Deputy Director – Cyber Assurance and Response

Remote working (anywhere in the UK)

On behalf of energy consumers, Ofgem ensures a reliable, safe, affordable, and environmentally sustainable energy supply for every UK household and business, playing a crucial role in expediting the transition to Net Zero and a carbon-neutral energy system. 

As the leader of interdisciplinary teams within our Professions and Flexible Resourcing operating model, your primary responsibility is to efficiently plan, oversee, and deliver a substantial programme of work on time and within budget. This role demands exceptional people and enterprise leadership, emphasising ongoing professional development and a steadfast commitment to Ofgem’s values. 

You will be accountable for successfully delivering a significant programme, ensuring coordination across teams, Ofgem, and various professions. This includes developing, planning, and delivering work outcomes with clear objectives, milestones, and success metrics. Budget and resource requirements will be agreed upon and met under your supervision, alongside effective scoping of work and clear responsibilities within the teams. 

Encouraging colleagues’ development within the profession and teams is key, as is the joint responsibility, with the Personal Development Lead (PDL), for colleagues’ welfare and pastoral care. Additionally, you will actively undertake diversity and inclusion initiatives within your team and the wider organisation. 

In your role, you will oversee Industry Assurance Reviews and Inspections, ensuring compliance with energy sector regulations, guidance, standards, and best practices. Acting as a role model for the Cyber community, you will manage a team of experts, coordinate with external parties, and recruit, train, and retain an effective, motivated team. 

Responsibilities extend to collaborating with governmental departments, including the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, maintaining trend analysis of inspection and testing outcomes, building effective relationships with stakeholders, and supporting information, enforcement, and penalty cases/notices. 

In the realm of corporate responsibilities, you contribute to developing strategic programmes, represent Ofgem across government and the energy sector, set the strategic direction, and engage in strategic workforce planning. This involves recruiting, developing, and deploying staff to meet organisational priorities, collaborating with internal and external stakeholders, including directors, portfolio managers, finance, heads of professions, and various entities. 

As a leader in this role, you will see the big picture, providing intellectual leadership and contributing to the overall success and impact of Ofgem’s initiatives. 

Ofgem works on behalf of energy consumers to ensure that every household and business in the UK can rely on a safe, affordable and environmentally sustainable energy supply.  We are playing a vital part in accelerating the transition to Net Zero and a carbon neutral energy system – a goal that everyone wants to achieve.  Whatever your role, you’ll be playing your part in creating new energy solutions that are great for customers, and great for the environment. 

Ofgem has a culture of inclusion that encourages, supports, and celebrates the diverse voices of our colleagues. It fuels our innovation and connects us closer to the consumers and the communities we serve. Everyone is welcome—as an inclusive workplace, our employees are comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work.  

Purpose 

Lead a group of multi-disciplinary teams in the context of operating in a Professions and Flexible Resourcing operating model. Plan, oversee and deliver a significant programme of work on time, on budget and to a high standard through effective management and support of multiple teams. Demonstrate exceptional inclusive people and enterprise leadership, ongoing professional development and commitment to Ofgem values. 

Key Outputs and Deliverables 

Industry Assurance Reviews and Inspections – To audit, inspect and review industry assessments, so that the sector is complying with regulations, guidance, standards and best practices, supporting enforcement if required. 

Industry Assurance Test and Response – To test individual operators, subsector and sector wide to ensure compliance with regulations, guidance, standards and best practices, and is meeting Cyber resilience Government risk acceptance levels, supporting enforcement if required. 

Being a role model for the Cyber community, modelling Civil Service values, to foster and develop the profession across Government. 

Managing a team of Cyber experts and coordinating with external parties to accelerate the delivery of regulatory cyber inspections, assurance checks, testing and enforcement activities for the UK energy sector. 

Working alongside other Governmental departments (including Department of Energy Security and Net Zero – DESNEZ, and National Cyber Security Centre – NCSC) – to ensure regulation, inspections and testing frameworks are appropriately applied, communicated, documented and enforced for the sector. 

Maintaining a view and trend analysis of inspection and testing outcomes, including external Cyber risks and threats affecting the sector. This will help inform the development of future cyber security capabilities required for the sector.  

Oversee the continued development of inspection and testing frameworks for the sector, in a consultative manner with industry, DESNEZ, NCSC, internal and external research and development teams, other Government departments, international entities and academia where required. 

Demonstrate and measure the success of the team’s activities, identifying areas for improvement. Delivering and championing best practice and technical success stories across the sector through means such as topical papers and events. Demonstrate and measure the success of the collateral created by the function. 

Maintains currency of intelligence relating to the sector related cyber security threats, vulnerabilities, controls and incidents, facilitates and/or promulgates to internal and external parties as appropriate. 

More information about the role and the responsibilities are included in the attached role profile.

Essential Criteria

• Solid expertise / capability in Cyber, as demonstrated by proven record of high performance and substantial achievements in past positions. 
• Proven aptitude for leadership, e.g., through formal or informal management of others. 
• Experience of engaging, advising, influencing and collaborating at all levels, including diverse colleagues, senior managers, internal and external stakeholders, whilst projecting credibility and self-assurance. 
• An effective and engaging communicator, with experience working effectively with key external stakeholders. 
• Recent and relevant skills and experience in any of the following areas:  

• • Operating or architecting in an Operational Technology (OT, ICS, IACS) environment, specifically related to managing the security of critical systems. 
  • Developing strategic plans for managing security in a rapidly evolving risk landscape. 
  • Understanding of cyber security risks affecting Industrial Control Systems, and duly considering appropriate and proportionate security controls to mitigate such risks. 
  • Managing security and/or performing risk assessments associate Operational Technology. 
  • Working knowledge of IEC62443 series in critical infrastructure and challenges faced with introducing security controls. 

• Able to achieve DV clearance.

Desirable Criteria

• Client facing experience with strong negotiation and coaching skills with experience of running investigations and incident response activities. 

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Please refer to the Candidate Pack and Role Profile attached for full details.

Alongside your salary of £75,000, OFGEM contributes
£20,250 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Ofgem can offer you a comprehensive and competitive benefits package which includes; 30 days annual leave after 2 years; Excellent training and development opportunities; The opportunity to join the generous Civil Service pension which also includes a valuable range of benefits; Hybrid working (currently 1 day a week in the office but is in review), flexible working hours and family friendly policies. Plus lots of other benefits including clean and bright offices based centrally, engaged networks and teams and an opportunity to contribute to our ambitious and important targets of establishing a Net Zero energy system by 2050. This exciting blend of professional challenge and personal reward identifies career opportunities at Ofgem as something to get excited about.

This role has a minimum assignment duration of 2 years. An assignment duration
is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them
to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through
building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above.
This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions.
Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and
conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your
personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any
absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you
to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

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).

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Job contact :

• Name : Sandra Segal
• Email : recruitment@ofgem.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@ofgem.gov.uk