Offensive Security and Threat Intelligence Specialist

Job summary

Corporate Hub
Salary: £46,743
Band: UKRI Band E
Contract Type: Open Ended – Permanent (Compressed hours & flexible working patterns available)
Hours: Full-time (Flexible working available)
Location: Keyworth, Nottingham or Polaris House, Swindon- Hybrid working available

Closing Date: Sunday 14th June 2026

Step into the world where science meets robust information security. Protect the technology that powers groundbreaking discoveries and be part of the team that safeguards the future of Big Science. Here, you’ll collaborate with leading engineers, researchers, and technologists to tackle the most pressing security challenges in a fast-paced, innovative environment. Every day offers you the chance to defend vital data and systems, ensuring that the pursuit of scientific excellence continues securely and seamlessly.

Discover the difference you can make when you bring your expertise in information security to an organisation at the forefront of global research - working alongside some of the brightest minds and most advanced facilities in the world.

Job description

Security

As a minimum, due to the nature of this role, candidates must be eligible for clearance in line with UK National vetting guidelines and willing to undertake the process. Please indicate eligibility in the written submission. Candidates not meeting this level of clearance will not be considered.

The level of clearance required is security check

About the role

The UKRI CIO Group plays a pivotal role in managing and optimising the organisations critical enterprise technical services that underpin and enable UKRI’s business capabilities. Within the group a team of Information Security Experts support the delivery of modern, secure, resilient and scalable services across a larger federated team of Digital, Data and Technology professionals to deliver impact across the organisation and the wider UK research and innovation system.

Join us for this rare opportunity to apply your experience in offensive security and threat intelligence in a dynamic, fast-paced security operational and strategic role in an organisation at the heart of research and innovation in the UK. Your broad remit is to identify real-world risks to diverse technical landscapes, uncovering security vulnerabilities, actively exploiting findings, assessing additional impacts through post-exploitation, and providing proactive advice to teams on the most effective remediation strategies. The role encompasses the full scope and delivery of penetration testing, including zero-knowledge network assessments, insider threat evaluations, credentialed application exploitation, and rigorous testing of human and physical security controls across the UKRI estate. In addition to these offensive security responsibilities, the specialist manages the external penetration testing call-off contract to ensure that UKRI receives high-quality, tailored assessments both internally and externally, supporting a continuous programme of security improvement.

Your responsibilities:

• Complete targeted penetration tests and red team exercises to identify exploitable vulnerabilities.
• Develop and maintain offensive tooling to simulate adversary tactics and techniques.
• Monitor and analyse threat intelligence feeds to identify emerging threats and relevant TTPs.
• Produce technical threat reports and briefings to inform security posture and decision-making.
• Conduct proactive threat hunting based on intelligence-led hypotheses and anomaly detection.
• Support risk assessments with insights from offensive operations and threat landscape analysis.

Person specification

The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I).

Applicants will be able to demonstrate skills in line with the cyber security risk manager roles using the Government Security Profession career framework.

Essential

• Significant hands‑on professional experience delivering penetration testing and/or red‑team activity across enterprise environments. (S&I)
• Deep technical capability across mixed technology environments, including operating systems, networking, identity/authentication, and cloud platforms (e.g. Azure and/or AWS). (S&I)
• Demonstrable proficiency using common offensive security tools and techniques (e.g. Nmap, Burp Suite, Metasploit) to identify and exploit real‑world attack paths. (S&I)
• Ability to adapt quickly to new technologies, vulnerabilities, and offensive security techniques. (S&I)
• Proven ability to produce clear, high‑quality penetration testing reports that articulate risk, impact, and remediation for technical and non‑technical audiences. (I)
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills, with sound professional judgement when assessing security weaknesses and advising on pragmatic remediation. (I)
• Evidence of continued professional development in offensive security, demonstrated through relevant certifications, structured training, or equivalent practical experience. (S&I)

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £46,743, UK Research and Innovation contributes £13,541 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

We recognise and value our employees as individuals and aim to provide a favourable pay and rewards package. We are committed to supporting employees' development and promote a culture of continuous learning

A list of benefits below:

• An outstanding defined benefit pension scheme
• 30 days' annual leave in addition to 10.5 public and privilege days (full time equivalent)
• Employee discounts and offers on retail and leisure activities
• Employee assistance programme, providing confidential help and advice
• Flexible working options

Plus many more benefits and wellbeing initiatives that enable our employees to have a great work life balance!

For further information on our benefits please see:

Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

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

Application Guidance:

How to evidence the criteria:

You are encouraged to use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) in the cover letter to evidence your ability to meet the ‘person specification’ criteria in the job description. Cover letters should be no more than two sides of A4 (minimum font size 11). For examples of the STAR method, please visit: ’.

Behaviours:

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

• Managing a quality service
• Changing and improving
• Delivering at pace
• Seeing the Big Picture
  

Selection Process Details

We know different organisations use different processes, so we wanted you to know what to expect from us.

Stage 0 - Pre-application

If you would like to find out more about the role we encourage prospective applicants to get in touch with us to discuss the opportunity.

Stage 1 - Written Submission

Candidates will need to submit a written application which consists of 2 parts:

• A CV – this should contain your work experience and any skills, qualifications and accomplishments relevant to the jobs you have completed based on the shortlisting criteria.
• A personal statement (max. 1000 words) - this statement should be used to provide examples of how you meet the essential criteria listed in the shortlisting criteria.

Applications will be reviewed for suitability and shortlisted.

Stage 2 - Interview

Applicants who are successful at stage 1 will be invited to interview. The interview will generally be 1 hour in length. The interview will consist of competency-based questions. A presentation will be required.

Stage 3 – Outcome

The panel outcome is decided and the successful candidate will be offered verbally first, followed by a formal offer letter.

We encourage candidates to apply as soon as possible, as we reserve the right to close this vacancy early.

Please apply online, if you experience any issue applying, please contact Recruitment@ukri.org

Please note, if you will require sponsorship to work in the UK, as part of your sponsorship application, you and any dependants travelling with you, will be required to pay costs directly to The Home Office for the application before you start your role with us. UKRI is normally able to reimburse some, or all of these fees after you have become an employee and this can be discussed with the Hiring Manager. For more information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/how-much-it-costs or contact Recruitment@ukri.org.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.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

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.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.

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

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 : UKRI Recruitment Team
• Email : Recruitment@ukri.org

Recruitment team

• Email : Recruitment@ukri.org