IT Security Specialist

About the role

We are seeking an experienced IT Security Specialist to own Paul Smith’s cybersecurity strategy from policy design through hands‑on incident response. You will act as the primary security liaison for external partners and help embed a security‑first mindset across retail stores, warehouses and head‑office teams.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and deliver the company’s cybersecurity strategy, policies and roadmap aligned with business objectives.
• Manage cyber risk, compliance and governance, including GDPR, business continuity and incident‑response planning.
• Monitor, investigate and respond to security incidents, maintaining controls across infrastructure, cloud services, applications and identity management.
• Lead vulnerability management and penetration‑testing programmes to continuously improve the security posture.
• Build and maintain relationships with managed security providers, technology partners, auditors and third‑party suppliers.
• Champion security awareness programmes and provide guidance to colleagues across retail, warehouse and head‑office environments.
• Provide security expertise throughout project lifecycles to ensure new technologies are secure by design.
• Support audits, recommend improvements and stay ahead of emerging threats.

Required profile

• Proven experience in an IT security, cybersecurity or information‑security role.
• Experience developing and implementing cybersecurity strategies, policies and controls.
• Strong knowledge of security operations, incident response, vulnerability management and risk assessment.
• Experience with cloud technologies, Identity & Access Management (IAM) and Microsoft security solutions.
• Good understanding of security standards, compliance and data‑protection legislation such as GDPR.
• Experience managing third‑party security providers, vendors or external auditors.
• Ability to translate business objectives into a coherent security strategy and communicate it at all organisational levels.

Required skills

• Cloud technologies
• Identity & Access Management (IAM)
• Microsoft security solutions
• Vulnerability management
• Penetration testing
• Incident response
• Security operations
• Risk assessment