Senior Security Architect

Overview

Pay up to £83,917. Benefits include a 28.97% employer pension contribution, hybrid working, flexible hours, and a strong work‑life balance.

DWP is building secure, reliable digital services that millions of people rely on daily. We develop strategic platforms that support seamless communication between citizens and government services.

We are looking for a Senior Security Architect to provide specialist security leadership, architectural direction, and hands‑on guidance across identity verification projects. Two roles exist – one in the Health & Disability team, the other in Identity & Trust.

In this high‑impact role you will shape security foundations that enable millions of users to safely authenticate and access DWP services. Your architectural leadership will influence long‑term solutions, strengthen trust, and secure access throughout the UK public sector. You will also:

• Provide security architecture design and modelling across complex environments.
• Lead application and cloud security initiatives.
• Secure network infrastructure, including routers, switches, firewalls and load balancers.
• Conduct threat analysis and mitigation using SIEM, IDS/IPS, and EDR tools.
• Implement encryption and cryptography solutions such as SSL/TLS, IPsec, Kerberos, VPNs and PKI.
• Design AuthN/AuthZ systems using OIDC, OAuth, JWT and SAML.
• Leverage cloud‑native technologies (Docker, Kubernetes, Istio) and CI/CD tooling (Jenkins, Git Lab).

Senior experience in a large, national or multinational organisation as a Security Architect. A CISSP certification or Master’s in Information Security is a plus but not required.

• Salary
  :
  Up to £83,917 (£57,946 base with a Government Digital and Data Allowance up to £25,971).
• Pension
  :
  Civil service pension with 28.97% employer contribution, up to £16,786 per year.
• Holidays
  : 26 days (rising to 31 days) plus all public holidays, plus up to 3 extra days off per month on flexi‑time.
• Hybrid Working
  :
  Work from home plus face‑to‑face time in one of our hubs.

Choose a hub that suits you:
Blackpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle or Sheffield.

• Flexible working hours and flexible‑time policies.
• Time off for volunteering and charitable giving.
• “I Can Be Me in DWP” initiative.
• Discounts on shopping and leisure.
• Interest‑free loans for bikes or travel.
• Sports and social activities.
• Professional development, coaching, mentoring and career progression.
• Awards: DWP – 2024 Diversity Employer of the Year, 2024 Digital Leadership Recognition, 2025 Best Place to Work in Digital category, 2025 Women in Tech Employer Award.

Two stages:
Apply online at Civil Service Jobs and a two‑stage online interview
. Click APPLY to start your application.