Cybersecurity Architect Lead

Role Overview

Architecture and Engineering Leadership

• Own the end-to-end cybersecurity architecture, target architecture, roadmaps, standards, patterns, and design requirements.
• Lead architecture and engineering activities across multiple workstreams and provide technical direction to delivery teams.
• Translate business, technical, security, and risk requirements into scalable, deployable security architectures.
• Establish security-by-design and Zero Trust principles across the technology lifecycle.

Governance and Assurance

• Establish architecture governance and design assurance processes and participate in architecture review boards.
• Review internal, vendor, and partner designs and identify architectural gaps, risks, technical debt, and control weaknesses.
• Define remediation requirements and track architectural issues through resolution.
• Maintain security architecture documentation, standards, patterns, and technical decision records.

Security Domains

• Define IAM, privileged access, authentication, authorization, federation, directory, and identity lifecycle requirements.
• Govern cloud, hybrid infrastructure, network, compute, storage, endpoint, application, API, and data security.
• Promote DevSecOps and define requirements for secure coding, secrets, encryption, vulnerability management, and data protection.
• Guide SIEM, SOAR, EDR/XDR, NDR, threat intelligence, vulnerability management, logging, and detection architecture.

Stakeholder and Vendor Leadership

• Provide cybersecurity architecture oversight across vendors and technology partners.
• Review and challenge vendor security designs and technical proposals.
• Present architecture, risks, decisions, and recommendations to senior technical and management stakeholders.
• Facilitate security architecture workshops and translate technical risks into business implications.

Required Experience

• Bachelor's degree in cybersecurity, computer science, information technology, engineering, or a related discipline.
• At least 15 years of IT or cybersecurity experience, including substantial architecture and security engineering experience.
• Experience as a Lead Security Architect, Cybersecurity Architect Lead, Principal Security Architect, Security Engineering Lead, or equivalent.
• Experience leading security architecture for large-scale, complex technology transformation programs.
• Strong knowledge of network, cloud, infrastructure, IAM/PAM, application, data, endpoint, and monitoring security.
• Experience with SIEM/SOAR, EDR/XDR, IAM/PAM, firewalls, WAF, IDS/IPS, vulnerability management, and cloud security controls.

Preferred Experience

• UAE or wider GCC technology program experience is preferred.
• Azure, AWS, or hybrid-cloud security architecture experience is preferred.
• Experience with Zero Trust, SASE, SSE, DevSecOps, CNAPP, CSPM, SIEM/SOAR, XDR, or identity-centric architectures is preferred.
• Knowledge of NIST CSF, ISO/IEC 27001, CIS Controls, SABSA, or TOGAF is preferred.
• CISSP, CCSP, SABSA, TOGAF, CISM, GIAC, Azure Security, AWS Security, or equivalent certifications are desirable.

Workplace

• The posting identifies the role as on-site in the United Arab Emirates.