Quantum Cryptography Architect

As a Quantum Cryptography Architect at Starling, you will lead the bank's Post-Quantum Cryptography initiative and serve as the cryptography subject matter expert across our security architecture practice. You'll join the Security Architecture team, which drives significant impact across the organisation by guiding and empowering teams in Security and the wider technology landscape. Your strategic focus will be on designing our cloud-native and on-premise cryptography roadmaps, conducting cryptographic assessments, and defining our technical roadmap to keep Starling resilient against emerging future threats.

What you'll do

• Lead Starling's Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) initiative, owning the crypto-inventory design, evaluating PQC algorithms, and architecting systems built for cryptographic agility.
• Provide expert architecture and design guidance on Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), Hardware Security Modules (HSMs), key management, service mesh security, and transport layer protocols across cloud environments.
• Architect secure, scalable solutions across AWS and GCP, translating complex security requirements into pragmatic design patterns for engineering teams.
• Lead secure design reviews and threat modeling initiatives, delivering actionable security guidance and continuous support to engineering teams.
• Design and build proof-of-concept solutions for engineers to refine or draw inspiration from.
• Work closely with software engineers, cloud architects, and security operations to review RFCs and ADRs, conduct threat models, and embed security into the development lifecycle.
• Architect end-to-end security solutions for cloud-native applications, microservices, and modern banking platforms.
• Develop and lead the Post-Quantum Cryptography transition roadmap and crypto-inventory strategy.
• Perform threat modeling and technical risk assessments on new and existing platform architectures.
• Define, document, and promote enterprise cryptographic management standards covering key lifecycle, hardware security, and modern cipher suites.
• Review architectural design documents, RFCs, and ADRs to ensure alignment with security guardrails and regulatory requirements.
• Mentor engineering teams on cryptographic implementations, secure secrets management, and data protection at rest and in transit.
• Support the Security Architecture team with daily security architecture advisory services.

What you bring

• Proven track record in an Information Security Architect or Senior Security Engineering role designing secure, distributed systems within modern cloud environments such as AWS or GCP.
• Comprehensive practical and theoretical knowledge of symmetric and asymmetric cryptography, PKI management, digital signatures, key management systems (KMS), and HSMs.
• Strong understanding of quantum computing threats to modern encryption, NIST PQC standards, hybrid key exchange, and strategies for achieving crypto-agility.
• Demonstrated ability to perform threat modeling on complex cloud-native applications, APIs, and microservices architectures such as Kubernetes or ECS.
• A pragmatic approach to security architecture, designing controls that minimise developer friction while enabling engineering speed.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a track record of distilling complex technical and cryptographic risks into clear guidance for both technical teams and senior leadership.

Nice to have

• Experience in Fintech, Banking, or highly regulated cloud environments such as PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, or NIST guidelines.
• A demonstrated background in a highly technical role such as Security Engineering, Infrastructure Engineering, or Penetration Testing.
• Experience in infrastructure, application, and AI security, including container security, secure code reviews, and secure integration of generative AI and ML systems.
• Practical experience applying the SABSA (Sherwood Applied Business Security Architecture) framework to design business-driven, risk-aligned enterprise security architectures.
• Recognised industry security certifications such as SABSA, CISSP, AWS Security Specialty, or specialised cryptography credentials.

What we offer

• 25 days holiday plus your public holiday allowance, taken whenever works best for you
• An extra day's holiday for your birthday
• Annual leave increases with length of service, and you can buy or sell up to five extra days off
• 16 hours paid volunteering time per year
• Salary sacrifice and company enhanced pension scheme
• Life insurance at 4x your salary and group income protection
• Private Medical Insurance with VitalityHealth including mental health support and cancer care, plus partner benefits including discounts with Waitrose, Mr&Mrs Smith and Peloton
• Generous family-friendly policies
• Perkbox membership giving access to retail discounts, a wellness platform for physical and mental health, and weekly perks
• Access to Cycle to Work, salary sacrificed gym partnerships, and Electric Vehicle (EV) leasing
• Hybrid working with a minimum of 1 day per week in one of our offices in London, Cardiff, Dublin, Southampton, or Manchester

About Starling

Starling is the UK's first and leading digital bank, a fully licensed UK bank that now employs over 3,000 people. With over 3.5 million accounts and 350,000 business customers, Starling has become a multi-award-winning fintech organisation. At heart, we are a tech-first company building fast technology, fair service, and honest values to help customers spend, save, and manage their money while taking better care of the planet.