Security Architect

Security Architects own the secure design of systems, products, and platforms. They write reference architectures, threat-model new services, choose controls, and translate business risk appetite into technical patterns. The role splits roughly into Enterprise Security Architect (org-wide patterns, TOGAF/SABSA flavour) and Solution / Product Security Architect (per-system depth). ## Career milestones ### Year 0 — Senior Security Engineer (prerequisite path) _Salary: £70k–£90k_ Hands-on engineer with 5+ years across cloud, IAM, network, or appsec. ### Year 1–2 — Security Architect _Salary: £85k–£110k_ Own reference architectures, threat-model new services, partner with engineering leads, sit on Architecture Review Board. ### Year 3–5 — Senior / Principal Security Architect _Salary: £110k–£150k_ Define security strategy across business units, lead architecture community of practice, mentor architect cohort. ### Year 5+ — Chief Security Architect / Distinguished Engineer _Salary: £140k–£200k+_ Set 3–5 year technical security direction, brief board, represent the firm at industry standards bodies. ## Core skills - Threat modelling (STRIDE, PASTA, attack trees) - Reference architecture authoring - Cloud-native patterns (zero trust, BeyondCorp, defense in depth) - Cryptographic design (KMS, HSMs, mTLS, post-quantum readiness) - Network segmentation and east-west controls - Identity architecture (OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML, SCIM, FIDO2) - Risk-quantified decision making - Technical writing and ARB facilitation ## Recommended certifications - `cissp` - `ccsp` - `aws-security` - `azure-security` ## First 90 days in the role Read the last 12 months of your firm's architecture decision records (ADRs). Sit in on every ARB. Pick one high-risk service and produce a threat model that proposes 3–5 control improvements with business justification. ## Common pitfalls Becoming an ivory-tower architect. The architects who get promoted ship reference implementations, not just diagrams. Build a working sample of every pattern you propose.