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Job summary

Main area
Cyber Operations
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 8b
Contract
Fixed term: 14 months (until 31/10/2026. Secondment only for current NHS Employees)
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
990-TD-14997-E
Employer
NHS England
Employer type
NHS
Site
Wellington Place/Hexagon House/Wellington House
Town
Leeds/Exeter/London
Salary
£83,792 - £97,365 per annum (includes a RRP payment of 30% and exclusive of HCAS)
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
27/08/2025 23:59

Employer heading

NHS England logo

Cyber Security Lead (Analyst) - Consulting

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

The Security Lead (Consulting) is focussed on ensuring that the NHS’s systems operate from a cyber resilient architecture, looking at people, processes and technology. The role is part of a small team that supports all functions (Protective Monitoring, Threat Operations, Incident Management and Engineering) within the Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC) with the delivery of technical and innovative solutions and the implementation of processes to support day to day output. 

Cyber Operations purpose is to support safe care and build public trust by building NHS England’s cyber resilience and enabling the wider health system to be cyber resilient, supporting Transformation Directorate’s purpose of delivering the best care and outcomes for the NHS.

The Cyber Operations sub-directorate consists of 4 operational areas:

  • Cyber Security Operations Unit (CSOU) - SIO
  • Cyber Delivery Unit (CDU).
  • Cyber Improvement Programme.
  • Chief Information Security Office Function (CISO)

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 Security Lead (Consulting) you will:

  • Support cross-team initiatives and interactions between teams including Engineering, Protective Monitoring, Threat Operations and Incident Management teams within the CSOC.
  • Providing specialist knowledge and expertise in a diverse range of cyber security areas related to Engineering, Protective Monitoring, Threat Operations and Incident Management.
  • Designing and the implementation of automation to optimise activities and processes across the CSOC.
  • Technical support with the design, configuration, and operation of CSOC defensive cyber capabilities and its infrastructure including cloud technologies.
  • Contribution to complex incidents and investigations, supporting large scale incidents across the NHS estate.
  • Supporting with capturing lessons learned from incidents and implementing, tracking improvements based on the lessons.  
  • Extensive understanding of technical design principles and creation of supporting written documentation.
  • Collaboration and stakeholder management across the wider NHS engineering and architectural teams to support CSOC defensive monitoring.  
  • Identification and implementation of CSOC improvements, that supports how the CSOC delivers protective monitoring and incident response to the NHS.
  • Represent Head of Security – Consulting at management meetings, reporting on team output and 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
  • Delivering value for money.

If you would like to know more or require further information, please visit https://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.

If you are successful at interview, we will run an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) in the Electronic Staff Record system (ESR). This transfer gathers valuable information from a previous or current NHS employer to support the onboarding process, including; statutory and mandatory competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement.  You will have the opportunity throughout the recruitment process to inform us if you do not consent.

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 (Analyst).

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 is  short 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 and Experience

Essential criteria
  • Extensive knowledge of concept, procedures and processes of Security Information and Event Management (SIEM); ability to utilize related applications to protect organizational networks from cyber risks.
  • In-depth knowledge of modules, processes and technologies of Information Security Operation Centre (ISOC); ability to detect, response and utilize related platform and applications to perform cyber security initiatives.
Desirable criteria
  • Working knowledge of the tools and techniques used for creating software, hardware, networking and application infrastructure; ability to meet information security objectives while using these

Skills

Essential criteria
  • Demonstrable knowledge of and ability to use a variety of tools and techniques for conducting, automating, simplifying and enhancing system testing.
Desirable criteria
  • Working knowledge of concepts, issues and techniques of endpoint security; ability to ensure security compliance of endpoint devices in various circumstance

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Masters level degree or equivalent level of experience.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Apprenticeships logoMindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Disability confident committedStep into healthAccredited Living Wage Employer

Applicant requirements

This post will require a submission for Disclosure to be made to check for any unspent criminal convictions.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Lee Chafer
Job title
Head of Security (Lead)
Email address
[email protected]
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