Deputy Chief Information Security Officer (Cyber Operations) - PB1

Job summary

Why this role matters

The Deputy CISO (Cyber Operations) is the senior accountable owner for Home Office cyber defence and operational cyber security outcomes. The postholder provides enterprise-wide leadership and assurance over cyber operations, ensuring threats are detected and addressed, incidents are handled effectively, and cyber risk to critical services is understood, prioritised and reduced in line with business priorities and risk appetite.

One of two SCS Deputy CISOs reporting directly to the CISO, the role sets the strategic direction and operating model for cyber operations and enables effective governance and decision-making through clear metrics, management information and risk-based prioritisation. The role provides leadership of the Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC) functions and is accountable for building an integrated cyber operations capability across the Home Office. Over time, the postholder will provide line management and leadership to cyber leads operating across Home Office Digital business areas, ensuring a consistent and coordinated approach to cyber operations across the organisation.

The role operates at significant scale, supporting over 55,000 staff and hundreds of public-facing digital services and critical national functions spanning borders, migration, policing and identity services. It works closely with senior digital, technology and business leaders and maintains strong links with NCSC and cross-government cyber operations partners to deliver a coordinated, threat-led and outcomes-focused defence.

This is a senior strategic leadership role with enterprise-wide accountability for cyber defence and operational cyber security outcomes across the Home Office. As the Deputy CISO (Cyber Operations), you will set the vision, strategy and operating model for cyber operations, ensuring the organisation can detect, prevent, respond to and recover from cyber threats in line with business priorities, threat intelligence and risk appetite. The role is accountable for the effectiveness of enterprise cyber operational capabilities

As the cyber operating model matures, the role will also assume leadership and line management responsibility for cyber operational leads embedded across Home Office Digital business areas, driving consistency, collaboration and operational effectiveness across the cyber community.

You will provide senior leadership and direction across the full cyber operations lifecycle, including protective monitoring, vulnerability management, threat-led defence, incident management, security testing and human cyber risk interventions.

Job description

Key responsibilities

Your main day to day responsibilities will be:

• Setting and maintaining the enterprise strategy and operating model for cyber operations, aligned to the overall Home Office cyber security strategy, threat intelligence, risk appetite and business priorities.
• Providing senior leadership, assurance and line management across cyber operations, including protective monitoring, threat management, vulnerability management, incident response, security testing and human cyber risk management; developing senior operational leaders, setting professional standards and building a high-performing learning culture that delivers measurable reductions in cyber risk.
• Leading an integrated cyber operations community across the Home Office, including the future line management and leadership of cyber leads operating across Policing, Migration and Corporate business areas, ensuring effective coordination, capability development and delivery of cyber operational outcomes.
• Ensuring cyber operational tools and platforms, including risk and monitoring systems, deliver decision-grade insight to support senior leaders and effective management of cyber risk.
• Overseeing enterprise incident management arrangements, including preparedness, response and continuous improvement following incidents.
• Leading operational readiness and surge arrangements for major cyber incidents and periods of heightened threat, including coordinating cross-directorate response, setting incident objectives and decision points, ensuring timely escalation and clear senior briefings, and maintaining effective links with relevant cross-government response structures.
• Building strong, trusted relationships with senior business, digital, technology and security leaders across the Home Office and wider government, including NCSC and cross-government cyber operations communities.
• Deputising for the CISO as required, including representing the function on the CISO Senior Management Team (SMT) and supporting senior decision-making and governance.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

The successful candidate will need to demonstrate:

• Experience of setting and delivering enterprise cyber operations strategy and operating models aligned to organisational priorities and risk appetite.
• Leading enterprise cyber capabilities, including monitoring, threat management, vulnerability management, incident response and security testing.
• Leading organisational responses to major cyber incidents, supporting senior decision-making and driving continuous improvement in cyber resilience.
• Influencing and partnering with senior stakeholders to prioritise cyber risk reduction and resilience across critical services and major programmes.
• Experience of managing significant delegated budgets, commercial relationships and supplier spend to deliver strategic outcomes and value for money.
• Developing and leading high-performing cyber security teams, building capability, professional excellence and an inclusive culture.

Desirable criteria:

• CISSP, CISM, CRISC or similar.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £90,000, Home Office contributes £26,073 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%

Things you need to know

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

Online application:

Please follow the Job Advert instructions on the Civil Service Jobs website to apply online by 23:55hrs on 1st November 2026.

You will be asked to provide:

• A CV – (3 pages max) setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role. Please provide reasons for any gaps within the last two years.​
• A Statement of Suitability – (limited to 1250 words) providing examples of how your experience meets the essential criteria.​​ This is your opportunity to give examples and show how your skills and experience fit the job requirements.

When writing a supporting statement, it is important that you:

• Read the job specification so you are clear about the job requirements. Structure your personal statement to reflect the essential criteria listed in the advert.
• Make sure you provide evidence against each of the listed criteria - i.e. ‘experienced in leading high performing and diverse teams and promoting inclusivity.’ When have you led a team, how large, what did you do to promote inclusivity, how did you handle diversity?
• Ensure any evidence you provide demonstrates the impact of your actions in that situation, provide statistical evidence where relevant.

For more information on how to write a personal statement, click here.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 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.

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

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 to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : HO Digital SCS Recruitment team
• Email : HODigitalSCSRecruitment@homeoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : SCSRecruitment@homeoffice.gov.uk

Further information

The Commission publishes a guide that outlines its approach to handling a complaint under the Recruitment Principles. This can be accessed at http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitm…. We would recommend you read this guidance before submitting a complaint.

Complaints should be sent in writing to: Civil Service Commission, Room G8, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ.

Attachments

Deputy Chief Information Security Officer (Cyber Operations) - Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 3607kB)