Security Architect (API/Product Security)

Detailed Description From Employer:

Security Architect (API/Product Security) Retail Hybrid: 3 days onsite per week in London 6 months+ £750 - £800 per day

In short: We require a strong, application-focused Security Architect with a keen background in development or at least the ability to assure a product's architecture and have low-level, detailed conversations with engineers on the product whilst also facing off to more senior stakeholders in the business.

In full:

You will be responsible for augmenting the Security Architecture team with speciality skills and help scale our security presence across the wider technology and infrastructure teams.

• Provide engineering and product teams with direction and guidance for all security matters.
• Help product teams deliver new business features securely while balancing and clearly articulating technical and business risk.
• You will be expected to drive the deployment/integration of security capabilities into engineering teams within the product domain.
• You will drive security initiatives such as developing security requirements, threat modelling, strengthening application security, vulnerability reduction, etc., with the engineering teams.
• Reducing friction is paramount and we are all about fast feedback within existing workflows, not adding another console for a developer to check.
• Support teams in a collaborative manner in matters of mobile application, web application, cloud and data security, with threat modelling, risk treatment and security advice across all security domains. If you can raise a PR to fix a security issue, do so.
• Facilitate risk remediation but also challenge decisions and status-quo.
• Facilitate in assurance activities like penetration testing, purple testing, app assurance.
• Build quarterly/monthly roadmaps for security activities and plan them.

You will need

To excel in this position, we expect you to have the following:

• Solid security experience across common security domains - the technology might have changed but most of the security challenges have not.
• A thorough understanding of modern application development practices so that security capabilities can be introduced and Embedded while minimising developer friction.
• Excellent interpersonal, facilitation, and leadership skills along with effective communication (both written and verbal) skills.
• Be able to provide security guidance to engineering teams throughout the product development lifecycle.
• Be able to develop threat models, attack trees, and embed security by design in product engineering effort.
• Good understanding of web technologies, REST APIs, micro services, modern application development, and mobile apps. Good understanding of software architecture, dev-sec-ops, and network security.
• Experience in browser security or mobile app security is desirable.
• Good understanding of industry standards such as OWASP ASVS, OWASP Top-10, CIS benchmarks.
• Hands-on experience with complex Azure and AWS architectures with an emphasis on containerised workloads.
• Command-line/API experience is highly desirable as security automation is a strategic priority.
• Some coding experience in something is always a plus - Java, HTML, JavaScript. You do not need to "be a developer" but you do need to understand the implications of security on engineering velocity.
• Knowledge of and experience with PCI-DSS will be desirable.
• Multiple examples of completed projects in security engineering or closely related areas.
• Azure or AWS cloud security certifications (preferred).

Candidates will ideally show evidence of the above in their CV in order to be considered. Please be advised if you haven't heard from us within 48 hours then unfortunately your application has not been successful on this occasion, we may however keep your details on file for any suitable future vacancies and contact you accordingly. Pontoon is an employment consultancy and operates as an equal opportunities employer.

We use generative AI tools to support our candidate screening process. This helps us ensure a fair, consistent, and efficient experience for all applicants. Rest assured, all final decisions are made by our hiring team, and your application will be reviewed with care and attention.