Senior Cyber Risk Partnering Manager

The Government Cyber Unit's mission is to protect public services from cyber threats and digital resilience failures. We are working to achieve a step change in our cyber and digital resilience across government, through delivery of the Government Cyber Action Plan, and working closely with departments and national technical authorities including the National Cyber Security Centre to deliver. This is a challenging time to be working in cyber security and digital resilience, but we have an incredible opportunity to make a difference to people’s lives and promote national security by protecting the public services and national infrastructure they rely on. We work at the forefront of shaping the UK’s national response to emerging cyber and technology issues - from the increasingly complex range of state-sponsored cyber-attacks and supply chain compromises, through to the transformational benefits and security challenges of frontier AI and quantum computing.

We are committed to creating an inclusive and supportive working environment where people can learn, develop and do their best work. Continuous professional development and a focus on wellbeing is core to our unit culture. We welcome applications from candidates who share this ethos and are excited by our mission.

Please Note - Former DSIT recruitment campaigns are continuing as usual, but candidates should be aware that following the Government’s announcement on the changes to some civil service departments, roles will be subject to the machinery of government moves and will ultimately be in one of the new departments. We will provide more information if you are selected for a role. This work remains of high importance to the civil service, and we thank you for your continued interest.

The Government Cyber Unit Partnering function plays a vital role in strengthening the UK’s cyber and digital resilience. It brings together government departments, industry, international partners, and the wider security community to share insights, identify common challenges, and co-develop solutions. Acting as a trusted connector and critical friend, the function ensures that engagement and collaboration directly supports delivery of the Government Cyber Security Strategy and the Government Cyber Action Plan and strengthens the protection of the UK’s public services.

The Senior Cyber Risk Partnering Manager supports Partnering Leads in driving strategic engagement across government departments, Devolved Administrations, and Arm’s Length Bodies. The role focuses on strengthening relationships, enabling effective collaboration to reduce duplicative efforts and boost efficiencies, and ensuring clear and consistent communication that contributes to the Government Cyber Unit’s objectives.

In this role, you will:

• manage relationships across government organisations and other key stakeholders
• maintain accurate and up-to-date information and intelligence on stakeholders to underpin effective stakeholder management
• plan and deliver workshops, roundtables, and collaborative sessions on cyber security and digital resilience challenges
• prepare and coordinate briefing materials, partner updates, and other communications to ensure consistent and clear messaging
• ensure engagement activities are inclusive, productive, and outcome-focused
• track and report on Partnering outcomes, highlighting opportunities for co-creation and collaboration
• facilitate knowledge sharing across the Government Cyber Unit and partner organisations
• monitor developments in cyber security policy and digital resilience, risks, and emerging threats to support discussions with partners
• consistently review Partnering Team processes and products to ensure they remain effective and fulfil the wider needs of GCU

The post holder may be required to support out of hours on call rotas for responding to cyber and digital resilience incidents, for which remuneration and/ or flexible working arrangements will be available.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

The standard selection process for roles at GDS consists of:

• a simple application screening process - We only ask for a CV and cover letter of up to 750 words. Important tip - please ensure that your cover letter includes how you meet the skills and experience listed in the “person specification” section above
• a 45 Minute video interview which will feature a presentation. Presentation details will be shared with invited candidates prior to the interview.

Depending on how many applications we get, there might also be an extra stage before the video interview, for example a phone interview or a technical exercise.

In the event we receive a high volume of applications, we will conduct the initial sift against the lead criteria which is: strong stakeholder engagement and relationship management skills and experience, with the ability to build trust across government over time

In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.

For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours

• communicating and influencing
• working together
• making effective decisions
• delivering at pace

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Government Digital and Data Capability Framework for the Cyber Risk Manager role (Associate) role:

• applied Security Capability (Practitioner)
• protective security (Working)
• threat understanding (Working)
• information risk assessment and risk management (Practitioner)

Want to know more about who Government Digital and Data are? Click Here

Recruitment Timeline

Sift completion: 28/9/2026

Panel interviews: Starting from 5/10/2026

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

Please note that this role requires SC clearance, which would normally need 5 years’ UK residency in the past 5 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.

For meaningful checks to be carried out, you will need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time, to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. Whilst a lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance, and expectation of UK residency may range from 3 to 5 years. Failure to meet the residency requirements needed for the role may result in the withdrawal of provisional jobs offers.

Sponsorship

DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.

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