National Cyber Force - Security Risk and Governance Lead

Established in 2020, the National Cyber Force (NCF) is responsible for operating in and through cyberspace to counter, disrupt, degrade and contest those who would do harm to the UK or its allies, to keep the country safe and to protect and promote the UK’s interests at home and abroad. The UK will use cyber operations as part of its diplomatic, economic and military activities.

The NCF is at the heart of this, extending the UK’s competitive edge as a responsible, democratic cyber power, by countering threats from terrorists, criminals and states using the internet to operate across borders in order to do harm to the UK and other democratic societies. Countering threats which disrupt the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data and services in cyberspace (i.e. supporting cybersecurity), contributing to UK Defence operations, or helping deliver the UK’s foreign policy agenda (for example intervening in a humanitarian crisis to protect civilians). In addition to GCHQ and the Ministry of Defence, the Secret Intelligence Service and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory are core partners bringing cutting edge espionage and research techniques.

Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Our vision is to have an empowered, productive, personally and professionally fulfilled workforce. Whatever your role, we take your career and development seriously. We want to enable you to build a successful career with the Department and wider Civil Service. We are committed to understanding, respecting, and representing as broad a range of views and backgrounds as we have in UK society. We know that diverse perspectives and experiences are critical to an effective, modern Civil Service.

This role supports NCF by owning security risk governance for the Partnership.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

The Security Risk and Assurance Lead will own security risk governance for the Partnership. They will be the secretariat for security risk across all aspects of the Partnership and will mature security risk governance utilising a combination of expertise, pragmatism, and exceptional engagement skills.

The role will cohere a single view of security risk, will work with senior stakeholders across the business to ensure accountability for security risks, and will support Head of Security by providing assurance that security risks are suitably mitigated and that mitigations are being owned and delivered by those whom they are allocated to.

The successful candidate will build relationships across a complex multi-partner environment to ensure that risk appetites are understood and respected. You will support the provision of security advice and guidance to the workforce that is considerate of all Partner requirements.

As the Partnership continues to mature, so does the approach to security, and the Security Risk and Assurance Lead will be agile to supporting the changing needs of the Organisation, including the Transformation of the Organisation into the new HQ in the North West. It is critical that the successful candidate is a team player; that inclusion is at the heart of their approach to delivery; and that they feel comfortable navigating ambiguity. In return this job offers an opportunity to have strategic impact across a multi-agency Partnership, learning new perspectives and approaches, and enabling the delivery of a critical HMG mission. You will:

Own and maintain the Partnership Security Risk Register and be the secretariat to the associated governance.

Lead on the provision of security assurance, ensuring that security risks are suitably mitigated and that mitigations are being owned and delivered by those whom they are allocated to.

Represent all Partner requirements, manage and deliver bespoke security advice in accordance with the Partnership security posture.

Liaise across MOD in order to ensure that CSOC requirements are understood and form part of Partnership security planning.

Lead on liaison across the UK Vetting Agencies in order to provide ongoing assurance that the Partnership vetting policy can be met in line with the requisite timeframes to meet growth aspirations.

Open to UK nationals only.

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

While the existence of NCF is not a secret, its people are, and discretion is vital. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or close family. You should also make them aware of the importance of discretion. You should not mention your application on social media or discuss it with anyone else at this stage. You will receive further guidance during the recruitment process.

Before you apply, we advise you to consider setting up a separate email address for your contact with us, to ensure your personal and application correspondence remain separate. Try to avoid having identifying features in your email address, such as your first and/or surname and date of birth. This is good practice and will help you to manage your application with us more discretely.

Candidates will be required to provide a Personal Statement. (250 words)

Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history; qualification details and previous skills and experience.

At sift, Candidates will be assessed against their CV and Personal Statement and the following:

Behaviours:

• Changing and Improving
• Managing a Quality Service

If successful at sift, the interviews will be held via Teams, mid October. We are unable to offer alternative dates for interviews.

At interview, Candidates will be assessed against the following:

Behaviours:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

Further Information:

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into 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.