Manager: Government Security Group

The Government Security Group is transforming the Government’s approach to protective security to ensure it is fit to meet the challenges of the digital age. This role offers an exciting opportunity to work in a fast-paced, dynamic team, with a breadth of stakeholders including other Government departments, National Technical Authorities, Agencies and to contribute to delivering improved security across Government.

Do you want to help secure His Majesty’s Government and deliver key HMG objectives? In Government Security Group (GSG), we’re at the heart of leading, enabling and assuring Government security. We recruit people who are motivated to help improve and secure HMG.

If you’re interested in doing this then read on, especially if you think security isn’t for you. 

The Government Security Group is the centre of the Security Function, based within the Cabinet Office. GSG is transforming the Government’s approach to protective security to ensure it is fit to meet the challenges of the digital age. These roles offer an exciting opportunity to work in a fast-paced, dynamic team, with a breadth of stakeholders including in other Government departments, the National Technical Authorities and the Agencies, and to contribute to delivering improved security across Government. 

Our best bits and key objectives: 

GSG is the strategic centre of the security function. There are around 11,000 of us working in different departments across Government who join together to protect HMG from attacks and disrupt attempts to break our security. 

We can’t list all our teams here, but as an idea of what you could be working on we have a diverse range of roles and areas such as: 

• Cyber Operations (stopping attacks on HMG systems and infrastructure)
• Red Teaming (exercising our ability and experiences to ethically ‘hack’ government systems to better develop our security)
• Strategy and Policy (developing the rules and guidance on anything from securely sharing with foreign partners/countries to setting risk on vetting and security)
• ROSA (Building SECRET IT to keep our secrets safe for the foreseeable) 
• HR/People/Finance functions (managing millions of taxpayer money effectively and proportionally, developing our staff and creating a great culture to work in). 

We have a range of roles and opportunities on offer. You don’t need to be a cyber and/or security expert, we want people who want to be part of our team doing great things, with a passion to deliver HMG objectives and a motivation to learn and develop. We’re committed to tailoring L&D to suit your needs so you’ll have opportunities to strengthen your skillset and experiences to progress within GSG and the wider Cabinet Office. 

This campaign is looking for Higher Executive Officers to work across the following work streams:

HEO Security Profession Talent Manager 

Who are we? GSG is a large, friendly team, based in a number of cities across the UK – Bristol, Glasgow, London, Manchester and York. We come from all backgrounds and walks of life.

We think differently to each other, and we like it that way! We are proud to think outside of the box and work in ways that suit our individual needs best, regardless of role or grade:

• Many of us work compressed hours or part time and we respect individual reasons why. We champion work/life balance, allowing our team to fulfil their commitments. We’ll support you in your passion projects and personal development, with recent examples including writing a book, volunteering and finishing a PhD. 
• We work in a hybrid way, splitting time between home and the office.
• GSG staff come from a range of professional backgrounds providing a blend of skills and experience to deliver our objectives. You don’t need to have a security or cyber background, not all of us do, but we’re connected in our passion for securing HMG. 
• We support our people’s learning and development (L&D): staff receive at least 10 days dedicated to L&D each year. GSG invests £1,500 in team members’ L&D and regularly encourages and supports wider L&D opportunities too.
• We care deeply about Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and hold ourselves to account as a Government department to ensure we’re representative of the country.
• We serve. Alongside wider Cabinet Office EDI networks, we have our own GSG EDI objectives, workstreams and groups all delivering initiatives and changes to create an inclusive, diverse and happy workforce.  

HEO Government Security Centres (GSeC) Business Support Officer

HEO Cyber Engagement and Assurance Advisor

Applicants are invited to nominate the specific post and location that they would like to apply for, though the variety of positions on offer will allow us to invite successful candidates to join the team in a role that we feel will suit their individual skills and talents.

These posts are in a national team that works a hybrid work pattern with occasional travel required to London and other national offices.

