Enterprise PKI Specialist (Contractor)

Enterprise PKI Specialist (Fixed Term Contract)  

 
The Enterprise PKI Specialist is a senior technical specialist responsible for the design, implementation, governance, and evolution of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) services across Qube Research & Technologies (QRT).  
 
The successful candidate will serve as the organisation's primary PKI subject matter expert, providing strategic guidance, architectural leadership, hands-on engineering expertise, and technical governance across all PKI-related initiatives.  
 
This is a highly specialised role requiring extensive experience designing, building, and modernising PKI environments within large enterprises. The successful candidate will have a proven track record of delivering PKI programmes from initial requirements gathering and architecture design through to implementation, operationalisation, and long-term governance.  
 

PKI Architecture & Delivery  

• Design and deliver enterprise  grade  PKI architecture and supporting operational  model .  

• Design and implement root and issuing Certificate Authority (CA) hierarchies.  

• Define certificate policies, certificate profiles, naming standards, trust models, and operational controls.  

• Design resilient,  highly available  PKI infrastructure and supporting services.  

• Lead the implementation and migration of PKI platforms, tooling, and supporting infrastructure.  

• Define disaster recovery, backup, recovery, and key protection requirements for PKI services.  

• Design and oversee Hardware Security Module (HSM) integration and key management processes.  

• Establish operational procedures for certificate issuance, renewal, revocation, recovery, and lifecycle management.  

• Ensure solutions are scalable, supportable, and aligned with security and regulatory requirements.  

PKI Subject Matter Expertise  

• Act as the  organisation's   recognised  PKI authority and trusted advisor.  

• Provide  expert guidance on certificate authority design, trust models, certificate lifecycle management, revocation strategies, and key protection.  

• Advise  engineering and platform teams on PKI integration requirements and best practices.  

• Review proposed solutions and ensure alignment with established PKI standards and architectural principles.  

• Provide technical leadership for complex PKI-related initiatives and problem resolution.  

Machine Identity & Certificate Lifecycle Management  

• Develop enterprise approaches for managing machine identities at scale.  

• Design and implement automated  certificate  issuance, renewal, rotation, and revocation processes.  

• Support certificate management across infrastructure, cloud, container, networking, and application environments.  

• Reduce operational risk associated with certificate expiry and trust failures.  

• Define standards for certificate discovery, inventory, monitoring, and reporting.  

Stakeholder Engagement & Governance  

• Work closely with infrastructure, engineering, cloud, security, risk, and operational teams.  

• Translate complex PKI and cryptographic concepts into clear business and technical recommendations.  

• Develop PKI standards, policies, procedures, and governance documentation.  

• Support audits and regulatory reviews relating to cryptographic and PKI controls.  

• Influence technical direction and ensure PKI considerations are embedded within strategic initiatives.  

Essential Skills & Experience  

• Proven experience designing and delivering enterprise PKI environments from  inception  through production  operation .  

• Extensive experience designing Root CA, Intermediate CA, and Issuing CA architectures.  

• 10+ years of experience working with enterprise PKI, trust services, or cryptographic infrastructure.  

• Strong understanding of offline Root CA designs, trust hierarchy models, certificate policy development, and PKI governance.  

• Experience implementing and operating HSM-backed PKI environments.  

• Deep knowledge of X.509 certificates, PKCS standards, CRLs, OCSP, certificate validation, and trust chains.  

• Proven experience leading PKI  programmes  or transformations across multiple  organisations .  

• Ability to engage effectively with senior stakeholders, architects, engineers, auditors, and operational teams.  

Desirable Skills & Experience  

• Experience with Venafi,  Keyfactor , DigiCert Trust Lifecycle Manager,  Sectigo , EJBCA,  HashiCorp  Vault, or equivalent platforms.  

• Experience with Microsoft Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) design and migration  programmes .  

• Experience implementing PKI within AWS, Azure, Kubernetes, and hybrid cloud environments.  

• Experience supporting financial services, regulated industries, or large-scale enterprise environments.  

• Relevant industry certifications in security, architecture, cloud, or cryptography.  

Contract Details  

• Fixed Term Contract  

• Hybrid working model  

• London-based role  

• Competitive package dependent on experience