The National Archives, UK
Cyber Security Officer
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Cyber Security Officer
Job Overview
Salary: £44,000 - £47,500 per annum
Contract type: Permanent
Band: F / Senior Executive Officer
Closing date: Wednesday 1st July 2026 at midnight
We are looking for a Cyber Security Officer to join our Technology Strategy team at The National Archives.
This is an exciting opportunity for a skilled cybersecurity professional to shape and strengthen our security posture, ensure ongoing accreditation, and help embed best practice across the organisation. This is a pivotal role in protecting our digital assets, information systems and cloud environments from ongoing and evolving cyber threats.
In this role, you will act as a subject matter expert, helping to identify vulnerabilities across our networks, platforms and hardware, and guiding the organisation on how best to remediate them. You will oversee our compliance with key security frameworks, including ISO27001, Cyber Essentials Plus, GovAssure and the emerging ISO/IEC 42001 and 42005 standards for AI governance. You will ensure systems at The National Archives are assessed, secure, well governed and aligned with best practice.
Delivery of this role will involve close collaboration with colleagues across the organisation, helping to embed strong security practices into everyday operations. You will develop and maintain incident response plans, monitor compliance alerts such as those from our ERP Smart Audit, and work with external assessors and auditors to ensure we meet industry and government standards. A key part of your role will be helping to build a security culture by raising awareness and building capability across the organisation by delivering training and guidance on cybersecurity and safe digital practices.
Reporting to the IT Security and Information Assurance manager, you will own the delivery of accreditation, cybersecurity awareness, and the delivery of security policies across The National Archives. You will work closely with third parties and assessors to conduct regular security audits to ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations.
This role is likely to appeal to a proactive and collaborative cybersecurity professional who enjoys combining technical expertise with influencing and enabling others. If you are motivated by making a visible impact, thrive in a complex environment, and want to help shape security culture as well as controls, this is an excellent opportunity to apply your skills in a meaningful organisation with a unique digital mission.
A combination of onsite and home working is available and applicants should be able to regularly travel to our Kew site for a minimum of 60% of their work time.
SC clearance/willingness to obtain SC clearance will be required for this role. This requires candidates to have been resident in the UK for at least the past three years. Please do not apply if you have been resident in the UK for less than three years as your application will be rejected.
We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.
Application Process
Interviews: Interviews will be on site at The National Archives in Kew. Part of the interview will require you to deliver a 5-minute presentation on how you would train new starters in a key element of information security. Further details and instructions will be provided in the interview invitation.
Please submit your work history and a supporting statement. The information you provide must evidence how you meet all the essential criteria listed below and should include:
- Roles where you have worked with infrastructure operations, support, or delivery
- Include the technologies and environments you have worked with (e.g., cloud, networking, Microsoft platforms, enterprise systems)
- Show the scale and complexity of the environments you have supported
- Identify any experience of:
- Incident and problem management
- Leading or implementing infrastructure change
- Improving reliability, performance, or security
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Essential Criteria
- Strong knowledge and understanding of cybersecurity frameworks and standards (including good cyber practices, especially in the UK Government/Public sector)
- Demonstrable experience of working in a cybersecurity role preferably within a government or large organization
- Ability to work under pressure, prioritize, and manage your workload
- Excellent problem-solving skills for routine and complex problems and attention to detail
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to deliver training to a wide audience
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 visit the Civil Service Careers website where you can find further information on the use of AI in the application guidance section.
Sponsorship: We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.
Job Description
Roles and Responsibilities:
- Identify and assess security risks across network systems, cloud platforms, software, and hardware and advise on their remediation
- Remain aware of, and monitor cybersecurity measures (including ISO27001, Cyber Essentials Plus, GovAssure and ISO42001/42005) to protect against unauthorized access, data breaches, use of AI, and other cyber threats
- Monitoring of the ERP Smart Audit for compliance alerts and any issues which can then be highlighted to the product owners accordingly
- Work with third-party providers and assessors to conduct regular security audits and assessments to ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations
- Collaborate across The National Archives to assure incident response plans and procedures are up to date and robust, tested, and uniformed with alignment across the organisation
- Collaborate across The National Archives to ensure robust security practices are integrated into all aspects of the organisation’s work
- Provide training and awareness programs to staff on cybersecurity best practices
- Stay updated with the latest cybersecurity trends, threats, intelligence, and technologies
- Provide backup to the Cyber and Information Management team including the Cyber Security Engineer
Working Conditions
- Normal office environment
- A combination of onsite and home working is available. Applicants must be able to work from our Kew site at least 60% of their time, possibly more when new to the role
Person Specification
Essential
- Strong knowledge and understanding of cybersecurity frameworks and standards (including good cyber practices, especially in the UK Government/Public sector)
- Demonstrable experience of working in a cybersecurity role preferably within a government or large organization
- Ability to work under pressure, prioritize, and manage your workload
- Excellent problem-solving skills for routine and complex problems and attention to detail
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to deliver training to a wide audience
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Desirable
- Professional certifications such as CISSP, CISM, CompTIA Security+, CEH, OSCP, CISA, CCSP, or equivalent
- Degree or equivalent in Cybersecurity or another relevant subject
Other Requirements
- SC clearance is required for this role. This requires candidates to have been resident in the UK for at least the past three years
Benefits
- Generous benefits package, including pension, sports and social club facilities, onsite gym, discounted rates at our on-site cafe, and opportunities for training and development
- Annual leave entitlement of 22 days per calendar year (rising to 25 after the first year, and incrementally to 30 days after six years) and 10½ days public and privilege holidays per annum
Any move to The National Archives 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/
Reasonable Adjustments
If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.
If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:
- Contact The National Archives via careers@nationalarchives.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs
- Complete the ‘Reasonable Adjustments’ section of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.
People working with government assets must complete basic personnel security standard checks (opens in new window)
Nationality Requirements
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)
- 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
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles.
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills