About the job

Job summary

Introduction / Purpose

Do you have a background in Cyber Psychology or Human Factors in Cyber Security with a passion for applying your expertise in real world settings to deliver high impact research that makes a difference? Are you keen to play an active role applying your expertise to help current and future UK Defence and Security challenges? If so, Dstl want to hear from you.
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We have an exciting opportunity for three Applied Cyber Psychologists or Cyber Security Human Factors Specialists to join a growing community of experts delivering rigorous advice, training and research in support of the UK’s national Defence and Security requirements. These roles offer a unique opportunity to apply your psychology and / or human factors expertise to a mixture of short and long-term challenges in a dynamic setting where you can have real impact.

You will join an established, diverse and supportive team in preparing, leading and delivering research to understand how humans operate in the cyber domain, respond to cyber-attacks and mitigate against cyber threats.  

Dstl recognises the importance of diversity and inclusion as people from diverse backgrounds bring fresh ideas. We are committed to building an inclusive working environment in which each employee fulfils their potential and maximises their contribution

We particularly welcome female and ethnic minority applicants and those from the LGBTQI community, as they are under-represented within Dstl at these levels.

Job description

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At Level 4, Dstl Cyber Psychologists or Cyber Security Human Factors Specialists understand and apply psychological and human science theories, models and research methods to real-world challenges in the cyber domain, explaining their relevance to a range of customers across the Defence and Security enterprise. You will be working as part of a team and engaging with a varied customer base. You will be passionate about the pursuit of ethical working, scientific excellence and professional standards and will enjoy testing these principles in a dynamic workplace. You are eager to expand your knowledge, learn about new domains, and deepen your understanding of scientific theory. Your communication skills will help you to build relationships and identify opportunities to test new mechanisms and processes to solve complex and shifting challenges, communicating them to both experts and non-specialists.

At Level 5, Dstl Senior Cyber Psychologists or Cyber Security Human Factors Specialists (in addition to Dstl Level 4) draw on research and relationship skills to collaborate with suppliers from industry and academia, who deliver some / elements of our research. When collaborating with suppliers, you have the knowledge and experience to assure the research is scientifically sound and delivers successfully, helping to maximise its value for our customers. You will also craft and scope future research which will help the Ministry of Defence to deliver a robust, evidence-based and assured capability. As part of this, there may be opportunities to lead and / or deliver exciting and innovative research within inter-disciplinary teams.

At Level 6, Dstl Principal Cyber Psychologists or Cyber Security Human Factors Specialists (in addition to Dstl Level 4 and 5) provide technical direction and assurance for our research studies and drive their exploitation. You will hold leadership positions within our Science and Technology Programmes, specifically in relation to research supporting our cyber customers. You will help to deliver a confident, capable and resilient workforce of cyber professionals. You will have a drive to deliver, and an ability to empower others to deliver, as well as excellent engagement skills with customers, which lead to strong relationships. There will be days when your priorities will need to shift unexpectedly, or you will be posed with an ambiguous challenge; the successful candidates should be able to thrive in such conditions. 

At Level 4, 5 and 6, the skills you use in your role will enable you to engage with our clients and support others to deliver robust research evidence and impact. These skills include: strong research experience in designing, leading, and delivering studies; competence in assuring and collaborating with industry, academic, and international partners; a focus on impact; and strong interpersonal skills. You will enjoy working with an open and friendly team and recognise the value each of us brings.

In this role you will:

At Dstl Level 4

• Support the delivery of psychology and / or human factors research against Defence and Security challenges, either through leading discrete pieces of work (where you are responsible for your own research and analysis) or assuring research delivered by industry and academia.
• Work collaboratively as part of inter-disciplinary teams (including working with partners across industry, academia and internationally) to deliver innovative and effective solutions to our customers’ problems.
• Provide support to planning and conducting psychology and / or human factors – focused exercises and trials, as well as analysing the data produced.
• Develop your understanding of the UK Defence and Security domains.

At Dstl Level 5 (in addition to above)

• Provide technical leadership and advice throughout the planning, execution and delivery of psychology and / or human factors research, identifying exploitation opportunities to maximise the impact of Science and Technology across Defence and Security.
• Provide timely, impartial, coherent, evidence-based advice and input to projects in response to customer requirements, across Government and Ministry of Defence.
• Scope, manage, assure and review work conducted by our suppliers to ensure high quality research is delivered that aligns with customers’ expectations; support and empower the supplier team to own the delivery and exploitation of research.
• Provide rigorous review of approaches and outputs, identify technical risk and dependencies and lead on project to programme reporting.
• Champion a project across a broad network, work effectively with customers, and build good relationships with researchers employed in other parts of MOD.

