Head of Media Analysis Hub - GCS

Job summary

About the Role

As the Head of Media Analysis Hub (G6), you will lead and build the strategic analytical capability of the government’s Media Analysis team. You will directly manage the Grade 7 Analysis Leads, providing executive oversight, technical direction, and strategic coherence across all analytical operations.

This role requires a senior leader who combines deep technical expertise in threat intelligence, OSINT, and digital forensic methodologies with the strategic gravitas needed to advise Ministers, senior officials (SCS), and cross-government committees. You will be ultimately accountable for the quality, accuracy, and operational impact of the team’s information environment assessments, while driving the communications response framework to foreign interference, coordinated inauthentic behavior, and disinformation.

Due to the nature of the work, you will regularly handle SECRET and TOP SECRET intelligence briefings and will need to obtain DV clearance.

Job description

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Leadership & Team Management

• Manage & Develop Leadership: Direct line management of G7 Analysis Leads, fostering their professional growth, strategic thinking, and ability to manage analysts under high-pressure conditions.
• Team Strategy & Vision: Set the strategic roadmap for the unit, continuously evolving analytical methodologies, ways of working, and operational structures as threat vectors mutate.
• Resource & Tooling Ownership: Manage team resourcing, commercial tool procurement (e.g., social listening platforms, digital forensics software), and technological investment.

2. Technical Direction & Analytical Rigour

• Set the Analytical Standard: Maintain ultimate accountability for the rigour, objectivity, and quality of all intelligence products, daily information environment summaries, and crisis briefings.
• Future-Proofing Capability: Drive the integration of advanced analytical techniques, including LLMs, AI-driven data processing, synthetic media/deepfake detection, and network analysis tools.
• Expert Oversight: Oversight of Information Environment assessments regarding coordinated inauthentic behavior (CIB), bot network architectures, and foreign state-backed information operations.

3. Senior Stakeholder Engagement & Strategic Advice

• Ministerial & SCS Briefings: Act as the primary technical authority on information environment analysis to No10, Ministers, Civil Service leaders, and cross-government Directors of Communications.
• Cross-Government Leadership: Lead the broader inter-departmental "information environment analysis community," establishing strong operational linkages with threat analysts, the Cabinet Office, and communications insight colleagues.
• Strategic Incident Guidance: Advise senior leaders on high-stakes communications interventions, using internal playbooks to recommend when to pre-bunk, counter false narratives versus exercising strategic silence.

4. Policy Frameworks & National Capability

• Governance & Playbooks: Own and update national response frameworks for information incidents, ensuring playbooks reflect emerging digital tactics.
• Whole-of-Government Upskilling: Leverage team insights to build systemic capability across all government departments, raising baseline awareness and counter-disinformation resilience.

Person specification

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

• Senior Strategic Leadership: Proven track record of leading, managing, and inspiring high-performing analytical or operational teams (preferably managing other team leaders/managers) through complex, high-scrutiny environments.
  
  
• Deep Subject Matter Expertise: Recognised expertise in threat intelligence, OSINT, counter-disinformation, or digital network analysis, with a comprehensive understanding of adversarial tactics (CIB, synthetic media, state-backed influence campaigns).
  
  
• High-Level Stakeholder Influence: Exceptional executive communication skills, with a proven ability to brief Ministers, Senior Civil Servants, and non-technical leaders concisely under tight time constraints.
  
  
• Data & Technical Literacy: Demonstrated ability to oversee advanced data analytics, visual intelligence dashboards, and the strategic integration of AI/LLM toolsets into analytical workflows.
  
  
• Crisis Management & Resilience: Experience maintaining operational stability, strategic focus, and team wellbeing during high-profile national incidents or fast-moving crises.

• Social Research: Ability to setup and apply social research to the media analysis to assess impact on audiences of divisive narratives

• Media Analysis: Experience of analysing digital communications across all social media channels

• Evaluation: Proven experience in evaluating communications effectiveness

• Security Clearance: Must hold or be willing to hold Developed Vetting (DV) clearance.

Desirable Criteria

• Prior experience working within national security, intelligence, defence, or international counter-disinformation taskforces.

Ways of Working & Operational Requirements

• Crisis Oversight: Accountable for leading response strategies during major national incidents, requiring flexible working, out-of-hours availability, and weekend escalation oversight (compensated via TOIL or Overtime).
• Shift Rotas: Strategic oversight of early-morning shift rotas (06:00 starts) managed by G7 Leads, with occasional early working required to align with high-priority Ministerial briefings.

Additional information:

Cabinet Office policy is that a minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. For some roles, due to their nature and the business need, this may be up to 100%. Requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.

Behaviours

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

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Changing and Improving
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

Technical skills

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

• Presentation

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £76,454, Cabinet Office contributes £22,148 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 which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and employer contributions of 28.97%.
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by one day per year up to a maximum of 30.

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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Application process

For your application, you will need to submit your CV outlining any employment history, experience and qualifications relevant to this role. You will also need to submit a personal statement of no more than 1000 words, outlining what makes you a suitable candidate for this role using information that can be found in the job description.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be undertaken using the experience section of your CV.

Selection process

If you are selected to be interviewed you will be assessed on the following

• Behaviours
  • Seeing the big picture
  • Changing and improving
  • Delivering at pace
  • Working together
• Your employment history from your CV
• A presentation, details of which will be sent to candidates attending interview

Expected timeline (subject to change)
Expected sift date – tbc
Expected interview date/s – tbc
Interview location - 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

Further Information

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to Cabinet Office from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Government Recruitment Service via cabinetofficerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website

Please note that this role requires DV clearance, which would normally need 10 years’ UK residency in the past 10 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.

Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (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.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).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 : Emma Turner
• Email : emma.turner@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

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

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and wish to make a complaint, then in the first instance you should contact Government Recruitment Service by email at : cabinetofficerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission at info@csc.gov.uk. For further information on the Recruitment Principles and bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission, please visit their website at: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/.

Attachments

Cabinet-Office-Employee-Offer Opens in new window (docx, 762kB)Cabinet Office Terms and Conditions - External 2025-02-20 Opens in new window (docx, 83kB)