Role 1. HEO Security Profession Talent Manager (2 Posts)

Based either in Glasgow, York or London

The Professions Team ensures that everyone working in security can develop the skills they need to have fulfilling careers. We work closely with our leaders, corporate colleagues, staff networks, other professions and external delivery partners to prioritise and promote investment and engagement in talent development, learning and development, diversity and inclusion, and our employee reward package. 

Since our inception several years ago, we have developed the Security Profession career framework, a centrally funded training programme, created two in-house Leadership Development Programmes, introduced Level 4 & 6 Apprenticeship Programmes, designed the Cyber Fast Stream for the Civil Service’s flagship leadership programme and improved the learning offer for our Cyber teams. 

These are really exciting positions for someone who is looking to gain experience in a role which is cross-cutting, as we work with all departments across Government. You will gain exposure and experience in all aspects of our current talent, leadership and learning portfolio and support our future ambitions. You will also have the opportunity to work on corporate projects, like our Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) and Communications Strategies.

These roles will see you work across our talent and learning landscape and manage your own portfolio. You will play a key part in building talent capabilities aligned to our mission and values to ensure organisational talent is ready to meet current and future business needs. We would love to hear from candidates that can evidence their experience in either Communications & Marketing, D&I, L&D, Talent and/or people management or in any field relevant to the services we deliver. 

Key Responsibilities:

The post holder will be responsible for:

• Further diversity, equality and inclusion within the profession delivering on our Diversity & Inclusion Strategy across Government, ensuring best in class attraction and development practices.
• Manage and deliver one of our Talent Development Programmes 
• Support the delivery and continuous improvement of our core offerings in Talent, Leadership and Learning and Development (L&D).
• Use the latest digital tools and innovations to promote talent interventions and establish our employer brand as a leader in the marketplace.
• Define new and creative ways to engage with our audiences and deliver on our organisational mission.
• Participate in cross-government groups and activities, clearly communicating Profession interests.
• Act as a champion for the team promoting the services offered and highlighting the impact delivered.
• Provide visible and credible leadership to our talent cohorts by being supportive and development focused. Create a sense of community, improve productivity and engagement and encourage peer learning and support. 
• Work on projects and initiatives to increase L&D output and communication of L&D initiatives. 
• Curate and facilitate workshops and establish a network of internal resources and external providers.
• Crafting and conveying information, using strong communication skills to deliver messaging to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Monitor and manage the GSP mailboxes, handling a range of queries from within the Group and other Government Departments. This may include supporting colleagues with their L&D requests, or supporting team leads with data requests, administration, logistics, events and urgent issues.

Role 2. HEO Government Security Centres (GSeC) Business Support Officer (2 Posts)

Based in 1 Post GLASGOW and 1 Post YORK

The Government Security Centres (GSeCs) are centres of excellence within HMG responsible for delivering shared security services to Government departments and public bodies.

The GSeC team sits in the Directorate of Security Capabilities within Government Security Group (GSG). The team coordinates the work of GSeCs with one another and with GSG, works to expand the customer base and revenue stream of the GSeCs, and seeks to ensure that GSeC products and services align with GSG’s wider strategic vision.

To assist in achieving these goals, an opportunity has arisen for two HEO Business Support Officers within the GSG GSeC team. 

Reporting to one of 3 x Assistant Heads for GSeC Liaison, the successful candidates will play an integral part in enabling the data collation and secretariat functions that underpin much of the team’s work, in driving forward the stakeholder management on which that work depends, and in providing the practical capabilities to enable the team’s day-to-day operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide secretariat function for various working groups and committees, including disseminating invitations, managing attendance and recording and circulating minutes;
  
• Support Liaison Leads in their engagement with relevant stakeholders x-HMG by attending relevant meetings and other fora, assisting in the maintenance of stakeholder relationships and the identification of opportunities to collaborate;
  
• Engage with GSeC Liaison Leads to collate weekly updates on GSeC activities and disseminate to senior colleagues;
  
• Collate GSeC performance data commissioned by Liaison Leads and transpose to master record;
  
• Format transposed performance data and upload to Tableau to produce visual representations, to be turned into data dashboards for dissemination to Liaison Leads for highlighting and message prep;
  
• Be responsible for designing, implementing and maintaining clear and efficient system of data storage/dissemination within GSeC team using Google Drive;
  
• Provide coordination for GSeC team activities, including travel, meetings and team away days.

