Lead Security Architect - SC Cleared at Ministry of Defence, Bristol/Remote, 5 Months, £Contract Rate

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.

As a Lead Security Architect your main responsibilities will be to:

• Interact with senior stakeholders across departments.
• Reach and influence a wide range of people across larger teams and communities.
• Understand the impact of decisions, balancing requirements and deciding between approaches.
• Produce particular patterns and support quality assurance.
• Be the point of escalation for architects in lower-grade roles.
• Lead the technical design of systems and services.

Essential:

• An active 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.)
• Security Architecture & Framework Expertise.
• Experience of NCSC Common Architecture Framework, NCSC Architectural Principles, and NCSC Cloud Security Guidance.
• Security by Design and Zero Trust architectural patterns experience. 
• Experience in a similar role within a Defence / Public Sector environment.
• You can effectively translate and accurately communicate security and risk implications across technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• You can design and review system architectures through the development of patterns and principles.
• You can work with higher impact or more complex risks and advise on the impact of these and whether this is within risk tolerance.
• You can contribute to and inform developments on security properties in technology.
• You have strong knowledge of system architectures and can understand and articulate the impact of vulnerabilities on existing and future designs, systems and how easy or difficult it will be to exploit these vulnerabilities.

Desirable:

• Technical / Solution / Enterprise Architecture experience.
• GDS experience.
• Agile delivery experience.

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