Lead Azure Specialist and Security Architect

Lead Azure Specialist and Cyber Security Architect

Location: Hybrid (2-3 days/week in Paddington, London)
Salary: Up to £130,000 Bonus Car Benefits
Clearance: Must be eligible for SC clearance (British Citizen from birth)
Type: Permanent | Full-Time

A leading Cyber Security consultancy-led team is seeking a Lead Security Architect to play a pivotal role in delivering services into a complex and highly regulated environment.

This is a very senior, hands-on position requiring a balance of technical expertise, leadership capability, and strategic vision.

This role requires an Azure Specialist with very strong Security Architecture skills and the ability to work with a highly regulated/very highly governed end client. They require previous skills of working in a highly governed environment and the ability to SC cleared.

The role will focus on driving secure architectural design across cloud and infrastructure domains, managing a team of security professionals, and engaging with senior stakeholders across both technical and business functions.

The successful candidate will be instrumental in shaping and executing a cloud-first security roadmap within a large-scale digital transformation programme, balancing fast-paced delivery with rigorous governance standards.

Key Responsibilities

Define, develop, and maintain security architecture across cloud (Azure) and on-premise environments. Produce and present High-Level and Low-Level Designs (HLD/LLD) to technical design authorities. Lead and mentor a team of engineers and analysts covering threat intelligence, telemetry, and infrastructure security. Partner with stakeholders to ensure alignment across delivery, compliance, and operations. Guide and support strategies for cloud adoption and security tooling (e.g., SentinelOne, Microsoft Defender, Splunk, Exabeam, Palo Alto). Represent security within programme planning, change control, and governance forums. Drive improvements in tooling, incident response capability, and secure-by-design practices.

Essential Skills & Experience

Extensive experience in senior or lead security architecture roles. Strong knowledge of cloud security principles, particularly within Microsoft Azure. Hands-on expertise in infrastructure technologies (e.g., VMware, firewalls, network security). Proven experience with enterprise-grade security tooling (EDR, SIEM, threat detection, firewall management). Demonstrable ability to produce HLDs/LLDs and present to governance boards. Previous leadership of technical security teams. Strong stakeholder management and communication skills. In-depth understanding of compliance and governance requirements. SC Clearance (or eligibility) and British citizenship from birth. Experience within consultancy or client-facing delivery roles. Exposure to security transformation programmes. Ability to balance delivery agility with regulatory and governance demands.

Working Model

Hybrid: 1-2 days per week on-site in Central London.

Additional on-site presence may be required for classified meetings or client engagement.