Senior Infrastructure and Security Engineer in London

Required for: as soon as possible

Location: Deans Yard - Westminster School

Contract: full-time, permanent

Salary: £58,000 to £62,000 per annum, dependent on experience

The deadline for applications is 09:00 on Monday 23rd March 2026. Interviews will take place in-person shortly after the closing date.

The Senior Infrastructure and Security Engineer is responsible for the stability, security and strategic development of the School's core IT infrastructure. The role provides technical leadership for network, firewall, server, cloud and identity platforms, ensuring they are robust, secure and aligned with safeguarding and cyber security best practice. The postholder acts as the technical authority for infrastructure, overseeing standards, proactively identifying risks and driving enhancements that protect the School while supporting reliable delivery service.

Unlike infrastructure roles focused primarily on administration, this position carries accountability for how systems are designed, secured, maintained and improved. Reporting to the IT Operations Manager (departmental oversight), the Senior Infrastructure and Security Engineer retains responsibility for the technical ownership, security and operational resilience of the School's core IT infrastructure, including networks, firewalls, servers, cloud platforms and identity services. In delivering this responsibility, the role provides day‑to‑day technical direction to the IT and Network Engineer to ensure infrastructure standards, resilience and security requirements are consistently applied.

The role sets and maintains infrastructure standards, ensuring systems are secure, appropriately managed and aligned with cyber security and safeguarding requirements, and provides senior technical leadership for infrastructure strategy, risk reduction and continuous improvement. Due to the nature of this role, they will be required to work on site at our main site in Dean's Yard with visits to our linked prep school, Westminster Under School, as required.

Role Responsibilities

• Infrastructure Ownership and Assurance

• Hold technical responsibility for the health, resilience and security of network, firewall, server and cloud infrastructure, including Azure-hosted servers, virtual machines and associated platform services
• Define and maintain infrastructure standards, documentation and support models
• Ensure platforms are appropriately patched, supported and lifecycle‑managed
• Oversee backup, disaster recovery and business continuity readiness
• Own the configuration, governance and lifecycle management of Microsoft 365 (M365) services, including Exchange Online, SharePoint, Teams and OneDrive
• Administer and develop Azure infrastructure, including virtual machines, virtual networks, Azure Active Directory / Entra ID, and resource group governance

• Lead the continual improvement of the School's cyber security posture
• Ensure infrastructure aligns with safeguarding obligations and recognised frameworks (e.g., Cyber Essentials / NCSC guidance)
• Own vulnerability management, remediation planning and security configuration
• Coordinate technical response to security incidents
• Configure and manage Microsoft Purview, including data classification, sensitivity labels, data loss prevention (DLP) policies, information protection and compliance features across M365 and Azure
• Manage Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Defender for Cloud, and related services/tooling to detect, investigate and respond to threats
• Administer Conditional Access policies, Multi‑Factor Authentication (MFA), Privileged Identity Management (PIM) and Zero Trust controls across Azure AD / Entra ID

• Act as the senior escalation point for complex infrastructure issues beyond third‑line support
• Provide guidance and mentoring to engineers and helpdesk staff
• Review existing architecture and recommend improvements

• Ensure firewalls, segmentation, filtering and access controls are appropriately designed and maintained
• Plan capacity, resilience and future infrastructure requirements
• Evaluate new technologies and lead technical implementation
• Design and maintain hybrid identity infrastructure, integrating on‑premises Active Directory with Azure Active Directory / Entra ID via Azure AD Connect or equivalent
• Oversee M365 tenant configuration, licensing management, Teams telephony (where applicable), and integration with on‑premises and third‑party systems
• Manage Azure cost governance, subscription architecture and resource tagging to ensure cloud spend is controlled and aligned with operational requirements

• Maintain accurate architecture diagrams and configuration standards
• Conduct regular infrastructure health reviews
• Identify single points of failure and technical debt

• Lead infrastructure elements of major IT projects
• Produce technical designs and implementation plans
• Manage suppliers involved in infrastructure delivery

Hours of Work

This is a full‑time role of 35 hours per week, with a one‑hour unpaid lunch break each day. Working hours will fall within the 8:00 to 18:00 operational window, with specific start and finish times determined by service requirements and agreed with the IT Operations Manager. The Senior Infrastructure and Security Engineer may be required to work out‑of‑hours when necessary to support planned maintenance, system upgrades or urgent issues. Where such additional work is required and has been agreed with the IT Operations Manager, appropriate time off in lieu may be granted. Time off in lieu is not automatic and applies only to significant additional hours worked by prior agreement or subsequent approval.