At Dstl Level 6 (in addition to Dstl Level 4 and 5)

• Build relationships with senior customer communities across Government in order to champion robust decision-making and maximise the impact of research.
• Provide technical expertise to the Dstl Programme leadership in the direction and development of future research programmes.
• Work with customers and the military to understand their needs and challenges and shape their requirements for advice; identifying, encouraging, and implementing innovative solutions.
• Align your research with overall programme objectives and seek opportunities for collaboration and exploitation with complementary research being conducted elsewhere in the research programme; ensuring coherence of advice to customers and maximum value for money for Defence and Security.
• Promote partnership behaviours when working with our suppliers through our commercial frameworks.
• Provide advice to support our endeavours to build and sustain external capability (in academia and industry).
• Build employee engagement and create an environment that nurtures excellence.

As required, you may also work across other S&T research programmes, sharing your expertise in personnel research with those from other disciplines.

Person specification

We are looking for people who have:

At Dstl Level 4

• Experience of designing and delivering research, as a psychologist or cyber security human factors specialist.
• The ability to communicate complex research to technical and non-technical audiences, selecting an appropriate method of communication to maximise the impact of the research (i.e. technical reports, briefing memos, presentations etc.).
• Self-motivation and is comfortable working independently under their own initiative, but with the ability to work collaboratively within inter-disciplinary teams.
• A commitment to continued professional development and a willingness to up-skill in new / emerging areas and / or work outside your immediate area of expertise.

At Dstl Level 5 (in addition to above)

• Experience in leading and influencing the technical direction of psychology and / or human factors research, to ensure high impact research is delivered.
• Considerable knowledge of psychological, and / or human factors theories, models and concepts.
• Experience of research design, methods and analysis, particularly quantitative.
• Experience of scoping, managing and delivering research.
• An ability to work collaboratively and across disciplines, and maintain strong working relationships with a broad range of individuals.

At Dstl Level 6 (in addition to Dstl Level 4 and 5)

• Experience of generating and implementing the strategic direction for a team of researchers / analysts; inspiring enthusiasm for new programmes of work.
• Experience of managing the demand for work from customers within and outside of their organisation and implementing solutions that reflect on strategic priorities and team capability.
• Consultancy skills to support customers to define their research requirements; provide constructive challenge; and understand what outcomes they want to achieve.
• The ability and resilience to handle changing requirements, to manage customer expectations and communicate effectively with colleagues to support reprioritisation, often at pace and in periods of high pressure.
• Experience of leading, overseeing and assuring the work of others to deliver high impact research and managing its technical direction.
• The ability to engage and influence others at various levels of seniority to maximise the impact of research.

At Level 4, 5 and 6, we are interested in candidates who have experience of working in the following technical disciplines: Cyber Psychology; Cognitive Psychology; Human Factors, Human-Computer-Interaction.

We are particularly interested in candidates who have experience of applying their knowledge of these technical disciplines to understand the human component of the following domains:

• Autonomy and AI
• Decision making in high-stakes environments
• Evaluating the effectiveness and usability of network defence tooling
• Human-machine teaming
• Messaging and Communications

Important Information

Our work in defence, security and intelligence requires our employees to be UK Nationals who are able to gain a high level of security clearance to undertake the projects we are involved in to protect us from security threats. For this reason, only UK Nationals will be able to apply for this role. If you are an international or dual-national candidate, and you think you have the skills we need, please consider applying to any of our government, security or defence partners.

All Dstl posts are RESERVED and will require Full UK Developed Vetting. Candidates should have resided in the UK for the past 10 years.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £27,620, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory contributes £7,457 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.We want you to have your best chance of success in our recruitment process, so if at any stage of the application process you would like help or assistance please contact the Dstl Recruitment Team (dstlrecruitment@dstl.gov.uk) and we will do all we can to support you.

Interviews will be held in March 2023; please make it clear on your application which level you are applying for Dstl Level 4, Level 5 or Level 6.

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 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

Open to UK nationals only.

This job is not open to candidates who hold a dual nationality.

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.