Main area Cyber Operations Grade NHS AfC: Band 8b Contract Fixed term: 13 months (Until 31/10/2026. Secondment only for current NHS Employees.) Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 990-TD-CY-14978-E
Employer NHS England Employer type NHS Site Wellington Place / Hexagon House Town Leeds / Exeter Salary £83,791 - £97,365 Per annum (this includes a RRP payment of 30%)(Excluding HCAS) Salary period Yearly Closing 04/09/2025 23:59
Cyber Security Lead
NHS AfC: Band 8b
Our Organisation
The NHS is building a culture that is positive, compassionate and inclusive – and we all have our part to play.
As employers we are committed to protecting and promoting the physical and mental health and wellbeing of all our colleagues. This underpins our values as set out in the NHS Constitution and supports us to be an Employer of Choice, while helping our colleagues to deliver high quality services for our patients and communities.
As a flexible employer, we want to support you to work in a way that is best for the NHS, our patients and you. Talk to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time, hybrid working or another flexible pattern. In addition,although the role advertised may have a ‘home’ office base indicated, we remain committed to supporting flexibility around workplace locations. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.
We are an accredited Living Wage Employer which means that every colleague working for our organisation and third-party contractors will earn a real Living Wage. We are one of over 15,000 organisations, who voluntarily chose to pay the real Living Wage.
Job overview
NHS England's Cyber Operations team is at the forefront of safeguarding critical national healthcare services and ensuring patient safety through robust cyber resilience. The Cyber Security Lead role is a key part of the Cyber Governance, Risk and Compliance, operating within the Chief Information Security Office (CISO) Function. This team is responsible for providing leadership with accurate information regarding cyber and information security risks in a timely manner, helping to ensure the resiliency of national services and Critical National Infrastructure.
You will play a pivotal role in developing and maintaining an understanding of the security risk exposure across the organisation, working alongside other CISO Functions to maintain a functioning security framework, enabling proactive security risk management.
This role offers unparalleled opportunities to address challenges of national scale, contribute to improving healthcare outcomes, and enhance NHS cyber resilience. As part of a supportive and innovative environment, you will benefit from access to professional development, collaborative initiatives, and impactful work that directly supports patient care.
The post of Security Lead has been awarded a Recruitment and Retention Premia (RRP) in response to current labour market conditions. In recognition of this, the role attracts an additional monthly RRP payment equal to 30% per annum.
Please be aware that RRP is non-contractual and subject to review
Main duties of the job
As a Cyber Security Lead, your responsibilities include:
* Deputise for the Head of GRC, leading the GRC team and managing outputs as required.
* Embed and mature an organisational security operating model to support risk-driven, evidence-based decision making.
* Oversee the security policy lifecycle, ensuring policies are harmonised, accessible, and risk-focused.
* Manage and track security risks and issues on behalf of the CISO, working with stakeholders to maintain risk within tolerance.
* Design, implement, and monitor key controls to reduce risk, provide assurance, and meet compliance obligations.
* Provide effective security metrics and reporting to governance boards, senior leaders, and audit functions.
* Conduct research and analysis using diverse data sources to inform security best practices and decisions.
* Promote ‘security by design’ across directorates, strategies, and business plans.
* Monitor organisational changes and support audits of high-risk activities, assets, and third parties.
* Ensure compliance with statutory, regulatory, and contractual obligations, aligning security activities with business priorities.
* Streamline assessment and audit processes to reduce operational burden.
* Collaborate with product and service teams to identify and remediate compliance gaps and manage associated risks.
Working for our organisation
The NHS England board have set out the top-level purpose for the new organisation to lead the NHS in England to deliver high-quality services for all, which will inform the detailed design work and we will achieve this purpose by:
* Enabling local systems and providers to improve the health of their people and patients and reduce health inequalities.
* Making the NHS a great place to work, where our people can make a difference and achieve their potential.
* Working collaboratively to ensure our healthcare workforce has the right knowledge, skills, values and behaviours to deliver accessible, compassionate care
* Optimising the use of digital technology, research, and innovation
If you would like to know more or require further information, please visithttps://www.england.nhs.uk/.
Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in-person.
Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.