Equal Opportunities

We are an equal opportunities employer. We therefore encourage candidates to apply irrespective of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion and belief, gender identity, sex or sexual orientation.

Safeguarding and Child Protection

Westminster School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Working at Westminster

Westminster School is a busy, purposeful and vibrant place to be and an excellent workplace. The community is made up of around 750 pupils, 120 teaching staff and 108 support staff. Our staff are friendly and welcoming, and all newcomers quickly become part of the rhythm of life here. There is a real sense of community here as, being a boarding school many members of staff and pupils live on site and the School's premises are very much treated as a home away from home. School life starts before breakfast and continues way beyond the working day; as a result, there is always a lively atmosphere in and around School and always someone to share a tea and biscuit with in the Common Room. Support staff as much as teaching staff are encouraged to embrace the School's day‑to‑day activities, whether that be attending an evening concert or a morning service in the Abbey.

At Westminster we will always select the best candidate for every position. We do know, however, that we can only truly choose the best person on every occasion if a broad and diverse pool of candidates see the job advertised and are encouraged to apply. As such, we continue to work on how our job roles are encountered, and particularly welcome applications from groups who have traditionally been underrepresented here. Westminster School is for everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or any other protected characteristic. We hope you are encouraged to apply.

The School

Westminster School is an independent day and boarding school for boys aged 13-18 and girls aged 16-18, with a long history, a distinctive ethos, and a unique sense of place in the very heart of London. Pupils achieve exceptional examination results and entrance to some of the top universities in the world. It is a busy, passionate and purposeful place where independent and deep thinking is enjoyed, encouraged and respected by all, and where holistic excellence is nurtured and valued.

While the School is one of the foremost centres of academic excellence in the country, its commitment to academic life does not make it a hothouse for passing examinations. Pupils' success at examinations and entry to leading universities is instead a result of their enjoyment of academic enquiry, debate and search for explanation, well beyond published syllabuses. Pupils are intellectually, socially, ethically and politically engaged and our aim is to ensure that their enthusiasm for learning is developed further, allowing them to take full advantage of the opportunities presented to them in the future.

At Westminster, pupils have the freedom to lead on projects outside of the classroom and embrace a whole range of extra‑curricular activities and interests. A host of pupil‑led societies take place every week at the School, often with expert guest speakers, and pupils can choose to study an additional language, play an instrument or two, volunteer in local primary schools, row along the Thames, take part in plays and musical, and much more.

The School's ethos resides in the enduring values of the liberal tradition reflected in the 1560 Charter of Westminster's Elizabethan foundation, where it is stated that: 'the youth which is growing to manhood, as tender shoots in the wood of our state, shall be liberally instructed in good books to the greater honour of the state'.

Whilst academic and cultural attainments are highly prized at Westminster, the School is fully committed also to each pupil's spiritual, moral, emotional and physical development and wellbeing - with a particular emphasis on drawing out individual talent wherever it lies - and to prepare young people for fulfilled private and public lives.

From September 2028, the School will welcome both girls and boys at 13+ entry, offering a Westminster education to all. By 2026, Westminster Under School will have opened its brand new pre‑prep for girls and boys at 4+ and girls will have joined boys in Years 3 and 7, at the 7+ and 11+ entry points. By 2030, all year groups at Westminster School and Westminster Under School, from ages four to 18, will be fully co‑educational, reflecting the School's dedication to inclusivity and excellence.