisational level
- Have a deep and evolving level of technical expertise, so you can act as an exemplar
- Make and influence important business and architectural decisions
- Research, identify, validate and adopt new technologies and methodologies
- Be a recognised expert and demonstrate this expertise by solving unprecedented issues and problems
- Further the profession, demonstrating and sharing best practice within and outside the organisation

PLEASE NOTE: SC Clearance is an essential requirement for this role, as a minimum you must be willing & eligible to undergo checks. Please note, due to the exceptional requirements of this position (short-term nature of this role and speed at which we require a postholder in situ) preference may be given to candidates who meet all of the essential criteria and hold active security clearance.

Essential:

- Analysis - You can provide direction and lead on change regarding factors that feed into analysis. You can monitor changes in the technical environment and assess whether risks are still at acceptable levels or whether previous decisions need to be revisited. You can direct and influence others on best practice and policy.
- Communication (security architect) - You can demonstrate expert understanding of security concepts and can apply them to a technical level, at the highest levels of risk complexity. You can effectively translate and accurately communicate security and risk implications at the most senior levels across technical and non-technical stakeholders. You can successfully respond to challenges. You can manage stakeholder expectations across high risk and complexity or under constrained timescales.
- Designing secure systems - You can lead design and review solutions to complex problems with system architectures by defining and challenging patterns and principles. You can create precedents and set direction.
- Enabling and informing risk-based decisions - You can act as a point of escalation. You can be trusted by senior risk owners as an expert in security. You can apply risk methodologies at the most complex levels of risk.
- Research and innovation - You can contribute to and inform developments on security properties in technology. You can identify new technologies and design the use of these in the business context across the organisation. You can engage with the broader security community. (Skill level: practitioner)
- Security technology - You can explain complex system architectures. You can identify and explain how easy or difficult it will be to exploit vulnerabilities. You can lead and influence security technology in the security industry.
- Understanding security implications of transformation - You can challenge and lead changes to policy and processes to support business outcomes, business architecture, and legal and political implications.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.

Disability Confident

As a Disability Confident employer, the MOD encourage applications from disabled and neurodivergent candidates . Applications from candidates who identify as having a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role will be prioritised for review. Where application volumes are high, additional role-specific and desirable criteria may be applied as part of the shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

Armed Forces Covenant

As a signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant, the MOD welcome applications from veterans, service leavers, reservists and military spouses or partners. Applications from eligible candidates who meet the essential criteria for the role will be prioritised for review. Where application volumes are high, additional role-specific and desirable criteria may be applied as part of the shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following “this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different.