UK Ministry of Defence
Cyber and Specialist Operations Command - Cyber Security Advisor
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City of Westminster, London (region), SW1A 2HB
Job Summary
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.
Job Description
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.
Person Specification
Please ensure that your CV and application meet the essential criteria below:
- We would expect to see some previous experience and a working knowledge of cyber security, the practical application of methodologies and frameworks, such as the Cyber Assessment Framework or NIST, to support capability delivery with a programme environment and / or operational security management.
You’ll Need:
- Excellent stakeholder management skills, building and maintaining strong working relationships
- Acute attention to detail.
- Great organisation, timekeeping and prioritisation skills.
- Initiative and analytical skills.
- Motivation, commitment and the desire to continue to learn and develop.
- Experience or knowledge of leading and supporting colleagues
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Additional Information
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Dependent on the business need, there may be a requirement to travel to meetings within the UK (or potentially occasional overseas visits).
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If not already held, the successful candidate will be required to undergo DV clearance.
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This position is open to Sole UK Nationals only, i.e. individuals who hold a second nationality are ineligible to apply for this position.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Making Effective Decisions
- Communicating and Influencing
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Applied security capability
- Protective security
- Threat understanding
- Information risk assessment and risk management
Alongside your salary of £37,720, Ministry of Defence contributes £10,927 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).
Our Benefits Include:
- Learning and development tailored to your role with a dedicated minimum of 5 days per year.
- 25 days paid annual leave rising (by 1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of five years’ service.
- Ability to roll up to 10 days annual leave per year.
- In addition to eight public holidays per year, you will also receive leave for HM The King’s birthday.
- Pension contribution: 28.97%.
- Parental and Adoption Leave.
- Discounts on a range of services within and external to the civil service – Defence Discount Service, Civil Service societies for Sports and Leisure, Healthcare, Insurance, Motoring, Company discounts with Virgin, Vodafone, and Microsoft Office.
- In year rewards and ‘thank you’ schemes such as vouchers and gift cards.
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
Find out more here - Discovermybenefits.
Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and working from home as part of a non-contractual hybrid working arrangement. All office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to site capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD workplace, will also count towards this level of office attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this and other flexible working arrangements may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details). Defence Business Services cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements.
Please Note:
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The post does not offer relocation expenses.
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External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.
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Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed.
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Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts.
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Any move to MOD from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
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The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments.
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MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey – We may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Policy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.
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Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Selection process details
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:
- Describe your experience of analysing and/or managing cyber security business needs within an organisation.
- Describe your experience of providing advice and guidance on the adoption of new cyber security capabilities into an organisation.
- 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.
Behaviours:
At interview, you will be assessed against the following:
- 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
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