Principal Solution Architect – Defence & National Security

Sopra Steria
Hp27Ah, HP2 7AH, United Kingdom
3 weeks ago
Job Type
Permanent
Work Pattern
Full-time
Work Location
Hybrid
Seniority
Lead
Education
Degree
Security Clearance
Required
Posted
8 May 2026 (3 weeks ago)

Benefits

Car Allowance Bonus 25 days annual leave with the option to buy additional days Private Health Care Life Assurance Pension Generous Flexible Benefits Fund (3% of base salary)

Are you an experienced Solution Lead or Enterprise Architect with a background in highly secure environments? Do you bring defence or national security experience, strong architecture expertise, and a practical, innovative approach to solving complex challenges? If so, we’d like to hear from you.

As Principal Solution Architect, you will play a key role in shaping and delivering enterprise solutions for defence and national security customers. Working with the Office of the CTO, you will combine future-focused innovation with hands-on leadership across existing customer engagements.

This role is split across two core areas:

Innovation & Future Solutions (50%) lead the identification, design, and development of secure, IT-enabled solutions that respond to the evolving needs of clients and the wider sector.

Short-term Customer Initiatives (50%) provide enterprise and solution leadership for rapid reviews, recovery activity, and complex customer challenges, helping to resolve issues and support successful delivery outcomes.

This is a UK-based role, with travel required to client sites along the M4 corridor.

What you will be doing:

  • Lead the design and delivery of secure enterprise and solution architectures for defence and national security clients.
  • Shape innovative, IT-enabled solutions that respond to emerging client and sector needs.
  • Provide solution leadership for short-term assessments, remediation activity, and complex customer initiatives.
  • Build strong working relationships with clients, partners, and internal teams to support successful delivery.
  • Contribute to business growth through pre-sales support, market insight, and representation of Sopra Steria’s capabilities.
  • Identify and manage risks, while sharing knowledge through mentoring, workshops, and collaboration.

What you will bring:

  • Experience as a Solution Lead, Enterprise Architect, or in a similar role within highly secure defence or national security environments.
  • Strong understanding of defence customers, suppliers, and delivery contexts, including MOD and/or UKIC.
  • Proven ability to design and lead complex solutions across COTS, custom, and enterprise-scale environments.
  • Expertise in architecture approaches and tools such as TOGAF, ArchiMate, and C4, with a secure-by-design mindset.
  • Experience working in agile delivery environments, with knowledge of modern software delivery and DevSecOps practices.
  • Confidence working with senior stakeholders, balancing strategic thinking with practical support to drive delivery success.

If you are interested in this role but not sure if your skills and experience are exactly what we’re looking for, please do apply, we’d love to hear from you!

Employment Type: Full-time, Permanent

Location: UK-based, with travel required to client sites along the M4 corridor

Security Clearance Level: DV Clearance

Internal Recruiter: Josh

Salary: Competitive, based on experience

Benefits: Car Allowance, Bonus, 25 days annual leave with the option to buy additional days, private health care, life assurance, pension, and generous flexible benefits fund (3% of base salary)

Loved reading about this job and want to know more about ADS?

Sopra Steria’s Aerospace, Defence and Security business designs, develops and deploys digital solutions to Central Government clients. The work we do makes a real difference to the client’s goal of National Security, and we operate in a unique and privileged environment. We are given time for professional development activities, and we coach and mentor our colleagues, sharing knowledge and learning from each other. We cultivate a culture in which employees feel valued and supported and have pride in their work for the customer, delivering outstanding rates of customer satisfaction in the UK’s most sophisticated safety- and security-critical markets.

Related Jobs

View all jobs

Solution Architect

Nextech Guildford, United Kingdom
£60,000 – £80,000 pa

Principal Architect - SecOps

Palo Alto Networks London, United Kingdom
Hybrid

Principal Architect - NetSec

Palo Alto Networks London, United Kingdom

Principal Professional Services Engineer

Palo Alto Networks London, United Kingdom
Hybrid Clearance Required

Principal Network Security Engineer

Entrust Newbury, United Kingdom

Principal Security Engineer, SDO AppSec EMEA

Amazon London, United Kingdom
Permanent

Industry Insights

Discover insightful articles, industry insights, expert tips, and curated resources.

Where to Advertise Cyber Security Jobs in the UK (2026 Guide)

Where to advertise cyber security jobs UK in 2026: the specialist boards, communities and channels that reach offensive, defensive and GRC security talent. The candidate pool is small, heavily vetted and in high demand across government, financial services, critical national infrastructure and the private sector simultaneously. Many of the strongest candidates hold active security clearances, are not actively job-searching through general platforms, and move primarily through specialist networks and trusted referrals. General job boards reach a broad audience but lack the specificity that security professionals expect. Specialist platforms, government-affiliated channels and cleared candidate networks each serve a different part of the market. This guide, published by CybersecurityJobs.tech, covers where to advertise cyber security roles in the UK in 2026, how the main platforms compare, what employers should expect to pay, and what the data says about hiring across different role types.

Cyber Security Jobs UK 2026: What to Expect Over the Next 3 Years

Cyber Security Jobs UK 2026: roles, salaries and the threat intelligence, cloud security and zero-trust hiring trends shaping UK cyber careers. Cyber security is one of the few sectors where demand for talent has never once dipped. Every major technological shift of the past decade — cloud migration, remote working, AI adoption, the proliferation of connected devices — has expanded the attack surface that security professionals are expected to defend. And every expansion of that attack surface has generated more jobs. But the cyber security jobs market of 2026 is not simply a larger version of what it was three years ago. It is a structurally different market. The threats have evolved, the technologies used to combat them have changed, the regulatory environment has tightened considerably, and the roles being created reflect all of that. A job seeker who understands only the cyber security landscape of 2023 is already working with an outdated map. The candidates who will thrive over the next three years are those who understand where the sector is heading — which specialisms are attracting the most investment, which technologies are reshaping defensive and offensive security practice, and how the definition of a cyber security professional is broadening well beyond the traditional image of a network defender in a SOC. This article breaks down what the UK cyber security jobs market is likely to look like through to 2028 — covering the titles emerging right now, the technologies driving employer demand, the skills that will matter most, and how to position your career ahead of the curve.