NHS England hold a Sponsor Licence; this means that we may be able to sponsor you providing the Home Office requirements are met. To be eligible for sponsorship through the Skilled Worker route you’ll usually need to be paid the ‘standard’ salary rate of at least £38,700 per year, or the ‘going rate’ for your job, whichever is higher. You can find more information on the Government website .
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification for more information about the role and responsibilities.
Please ensure your supporting statement includes demonstratable evidence and specific examples on how you meet the criteria for each of the key skills specified. This will be used in both the shortlisting and interview processes
Important: Please be aware there are residency requirements you need to meet:
All NHS England Cyber Security personnel must hold Security Clearance level as a minimum. To meet National Security Vetting requirements, SC clearances require 5 years continuous UK residency. In certain cases, this can be reduced to three years continuous UK residency, with additional overseas checks for the previous two years. Candidates who were posted abroad for service with HM Government, Armed Forces or within a UK government role - will still be considered.
Please make sure you meet these requirements before applying for this role. You don’t need to have SC already, however, failure to achieve the requirements for SC after offer will result in the job offer being withdrawn. For further advice please check https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels#security-check-sc
Please be aware that should you be successful in this position, you will be hired to the job title of Security Lead and this job title is advertised to attract the right skills needed for the role.
Secondments
Applicants from within the NHS will be offered on a secondment basis only, agreement should be obtained from their employer prior to submitting the application.
Please note that the reason for the fixed term of this contract isshort term vacancy
If you like what you have read and think you have the skills and experience, we need then don't delay, apply today! We get lots of applications for our roles and so we sometimes have to close our posts early. Don't miss out!
Person specification
Knowledge
* Detailed knowledge of the processes, tools and techniques of information security management, ability to deploy and monitor information security systems, as well as detect, resolve and prevent violations of IT security, to protect organisational data.
* Detailed knowledge of tools, techniques, approaches and processes of cybersecurity risk management; ability to ensure organisational network operation and minimise negative effect by cybersecurity risks.
* Extensive knowledge of techniques, roles, and responsibilities in providing technical or business guidance to clients, both internal and external; ability to apply this knowledge appropriately to diverse situations.
* Extensive knowledge of vulnerability assessment tools, techniques, models, and systems; ability to utilise the knowledge to identify vulnerabilities on networks, operating systems, mobile applications, etc
Skills and Experience
* Specialist knowledge of and the ability to protect information and systems while ensuring confidentiality, integrity and availability.
* Specialist knowledge of and the ability to utilise tools and techniques for assessing the effectiveness of information security measures, identifying potential risk exposures, and protecting the availability, confidentiality and audit trails of information from destruction or manipulation.
Qualifications
* Master’s level degree or equivalent level of experience.
* Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and/or Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
Our commitments to you
We are passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. We know that different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger and more creative work environment that delivers better patient outcomes. We strive to ensure our people feel trusted, valued and empowered. We’re passionate about nurturing and developing people. When you join us, we want you to grow and excel, and we offer many opportunities for you to do that. We welcome your talent and enthusiasm irrespective of age, disability, neuro-divergence, sex, gender identity and gender expression, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances. We have policies and procedures to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process, including the consideration of reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability and/or who are neuro-divergent.
We welcome applications from disabled candidates. If you meet all the essential criteria, you will be guaranteed an interview.
If applying for this role on a secondment basis, please make sure you have obtained prior agreement from your current line manager to apply for this position.
Please note that we currently do not accept applications via recruitment agencies.
To comply with the HM Government Functional Standard GovS 007, and specifically the Personnel Security Standards 2024, individuals employed or contracted by NHS England may be required to undergo a Baseline Personnel Security Standards check, dependent on the role.
The NHS Business Services Authority is responsible for the processing of your application; a privacy notice is attached to advise you on how we will process your personal data.
If you have applied via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred third-party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. If you are appointed to a post, information will also be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Records system.
You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through NHS Jobs, and furthermore, as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any emails sent to us via NHS Jobs. If you have a query relating to your application, please contact the recruitment team on nhse@nhsbsa.nhs.uk or 0300 330 1369. You can view our Privacy Notice here .
NHS England
Employer certification / accreditation badges
This post will require a submission for Disclosure to be made to check for any unspent criminal convictions.
Name David Malkin Job title Security Principal Email address england.cyberoperationsrecruitment@nhs.net
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