Government Property Agency
Head of Physical Security and Resilience
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Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, Swindon
Job Summary
The Government Property Agency is the largest property holder in government, with more than £2.1 billion in property assets and over 55% of the government’s office estate.
We are transforming the way the Civil Service works by creating great places to work, leading the largest commercial office programme in the UK, working towards halving carbon emissions from government offices, and achieving greater value for taxpayers. And we are looking for innovative, solutions-focused people to join our team.
Representing the best covenant in the UK – His Majesty’s Government – we are leading significant transformational programmes such as the Government Hubs Programme, Whitehall Campus Programme and Net Zero Programme. We are also delivering cost- effective property services such as asset management, lifecycle replacement and workplace services.
Innovation And Progress Underpin Our Behaviours. We Foster a Culture Of Lifelong Learning, Where Curiosity And Self-improvement Are Encouraged. Our Four Core Values Are At The Heart Of Everything We Do. They Shape Our Culture And Guide How We Work, Lead And Grow Together:
- Striving for excellence - We always aim to deliver great results
- Empowering through respect - We insist on fair treatment for all, always
- Acting with integrity - We consistently do the right thing
- Succeeding together - We rely on each other to achieve success
The GPA is committed to representing the communities we serve by making Diversity, Equality and Inclusion part of everything we do.
To ensure that we are always recruiting and retaining a diverse mix of talent, we are particularly inviting applications from candidates who are disabled, ethnically or gender diverse, and people who identify as being part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Join our dynamic and diverse team that leads with purpose, improving sustainability, nurturing social value, driving inclusivity and flexibility, and kickstarting economic growth.
We are driven by purpose, and you can be part of it too: where you make a meaningful impact; where you influence; where your voice really matters; where you help to shape our future direction.
Job Description
Head of Physical Security for the Government Property Agency (GPA) is responsible for all aspects of physical and electronic security; leading security design and overseeing its implementation across the new, refurbished and GPAs onboarded office estate; understanding governments diverse security needs; and advising on physical security procedural solutions. This requires an understanding and articulation of GPA’s risk appetite, proposing mitigation options where available and appropriate.
This role will be responsible for embedding the physical security approach across the organisation, as described in the physical security standards and guidance technical annex of the Workplace Design Guide. It also has functional responsibility for the assured delivery of physical security in the GPA managed office estate that Workplace Services is responsible for. This means the role will have real influence across the GPA and government.
Note the role will require an ability to travel nationally to all UK sites/facilities.
Key Responsibilities
Reporting to Deputy Director, I&A, the Head of Physical Security will be responsible for:
- Interpreting and implementing / executing GPA’s physical security policies and strategies and leading on their communication.
- Advising on threats and assessing risk and assurance of the appropriate physical (including blast design) and electronic (eg CCTV and ACS) security and resilience engineering standards and process.
- Setting the technical and process standards for the physical security aspects of the GPA public office estate.
- Leading on the engineering aspects of GPA’s security and resilience planning.
- Defining and updating the employers’ security requirements.
- Defining the physical security assurance and due diligence requirements, and ensuring associated statutory compliance for safe office buildings.
- Applying security industry best practice and innovation.
- Setting the requirements for delivery of physical security across project lifecycles and RIBA stages
- Advising on access control solutions.
- Identifying and promoting the best VfM.
- Providing security assurance support and advice to Workplace Services and their service contractors.
- Managing external professional services contractors.
- Leading the physical and electronic security and resilience function within the Design and Engineering team.
- Maintaining up-to-date professional knowledge through Continuing Professional Development (CPD), demonstrating security design awareness and applying knowledge, experience and skills effectively.
- Managing the strategic supplier relationships with GPA’s framework partners for security consultancy and design services
- Acting as a key member of the wider GPA Security Function, maintaining a collaborative working relationship under a devolved management arrangement with the GPA CSO and GPA Security Team, and to play a role in cross Whitehall government security initiatives.
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Person specification
Essential Criteria:
Experience & Technical Skills
- Implementation and delivery of Physical Security strategies within large and complex organisations.
- Demonstrable experience in conducting assessments of existing facilities and applying Physical Security Principles to practical applications experienced at the site.
- Client Focus – ability to interpret and understand business needs of clients in order to build positive relationships.
- Team working – working collaboratively in a positive manner to build trust and rapport across the GPA.
- Ability to work autonomously, prioritising tasks effectively in order to meet deadlines (both internal and external) and communicating progress wherever necessary.
- Experience in building successful compliance/audit programs.
- Conversant and competent in management of clients and contractors.
- Conversant with IT systems and the ability to analyse Management Information to inform decision-making.
- Commitment to continuous improvement.
Desirable:
- Ability to think strategically/analytically
- Demonstrable Built Environment security experience within a controlled project lifecycle and RIBA stage environment.
- Experience in performing technical and non-technical assessments of physical security access control/intrusion detection
- Understanding of relevant security concerns from a property perspective.
- Ability to demonstrate exceptional service delivery in a similar working environment.
- SME: Counter Terrorism; Blast Effects; Hostile Vehicle Mitigation Expertise.
- Experience of working in a multi-client service organisation in a relevant field.
- Practical experience in negotiation skills that have achieved positive outcomes.
Qualifications And Accreditations
Essential criteria:
- Membership of a relevant professional body; examples being Chartered Security Professional, Member of Security Institute, RSES etc.
- Security Clearance – Minimum at SC on appointment, with a commitment to undertaking DV clearance
- Will also hold an Engineering / security qualification such as CEng / IEng or Level 6 Professional Diploma in leading/managing the security function.
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Qualifications
- Engineering / security qualification such as CEng / IEng or Level 6 Professional Diploma in leading/managing the security function.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Making Effective Decisions
- Communicating and Influencing
- Leadership
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Customer Perspective
- Commercial Acumen
- Property Market Knowledge
- Innovation
Alongside your salary of £70,968, Government Property Agency contributes £20,559 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).
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
Artificial intelligence
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.
We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the communities and wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and well-being and aim to create a sense of belonging in a workplace where everyone feels valued. 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.
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) 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 (opens in a new window).
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.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme (RIS) to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).
Please note - At this time GPA are unable to offer any Visa Sponsorship to candidates as we do not currently hold a visa sponsorship licence. Please do not apply for permanent roles with GPA if you will require your employer to take on the sponsorship of your current or any future visas.
Candidate must have SC to apply for this vacancy and must be willing to undertake DV once they are in the role.
Sift
The sift is due to take place week commencing 5th September 2026.
As part of the application process, you will be asked to include a CV
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