Senior Principal Architect - Security Architecture & Solution Engineering - Network & Zero Trust Architecture

Overview

Senior Principal Architect owning the Network and Zero Trust domain as design authority for GSK, building a Zero Trust framework from the ground up within a small architecture team, with Solution Engineering building to the specifications and a managed service vendor operating the result.

What you'll do

• Act as design authority for Network and Zero Trust architecture across GSK.
• Own the Zero Trust policy framework: device trust, identity trust and application access policy.
• Own network segmentation and micro segmentation standards across the estate.
• Own SASE and SD-WAN security architecture, secure remote access design and DNS security architecture.
• Produce architecture specifications that Solution Engineering builds from without reinterpretation.
• Maintain the Network and Zero Trust reference architecture library.
• Reject network and Zero Trust tooling that cannot express policy as code, integrate with the existing identity provider, or be operated by the managed service without Cyber Architecture and Solutions present.
• Assure the handover pack for every Zero Trust enforcement point and segmentation policy change before the vendor takes it, and retain the architecture decision when they propose a workaround in production.
• Resolve the segmentation boundary with OT Security where Purdue Level 3.5 meets the corporate network, and with Platform Security where NAC posture checks depend on EDR health.
• Secure Zero Trust design funding in major programme business cases at the point segmentation is still cheap, before application teams have built east-west dependencies that cannot be unpicked.
• Lead your team in using approved AI tools to improve productivity and ways of working, role-modelling responsible use and following GSK's Responsible AI, privacy and security requirements.
• Mentor architects and engineers across the function and contribute to the architecture community of practice.

What you'll need

• 15+ years in network security architecture, with technical authority held through specification and design review rather than headcount.
• Experience designing Zero Trust from the ground up, including device trust, identity trust and application access policy, and sequencing the move from a perimeter-based estate.
• Experience with network segmentation and micro segmentation standards, SASE and SD-WAN security architecture, secure remote access and DNS security, with policy-as-code and automated enforcement.
• Experience producing specifications that a separate engineering team builds from without rework, holding technical authority through the specification rather than line management.
• Experience with Zero Trust architecture for AI workloads and agents, including non-human identity, LLM API egress control and segmentation of AI platforms and the data fabric.
• Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline, or equivalent professional experience.

Nice to have

• Recognised architecture certification such as SABSA or TOGAF.
• Zero Trust programme at enterprise scale, including the organisational resistance it attracts.
• Regulated industry experience, including GxP environments where a routine network control can affect validated systems.
• Technical evaluation of new network and Zero Trust tool proposals against the architecture model, including automation of policy enforcement and network change.
• Experience retiring a legacy remote-access estate (VPN concentrators and jump hosts) onto ZTNA without a change freeze.

Details

• Location: Bengaluru, Luxor North Tower, India.
• Specialist-track Director role with one direct report.