Role 3. HEO Cyber Engagement and Assurance Advisor (2 Posts)

Based in Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester, or  York 

The Government Security Cyber Directorate covers all aspects of Defensive Cyber Security for Government from strategy, policy and standards to the operational deliverables of incident, risk and vulnerability management. Following publication of the Government Cyber security strategy, we are responsible for implementing and monitoring the transformational work in the strategy across Government, managing investment from the National Cyber Security Programme, outreach and engagement across Government and the wider public sector and more. If you’re passionate about protecting the government this is the team for you.

Our Cyber engagement team is responsible for relationship management with government departments and coordinating engagement on central cyber policy initiatives, capability development, national cyber programme spend and incident coordination. We work with lead government departments, arms length bodies (ALBs) and the wider public sector including the NHS and blue light services as well as the devolved administrations. You will work with Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), security advisers and cyber policy colleagues across government as well as within the broader Cabinet Office and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). You will build and maintain strong networks across your portfolio of organisations and you will be responsible for supporting these organisations to implement our new assurance scheme for government, GovAssure, providing a clear and objective view of the cyber risk currently faced by government organisations. As part of your role you will also have the opportunity to contribute to policy, strategy and incident response work as well as senior briefings and submissions.

We are keen advocates of continuing professional development and there will be ample opportunity for both on the job and formal cyber training as you become an integral part of a dynamic and growing team.

This role also attracts a skills based Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) Recruitment Retention Allowance. This will follow a DDAT skills assessment based on your experience and skills. This post is national and the team works in a hybrid work pattern with occasional travel to London. Cabinet Office have access to a number of government offices in the UK. Please talk to us about how we can accommodate your geographic circumstances.

Key Responsibilities

• You will manage relationships with government departments and coordinate engagement on central cyber activities, including GovAssure, with oversight and support from a Senior Executive Officer (SEO). This will include holding regular meetings and maintaining a working brief for senior officials on departments’ key issues and contact points.
• You will monitor the implementation of the new cyber assurance regime for government, GovAssure, across your portfolio, working with departments to support them to continually assess and assure their most critical systems. You will be expected to share insights that you have obtained through your engagement to support the development of GovAssure.
• There will be opportunities to contribute to specific engagement projects and to work with the GovAssure programme team to provide programme and / or communications support such as on reporting, branding and comms products for external users.
• There will also be opportunities to contribute to and attend external events such as government security conferences and Q&A panels.

Experience (All Roles): As demonstrated in your CV & Statement of Suitability.

Person Specification Essential Skills (All Roles):

• Manage change effectively in a constantly evolving environment, including identifying new/smarter ways of working and ensuring lessons learned are acted upon.
• Experience of working collaboratively and building strong relationships with a range of stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to influence stakeholders at senior and junior levels.
• Analysis and evaluation skills.

Desirable skills (All Roles):

• Experience, interest or understanding, security professions, cyber or information technology across Government.
• Relevant business/role qualifications or membership of professional bodies.

Locations: 

Each post is advertised at different locations, when selecting locations in the application process, it is expected that you will be based at one of the advertised locations for that role. Do not select a role with a location you are not prepared to travel/commute and work at on a regular basis each week.

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Changing and Improving
• Seeing the Big Picture

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Communicating and Influencing

• Learning and development tailored to your role.
• An environment with flexible working options.
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
• A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and average employer contributions of 27%.
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by one day per year up to a maximum of 30.

Job contact :

• Name : GRS
• Email : cabinetofficerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : cabinetofficerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk