Quantum Cryptography Architect

As a Quantum Cryptography Architect at Starling, you join the Security Architecture team driving significant impact across the organisation. You will take strategic ownership of Starling's Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) initiative, designing crypto-inventory, evaluating PQC algorithms, and architecting solutions built for cryptographic agility. This mid-to-senior role combines end-to-end security architecture across our modern tech stack with a focused strategic mission: keeping Starling resilient against emerging quantum computing threats.

What you'll do

• Lead Starling's Post-Quantum Cryptography strategy, taking ownership of the PQC initiative over coming years, designing the crypto-inventory, evaluating PQC algorithms, and architecting for cryptographic agility.
• Act as the cryptography subject matter expert, providing 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 and assist with secure design reviews and threat modeling initiatives, delivering actionable security guidance and continuous support to engineering teams.
• Design and build proof of concept solutions when suitable, enabling engineers to refine or draw inspiration from hands-on prototypes.
• Work closely with software engineers, cloud architects, and security operations to review RFCs and ADRs, conduct threat models, and embed security seamlessly into the development lifecycle.
• Serve as a trusted advisor within the Security Architecture team, staying ahead of industry trends, threat vectors, and regulatory standards to elevate Starling's security posture.
• 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 and provide guidance on cryptographic implementations, securely managing secrets, and data protection at rest and in transit.
• Support the Security Architecture team with daily security architecture activities including ad-hoc 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 problem-solving approach that believes security should enable engineering speed, with the ability to design security controls that minimise developer friction.
• 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.
• 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, or secure integration of generative AI and ML.
• Practical experience leveraging and 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 public holiday allowance, with an extra day 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 providing access to retail discounts, a wellness platform for physical and mental health, and weekly free and boosted 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 office, preferably located within commutable distance of our London, Cardiff, Dublin, Southampton, or Manchester offices

About Starling

Starling is the UK's first and leading digital bank on a mission to fix banking through fast technology, fair service, and honest values. A multi-award-winning fully licensed UK bank with over 3,000 employees across five offices, Starling now serves 3.5 million accounts with 350,000 business customers. Built as a tech-first company, Starling operates with a flat structure emphasising innovation, collaboration, and empowered decision-making.