Principal Security Architect x2

Principal Security Architect x2

12 month contracts (Rolling)

Active DV or SC required

Flexible start dates between 3 - 9 months from offer confirmation

NATIONAL SECURITY

2. Knowledge, Skills and Experience

The knowledge, skill and experience required for the role, ranging from a simple repetitive understanding that can be learnt after a few weeks, to dealing with complex, sometimes unique situations, which may require extensive management experience.

A principal security architect works on services of high complexity and risk, making decisions to enable the business to achieve its needs.

Responsibilities:

1. 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.
2. Communicate with a broad range of senior stakeholders and be responsible for defining the vision, principles and strategy for security architects.
3. Recommend security design across several projects or technologies, up to an organisational or inter-organisational level.
4. Have a deep and evolving level of technical expertise, so you can act as an exemplar.
5. Make and influence important business and architectural decisions.
6. Research, identify, validate and adopt new technologies and methodologies.
7. Be a recognised expert and demonstrate this expertise by solving unprecedented issues and problems.
8. Further the profession, demonstrating and sharing best practice within and outside the organisation.

Skills:

1. Analysis: Provide direction and lead on change regarding factors that feed into analysis; monitor changes in the technical environment and assess whether risks are still at acceptable levels or whether previous decisions need to be revisited; direct and influence others on best practice and policy.
2. Communication: Demonstrate expert understanding of security concepts and can apply them to a technical level, at the highest levels of risk complexity; effectively translate and accurately communicate security and risk implications at the most senior levels across technical and non-technical stakeholders; successfully respond to challenges and manage stakeholder expectations across high risk and complexity or under constrained timescales.
3. Designing Secure Systems: Lead design and review solutions to complex problems with system architectures by defining and challenging patterns and principles; create precedents and set direction.
4. Enabling and Informing Risk Based Decisions: Act as a point of escalation; be trusted by senior risk owners as an expert in security; apply risk methodologies at the most complex levels of risk.
5. Research and Innovation: Contribute to and inform developments on security properties in technology; identify new technologies and design the use of these in the business context across the organisation; engage with the broader security community.
6. Security Technology: Demonstrate strong knowledge of system architectures; understand and articulate the impact of vulnerabilities on existing and future designs and systems, and how easy or difficult it will be to exploit these vulnerabilities; be recognised as an expert by peers in the broader security industry.
7. Understanding Security Implications of Transformation: Challenge and lead changes to policy and processes to support business outcomes, business architecture, and legal and political implications.

Experience – Mandatory (M) & Desirable (D):

• Strong cloud Technology Skills and Understanding (M).
• Understanding and knowledge of Policing including MPS, National (UK Force wide) and international responsibilities; including a clear understanding of Policing relationships to Government, security and intelligence agencies and legislative process including their governance arrangements (D).
• Experience of working on large scale Business Change and IT enabled Transformation Programmes (M).
• Experience of working in a complex high profile political environment (M).
• Experience of working in Central Government (D).
• Experience of working in the Policing sector (D).
• Experience of working in Policing (D).
• Sufficient security clearance to operate in Policing environment and with partners (Currently DV level required) (M).
• Minimum of 5 Years’ experience working within Central Government projects (M).
• Must be able to show ability to manage multiple suppliers including large IT Service providers (M).
• Has experience of engaging end users and Board level executives to manage their perceptions (D).
• Has experience of preparing Central Government technical documents (M).

The role holder must have:

• Experience in test management of ICT projects within complex stakeholder/business environments.
• Excellent listening and oral skills with the ability to present information appropriately by audience.
• Proven track record of managing a team.
• Excellent written skills and clear report writing.
• Organisational skills, the ability to pay attention to detail.
• Experience of working within secure technology-based projects and programmes enabling business change.
• Ability to work under pressure and to turn-round communications to meet tight deadlines.
• Experience of working as a key member within a high performance team.
• Ability to manage stakeholders of all levels and deliver their complex business requirements.
• Experience of developing and working with audit processes and challenge functions.
• Experience of working within business change related projects.
• An understanding of the commercial, operational, technical and supply infrastructure in which successful programmes and projects are delivered.
• Experience with government procurement processes.
• Experience of delivering test activities within an agile environment.
• Highly self-motivated, conscientious, enthusiastic with a positive and proactive approach.
• A record of successfully supporting and delivering secure national projects on time and on budget in a complex environment which uses both in-house and supplier based delivery method.
• Experience and knowledge of the security accreditation processes at a national level at all Government security Classification (GSC) levels.
• Understanding of the Cabinet Office Security Policy Framework (SPF).
• Project management qualification e.g. PRINCE, Safe Agile, APM.