Lead Security Architect

InstaDeep, founded in 2014, is a pioneering AI company at the forefront of innovation. With strategic offices in major cities worldwide, including London, Paris, Berlin, Tunis, Kigali, Cape Town, New York, and San Francisco, InstaDeep collaborates with giants like Google DeepMind and prestigious educational institutions like MIT, Stanford, Oxford, UCL, and Imperial College London. We are a Google Cloud Partner and a select NVIDIA Elite Service Delivery Partner. We have been listed among notable players in AI, fast-growing companies, and Europe's 1000 fastest-growing companies in 2022 by Statista and the Financial Times. Our recent acquisition by BioNTech has further solidified our commitment to leading the industry.
Join us to be a part of the AI revolution!

About the role 
We are looking for a Lead Security Architect to define and evolve the company’s reference security architecture across enterprise IT, cloud, data, product, and AI/ML environments.
This is a senior leadership role for someone who can combine deep technical architecture capability with the ability to work across IT, Product, Cloud, Data, Legal, and Governance stakeholders. You will shape the company’s target-state architecture for Zero Trust, IAM, reverse proxy, segmentation, AI/ML trust boundaries, and secure integration patterns, while ensuring security architecture remains practical, scalable, and aligned to business priorities.
You will play a central role in helping the company scale securely as an AI-first, cloud-first organisation operating in a regulated context with ISO 27001, NIS2, and sensitive data protection requirements.

What you will do

Security architecture leadership

• Own the company’s reference security architecture and target-state security patterns across enterprise IT, infrastructure, cloud, data, and product environments 
• Define architecture principles and implementation patterns for Zero Trust, identity, authorization, trust boundaries, segmentation, secure integration, and secure access 
• Set the strategic direction for enterprise, cloud, and data security architecture 

Cloud, IAM, and Zero Trust design

• Define target-state architecture for Enterprise IT, Cloud, and Infrastructure, including: 
  • IAM and identity trust models 
  • reverse proxy and secure access architecture 
  • network and data segmentation 
  • cloud-native control patterns 
• Lead the development of architecture standards for secure integration between IT and product environments 
• Partner closely with Global IT Security Engineering on IAM, endpoint, VPN, reverse proxy, and access-tool integration 

AI/ML and data security architecture

• Define security architecture for AI/ML workflows, cloud-native data platforms, and ML pipelines 
• Establish and maintain AI/ML trust-boundary models 
• Support architecture and product teams on secure AI adoption 
• Shape standards for: 
  • data governance and access design 
  • ML pipeline trust boundaries 
  • model and data protection patterns 
  • secure use of AI assistants and AI-enabled workflows 

Architecture governance and design assurance

• Lead architecture review governance for high-risk initiatives 
• Facilitate and strengthen threat modeling and secure design review practices 
• Ensure that security principles are translated into reusable, practical design patterns 
• Create standards that can be adopted by architecture, infrastructure, DevOps, and product teams 

Stakeholder leadership

• Translate between technical architecture language and governance / compliance / business language 
• Work closely with: 
  • Trust & Security teams 
  • IT Platform and IT Security Engineering 
  • Product and engineering leadership 
  • Legal and GRC 
• Coach and influence architects and technical leaders across IT, Cloud, Product, and ML environments
• Subject Matter Expert and role model in developing a Security Architecture Platform   

Typical deliverables

• Security reference architecture 
• Architecture review records and decision logs 
• Threat models for high-risk systems and initiatives 
• Zero Trust design patterns 
• IAM and trust-boundary architecture models 
• Data and AI trust-boundary models 
• Data-access design standards 
• Secure implementation patterns aligned with architecture standards

What we are looking for

Essential experience

• 5+ years in enterprise and cloud security architecture 
• 5+ years in identity, access, and network trust design 
• 3+ years facilitating threat modeling and secure design reviews 
• Strong experience defining architecture standards and translating principles into practical patterns 
• Experience working across enterprise IT, cloud platforms, infrastructure, and product environments 
• Experience engaging with senior stakeholders across technical and non-technical functions 

Essential skills

• Security architecture at enterprise and cloud scale 
• Zero Trust and IAM architecture 
• Secure integration and trust-boundary design 
• Threat modeling and architecture review governance 
• Cloud-native security patterns 
• Data security and access-control design 
• Strong written communication and architecture documentation 
• Ability to coach and influence senior engineers and architects

Strongly preferred

• Experience with AI/ML workflow security, data governance, and cloud-native data controls 
• Experience supporting organisations through ISO 27001, NIS2, or equivalent regulated environments 
• Experience in SaaS-heavy, cloud-first, or AI-first organisations 
• Familiarity with reverse proxy, secure remote access, endpoint and identity integration patterns 
• Ability to interface effectively with DevOps, MLOps, Infrastructure, and Product Engineering teams
  

Expected competence

Security architecture: Expert

Zero Trust / IAM design: Expert

Threat modeling: Advanced

Stakeholder leadership: Advanced

How you work

You are likely to be someone who:

• thinks in systems, not just controls 
• can balance strategic design with pragmatic delivery 
• is comfortable influencing without always owning implementation 
• can create clarity in complex multi-stakeholder environments 
• can make architecture standards usable by engineers, not just readable by auditors 

Training and skill development

We support continued development in this role through:

• SABSA / CCSP-style learning paths or equivalent enterprise architecture development 
• regular updates on NIST Zero Trust and cloud architecture patterns 
• AI system and data-governance design training 
• ongoing exposure to architecture, governance, and regulatory developments relevant to cloud, AI, and security

Why join us

This role offers the opportunity to shape the security architecture of a modern company operating at the intersection of:

• AI-first product and engineering practices 
• cloud-native infrastructure 
• sensitive data protection 
• regulatory and audit readiness 
• Zero Trust transformation 

You will help define how security architecture enables the company to scale in a way that is trusted, resilient, and practical.