Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Head of Security Incident and Response
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Bristol, London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Reading, Warrington, York
Job Summary
Defra is the UK government department responsible for safeguarding our natural environment, supporting our world-leading food and farming industry, and sustaining a thriving rural economy. Our broad remit means we play a major role in people's day-to-day life, from the food we eat, and the air we breathe, to the water we drink.
Digital, Data, Technology and Security (DDTS) is the trusted team for digital across the entire Defra Group.
We have around 1000 colleagues across DDTS and our ambition is to make it easier and faster than ever for people to interact with Defra. If you are ready to drive innovation and push boundaries, we want to hear from you. Join us and together we will create a great place for living, and a green and healthy future for all.
Find Out More About DDTS
Defra digital, data and technology blog
Defra Jobs
Job Description
The Head of Security Incident and Response provides operational leadership of the Defra Group Security Incident Response Management (SIRM) capability, ensuring the organisation is prepared for, and able to respond effectively to, security incidents ranging from routine events to significant security incidents.
As the senior lead for security incident management, the role oversees incident response policy, governance and operational coordination, directs the response to complex and high-impact incidents, and provides authoritative advice and recommendations to senior stakeholders.
Operating across the Defra Group, the postholder ensures a consistent, risk-based approach to incident management, protecting organisational assets, maintaining stakeholder confidence, and supporting the resilience of critical services and business operations.
The role leads the Defra Group's approach to security investigations, including unauthorised disclosure cases, ensuring robust governance, effective investigative oversight, and informed decision-making by senior stakeholders.
Please note for this role you will require SC Clearance. To gain SC clearance all applicants are required to have been a UK resident for a minimum of 5 years. If this requirement is not met, the individual will not be able to progress their application further.
Person specification
Responsibilities
- Define and maintain Security Incident Response Management playbooks for Defra group, providing clear policy, process, responsibilities, and governance for tackling security incidents across core Defra, agencies and ALBs.
- Coordinate across all parts of Defra group to draw on best practice, align Security Incident Response Management processes and integrate with group level approach.
- Lead on security incident response management relating to all levels of incidents, including dealing with complex and varied situations where no clear guidance is available, assimilating available information and making clearly reasoned recommendations to senior stakeholders.
- Responsible for performance of the Security Incident Response Management team including all decision-making associated work allocation and completion of all activities.
- Report on security incidents to security governance groups, including agreeing reporting processes and thresholds will all areas of the business, and overseeing analysis, identification of trends and root cause analysis.
- Coordinate and lead Security Incident Response exercises across physical, personnel, information and cyber security incidents.
- Lead on investigation of leaks and other security breaches on behalf of Defra group, conducting investigations in accordance with policy and in collaboration with Cabinet Office where appropriate.
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.
Skills And Experience
- Demonstrable experience of managing security incidents and providing advice across multiple security disciplines, including physical security, personnel security, information security, risk management, data protection and cyber security.
- Ability to build and maintain effective relationships across organisational boundaries, including with senior stakeholders, security teams, law enforcement partners and the wider UK security community.
- Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret complex information and provide clear, evidence-based advice and recommendations.
- Proven ability to think strategically, identify emerging risks and opportunities, and ensure delivery aligns with evolving business and security priorities.
- Experience of managing complex and diverse workloads, coordinating activity across multiple teams, and overseeing sensitive investigations and incident responses.
- Experience of leading teams and influencing outcomes in high-pressure environments where decisions often need to be made with incomplete information.
- Proven experience in protective, cyber and/or information security, together with a recognised professional qualification (e.g. CISMP, CSMP, CPP, CISM, BCI or equivalent), or evidence of working towards achieving such a qualification.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Making Effective Decisions
- Leadership
- Communicating and Influencing
Salary and benefits
Alongside your salary of £56,375, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £16,331 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, Strengths and Experience.
The Civil Service marks each element of the selection process on a merit basis. You can visit the gov.uk website for further information on the Civil Service rating scale.
Ensure you have tailored your CV and Personal Statement to the'skills and experience' section of the job advert by providing examples on how you are suitable for the role using the STAR method.
Please ensure you demonstrate clearly, within your personal statement, how you meet these requirements, as the information you provide will form a key part when the panel is scoring your application.
For further information on STAR, you can check out our Hints and Tips document.
Application process
As Part Of The Application Process, You Will Be Assessed On Your Experience. This Will Be Evaluated By Looking At Your CV And Personal Statement, So Please Provide The Following And Ensure Your Experience Is Clearly Demonstrated
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
- A CV
- A 750 word Personal Statement: Referring to the'skills and experience' sections of the job advert, please demonstrate how you are suitable for the role by providing relevant examples.
Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
Sift
Sift will begin shortly after the advert closes.
Should there be a large number of applications, an initial sift will be conducted using your personal statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment or interview.
Interview
If successful at sift, you will be invited to an interview where you will be assessed on the Behaviours listed above, as well as Strengths.
Sift and Interview dates are to be confirmed. Please note that these may be subject to change.
Interviews will be held face to face at our offices in York, Bristol and London, further details will be provided if successful at sift.
For further information on Success Profiles, you can visit the links below and watch our videos on DefraJobs.
Behaviours
Experience
Strengths
Further Information
Location
As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s).
Where the location is ‘National’ the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra’s location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.
The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations.
Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee.
The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location, and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time.
Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD.
Reserve list
A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.
Near miss
Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be considered for other positions in Defra which may be at a lower grade, but have a potential skills match.
Merit Lists
Where more than one location is advertised, candidates will be posted in merit order by location. You will be asked to state your location preference on your application.
Childcare Vouchers
Any move to Defra 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; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.
Salary
New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants
“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
Location