Head of Security Engineering

Head of Security Engineering | Health Data & Life Sciences | London (Hybrid)

The opportunity

A well-funded, data-driven life sciences organisation is hiring a senior engineering leader to own its security engineering function. This is a player-coach role: you’ll set the direction for security platforms and automation, and stay close enough to the work to build alongside your team.

The organisation runs a modern, cloud-first estate and handles large volumes of sensitive data. Your job is to make sure the security tooling underneath it is dependable, scalable and built as code.

Your remit

• Lead and grow a team of security engineers, setting priorities and managing the delivery backlog
• Drive an automation-first culture, with Infrastructure as Code, policy-as-code and CI/CD as the default
• Stay hands-on in design and delivery of key security solutions
• Keep core security platforms reliable, secure and fit for purpose
• Connect security tools and workflows into a coherent, integrated whole
• Build self-service capabilities that make secure choices easy for engineering teams
• Use threat intelligence, risk insight and service metrics to decide what to improve next
• Advise senior leaders on technology direction and investment
• Support compliance activity, including ISO 27001

Your Profile:

• A security engineering leader with a strong technical background and a record of developing engineers
• Deep experience securing cloud-native environments, ideally Azure
• Strong Terraform and Infrastructure as Code skills, plus CI/CD and secure development practice
• Solid grounding in IAM, vulnerability management and defensive security controls
• Experience building and running security platforms, and working in Agile, product-led teams
• Clear communication with both technical and non-technical stakeholders

Helpful extras

• Microsoft security stack experience (Defender, Sentinel, Entra)
• Secure-by-design and security architecture knowledge
• Regulated-sector experience
• Certifications such as CISSP, CCSP, GIAC or an Azure security qualification

Package

• Salary of £110,000+, depending on experience
• Strong pension contribution
• Generous holiday allowance
• Family-friendly leave and wellbeing support
• A range of salary-sacrifice benefits
• Hybrid working with a London office
• An inclusive hiring process, with adjustments available on request