Head of Infrastructure and Cyber Security

Hackney is one of the most dynamic and progressive local authorities in the UK. We are a resilient, vibrant, and creative borough in the heart of London, with strong, diverse communities and a powerful set of shared values.

Over the past twenty years, the Council has built up first-class services, outstanding public infrastructure, and a reputation for excellence, innovation, and ambition. We are leading the way on essential work such as our fight for equity in Hackney with a particular focus on becoming an actively anti-racist borough. But the work doesn’t stop there, we are proactive in our approach to bringing fairness to all aspects of life including gender, neurodiversity and across the poverty divide.

Hackney Council is looking for an exceptional technology leader to shape, protect, and enable the platforms, infrastructure and cyber capabilities on which our services depend.

As Head of Platform, Infrastructure and Cyber Security, you will provide strategic and operational leadership across cloud and hybrid infrastructure, cyber security and security operations, networks, connectivity, telecommunications and colleague platforms.

This is a critical corporate leadership role. You will be accountable for ensuring that Hackney’s technology environment is secure, resilient, scalable and capable of supporting essential services for residents and colleagues.

You will lead the Council’s platform, infrastructure and cyber security strategies, balancing service continuity and operational control with the drive to modernise legacy systems through modern tech paradigms such as Infrastructure as Code (IaC), automated CI/CD pipelines, FinOps, and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE). You will establish clear technical roadmaps, professional standards and investment priorities that support Hackney’s wider digital transformation.

Cyber security will be central to the role. You will lead the Council’s security operations and threat-intelligence capabilities, oversee preparedness and response to cyber incidents, and ensure vulnerabilities and risks are identified, understood and addressed. You will work closely with information governance, data protection, architecture and service leaders to embed proportionate security, privacy and identity controls across the Council.

You will also be responsible for the strategic direction and operational performance of the Council’s cloud platforms, networks, connectivity, telephony and colleague technology. You will ensure these services remain available, responsive and accessible while supporting new ways of working and improved productivity.

We need a visible, calm and credible leader who can maintain operational grip during significant incidents and periods of change. You will lead multidisciplinary technical teams, establish high professional standards and create an inclusive culture in which colleagues are trusted, developed and accountable.

This is not only a technical leadership role. You will advise senior leaders and elected Members, translating complex technology, security and investment issues into clear choices about risk, cost and organisational impact. You will need to communicate with authority, respond constructively to challenge and build trusted relationships with auditors, regulators, suppliers, partners and public-sector networks.

You will lead major infrastructure changes and migrations while protecting service continuity. You will also ensure that external partnerships, contracts and technology investments deliver value for money, reduce avoidable dependency and strengthen the Council’s long-term capability.

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

– Significant senior leadership experience across platforms, infrastructure and cyber security.

– A strong record of leading complex infrastructure modernisation, cloud migration or platform transformation.

– Experience maintaining resilient and highly available services in a complex or regulated environment.

– Proven leadership of cyber incident preparedness, response, containment and recovery.

– Experience developing cyber security strategies, zero-trust approaches and effective identity and access controls.

– Strong leadership of multidisciplinary technical teams through organisational and technological change.

– An ability to engage colleagues and build a strong organisation-wide cyber security culture.

– Confidence advising senior leaders and elected Members on complex technical, financial and security risks.

– Evidence of introducing innovative solutions that improved resilience, productivity or user experience.

– Experience delivering measurable efficiencies, savings and value through platform consolidation, cloud optimisation, automation or improved commercial arrangements.

– Strong supplier, procurement, budget and risk-management experience.

– Experience with modern engineering practices including Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), Infrastructure as Code (IaC), DevSecOps, and cloud FinOps optimization.

This is an opportunity to lead a strategically important service, strengthen Hackney’s cyber resilience and create the secure technology foundations needed for the Council’s future.

If you combine deep professional credibility with inclusive leadership, sound judgement and the ability to deliver complex change, we would like to hear from you.

Success in the First 12 Months

– Establish a cohesive, multi-year platform and cyber security roadmap aligned with the CTO’s strategic vision.

– Deliver initial self-service platform tools and DevSecOps capabilities, improving developer velocity and release confidence.

– Embed robust FinOps practices across cloud environments to drive cost visibility and efficiency.

– Enhance threat detection, incident response readiness, and zero-trust security postures across core infrastructure.

As a Council, our most outstanding asset is our staff, who are highly dedicated to serving our residents and committed to our goals as an organisation.

If you want to work in a place where you can represent our values so we achieve the best for our residents, please click on the apply button below.

We operate a fair and open anonymous selection process. Therefore, we do not accept supporting statements or CV’s.

To proceed with your application, you will need to create an account and submit your application.

As part of the application process, you will need to complete a number of competency based questions. These questions allow you to demonstrate your suitability for the role and provide examples of your skills, knowledge and experience outlined in the job description.

We understand the benefits of using AI in the workplace. However, if you are thinking of using this tool to submit your application, we ask you to think about what value it will add. AI tools tend to lack the personal touch and authenticity we value in candidates. We encourage you to showcase your unique knowledge and skills using your own voice.

Closing date for applications: 11 October 2026 (22.59)

Interview date: TBC

Please note – we reserve the right to close applications early if we receive a high number of applications.

We are also working towards our vision, which is to be a place for everyone; where residents and staff can be proud. In order to achieve this, we are seeking individuals who embody our “PROUD” values: Purpose and Respect, where we foster belonging through active inclusion, kindness, and open dialogue; Ownership, where we champion proactive collaboration and accountability for our shared success; and Unity and Diversity, where we work as one Council to break down silos and champion anti-racist behavior.

Hackney Council works to eradicate discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.We also recognise that people can be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will also work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. We also welcome those interested in flexible working. We particularly welcome applications from disabled people, as this group is currently under represented in our workforce.

The Council has a dedicated employment support service (Hackney Works), which offers Hackney residents guidance in relation to applying for jobs. If you are thinking about applying for a job, please contact the Hackney Works team to find out what support is available: hackneyworks@hackney.gov.uk

Documents

• Head of Infrastructure and Cyber Security - JD/PS