Information Security Architect in Northampton

Howdens have an exciting brand-new opportunity to join our growing Cyber team. As our trusted expert and advisor, you’ll design secure, scalable, and forward-thinking solutions that empower Howdens’ digital transformation while protecting what matters most. You’ll work at the cutting edge of infrastructure, cloud, and application security — influencing key design decisions and ensuring our technology landscape remains resilient, compliant, and ready for the future. This is a permanent opportunity based from our office in Northampton where you will be required to work onsite 2 days per week.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate across business, technical, and service teams to design and deliver security solutions that enhance cybersecurity maturity, reduce risk, and align with broader business objectives and priorities.
• Engage with stakeholders to understand and balance competing business needs, technical constraints, and security requirements, ensuring practical and effective outcomes.
• Lead and contribute to solution design and re-architecture initiatives, assessing technical options in partnership with the Head of Information Security and Enterprise Architecture, and ensuring solutions are secure, maintainable, and scalable.
• Conduct proactive security architecture reviews of planned and existing systems to identify risks, validate control effectiveness, and drive continuous improvement in design and posture.
• Assist in the evaluation and procurement of security technologies, ensuring alignment with organisational standards and architecture principles.
• Investigate alerts to determine their legitimacy and impact, prioritise response actions based on severity, and coordinate containment and remediation activities when threats are confirmed.
• Assist with proactive hunting activities to uncover undetected threats and help build hypotheses based on threat intelligence, behavioural patterns, and environmental baselines.
• Perform regular updates and tuning of detection rules, playbooks, and alert thresholds to reduce false positives and ensure high-fidelity threat detection.
• Act as a champion to promote and raise awareness of Information Security best practice and ensure compliance to security policy.

What we need from you

• Information Security with a strong architecture focus.
• Strong knowledge in lateral movement risks, network segmentation, and endpoint security.
• Extensive experience with Windows and Linux OS’s.
• Skilled in protocol analysis, network architecture, and infrastructure design.
• Hold recognised Cyber Security qualification (CISSP, CISM or equivalent).
• Knowledge of industry related frameworks such as ISO27001, PCI DSS, Zero Trust.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to communicate with colleagues at all levels.
• Ability to work with and manage 3rd party suppliers.
• Experience of managing change.
• Drive and resilience.
• Presentation experience.
• Training and accreditation in industry recognised technologies.
• Skilled in presentation and training techniques in matters of IT security (Beneficial).

What we can offer you

• Competitive salary and annual company bonus.
• Company car or car allowance.
• Private medical insurance.
• Excellent pension scheme (company matched of up to 12%).
• 25 days holiday + bank holidays with the option to buy additional days.
• Staff Discount.
• Employee Assistance Programme.
• Exceptional Reward and Recognition events.

About Howdens

Howdens Joinery is the UK’s number one trade kitchen supplier providing thousands of products across kitchens, joinery, and hardware. We have over 900 depots throughout the UK and Europe – making us the first choice for more than 460,000 loyal trade professionals. Last year our sales reached circa 2.3bn, and we have an ambitious growth agenda. As well as the opportunity to develop within a fast paced and commercial environment, you will be part of a rewarding organisation recognised for excellence in the workplace.