Cyber and Specialist Operations Command - Cyber Security Advisor

Cyber & Specialist Operations Command (CSOC) generates and operates specialist capabilities, ready to fight across all domains to make the UK secure at home and strong abroad.

Always on, we are across every UK operation, delivering the capabilities you don’t usually see—or those you can’t.

From cyber warriors and medics to intelligence analysts, special forces, educators, and Defence attachés, our collective expertise delivers the warfighting edge Defence needs to deter threats and secure the nation today, and prepare for tomorrow.

CSOC builds on the strong foundations of Strategic Command, reshaped to unite Defence’s cyber and specialist capabilities under a single, military command alongside the Royal Navy, British Army and the Royal Air Force - acting as the UK’s fourth Military Command.

Passionate about using your skills to make a critical difference? Your next career move could be here.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

As Cyber Security Advisor, you’ll provide impartial advice to senior leadership and desk-level practitioners alike, identifying business and operational requirements across Defence, determining how cyber security capabilities should be used to best effect and supporting the integration of those capabilities into service.

The Defensive Cyber Security Joint User (DCJU) team, part of Cyber & Specialist Operations Command, ensures that the entirety of Defence has the cyber security equipment and capabilities that defend and protect our business and operational outputs. By directing, managing, and assuring change management activity throughout the organisation, we respond to risks and threats, ultimately increasing Defence’s resilience.

You’ll nurture and sustain strong ties with cyber and IT practitioners and industry bodies alike, providing insight into trends and threats, in support of effective holistic business understanding.

In this role, you’ll provide vital analysis of our current capabilities, to identify shortfalls against a rapidly changing threat and appropriate capability responses to cyber threats, shaping our future procurement programme. You’ll ensure that equipment and capabilities, delivered to front line cyber practitioners, are ready to be used and support integration into the wider eco-system.

Responsibilities

Support senior leaders in understanding the cyber security risk context and advise them on suitable medium to long-term response options.

Work within established security and risk management structures, to analyse and derive of business-supporting and operational cyber security needs.

Provide tailored advice to a range of stakeholders on how to remedy identified risks, by proportionately applying cyber security capabilities, using published guidance, standards, and drawing on a range of experts as well as personal expertise.

Provide guidance as to how new cyber security capabilities should be employed to reduce the cyber threat to Defence.

Open to UK nationals only.

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Please complete the CV template provided on the CS Jobs dashboard, ensuring it highlights your relevance to the essential criteria listed in the person specification, job history; qualification details and previous skills and experience.

It is essential that all applicants provide a personal statement (max. 1250 words), assessed against your responses to the questions listed below.

Each one will be scored and make up part of your overall score to assess your suitability to be invited to interview:

1. Describe your experience of analysing and/or managing cyber security business needs within an organisation.

2. Describe your experience of providing advice and guidance on the adoption of new cyber security capabilities into an organisation.

3. Describe your experience of managing stakeholders who have varying levels of understanding of cyber security technologies and practices.

At sift, you will be assessed against your CV, personal statement and the following:

Behaviours:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing

In the event of a high number of applications, the sift will be based on the CV and personal statement only.

At interview, you will be assessed against the following:

Behaviours:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills:

• Applied Security Capability
• Protective Security
• Threat Understanding
• Information Risk Assessment and Risk Management

Further information:

The Government Security Profession Career Framework and the Cyber Security Risk Manager role, used in this vacancy, can be found at: Government Security Profession Career Framework (publishing.service.gov.uk)

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk .

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came in to effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system.

Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

The Ministry of Defence adopts a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours, which includes bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. You will not be eligible and will not be considered for this post if you have been dismissed from a role for such unacceptable behaviours within the last five years. This will also apply if you resign or otherwise leave a role but, because of an adverse decision, would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had you continued in that employment. Pre-employment checks will be carried out.

Cyber & Specialist Operations Command (CSOC) generates and operates specialist capabilities, ready to fight across all domains to make the UK secure at home and strong abroad.

Always on, we are across every UK operation, delivering the capabilities you don’t usually see - or those you can’t.

From cyber warriors and medics to intelligence analysts, special forces, educators, and Defence attachés, our collective expertise delivers the warfighting edge Defence needs to deter threats and secure the nation today and prepare for tomorrow.

CSOC unites Defence’s cyber and specialist capabilities under a single, military command alongside the Royal Navy, British Army, and the Royal Air Force - acting as the UK’s fourth Military Command. For more information, please see here.’

Cyber and Specialist Operations Command (CSOC) is going through a significant transformation programme which aims to design the way in which the new Military Command conducts its business and delivers for Defence and the nation. As a consequence of this, posts within CSOC are/or may become subject to review and potential changes as we continuously improve across the period of the transformation programme. These changes may be minor or could be more substantive and will generate new opportunities. Throughout, the Command’s transformation programme is committed to following the MOD’s framework on managing and supporting people through the change process and places an emphasis on early and open consultation and engagement with the Command’s personnel and Trade Unions.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.