About the job

Job summary

At Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), we supply and maintain vital equipment and services for the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force. Together, we deliver a vast range of essential defence programmes, and strive for what's next. Because it helps keep our military at the top of their game and our nation safe – for today, and tomorrow.

We offer 25+ days’ holiday, flexible and hybrid working, enhanced parental leave schemes, shopping discounts, and an exceptional employer pension contribution of around 27%, to help work, work for you.

Nationality, visas and vetting: For security reasons this role is open to sole UK nationals only. A ‘sole UK national’ refers to an individual who holds citizenship solely in the UK, without dual citizenship or nationality from another country. We’re unable to offer visa sponsorship.

This role requires you to have lived in the UK for the last 5 years and obtain Security Check (SC) security clearance. Clearance must be obtained without any caveats that prevent you from carrying out the role you have been recruited for. If it isn’t obtained, or is obtained but with caveats that prevent you from carrying out the role, any conditional offer made to you will be withdrawn. Obtaining SC security clearance can be a lengthy process, and we reserve the right to withdraw any conditional offer made if the necessary security clearance isn’t obtained within 12 months.

Job description

Are you a Principal Cyber Security Consultant ready to lead a team of Cyber Security Consultants to support decision making across the lifecycle of multiple complex projects? We, at Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), currently have several exciting opportunities for Cyber Security Consultants to work within our Internal Technical Support (ITS) team. We provide specialist security and information assurance support to a huge variety of military projects and platforms. This covers combat aircraft and armoured vehicles to submarines, aircraft carriers and land-based communications. DE&S ensures the UK military have access to equipment with world leading capabilities that is resilient to cyber-attacks. This team makes a big difference to projects integral to supporting our Armed Forces!

Our team works closely with clients across a range of delivery teams as intelligent decision makers and subject matter experts (SMEs). Working within this challenging, fast-moving, and ever-changing environment, we offer great opportunities to develop your skills and knowledge with us to build a career in Cyber. You will be empowered to provide guidance and advice on areas including information risk management, architecture development, security accreditation, threat analysis, cryptography and information technology assessment within agreed time frames and budgets.

We are keen to attract, develop and retain Cyber Resilience specialists, therefore we will support and encourage your development in the following areas:

• Gaining Chartered Cyber Professional
• Knowledge of defence equipment & systems
• Knowledge and application of ICT/Security/Defence standards e.g. JSP/NIST/ISO27001 etc
• Information risk management
• Knowledge of evolving digital technology/applications e.g. AI/Digital twins/Quantum computing etc

You can choose your permanent workstation from the list below:

MOD Abbey Wood, Filton, Bristol, BS34 8JH

Kentigern House, 65 Brown Street, Glasgow, G2 8EX

RAF Waddington, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, LN5 9NB

HMNB Devonport, HM Naval Base, Devonport, Plymouth, PL2 2BG

MOD Manchester, Piccadilly Gate, Store Street, Manchester, M1 2WD

Please note, if MOD Abbey Wood, Bristol is not your permanent workstation, you will still be required to visit once a month. There will also be regular travel to other sites, both UK and overseas.

At DE&S, we champion flexible ways of working. Regular in-person attendance is required to promote the benefits of face-to-face collaboration alongside flexibility of hours to support work-life balance. Initially, you may be expected to attend more frequently to familiarise yourselves with the site, the team, and your role.

Due to the nature of security requirements, you may be required to undergo Developed Vetting (DV) clearance once in the post.

What you’ll be doing

• Develop artefacts and evidence used in the assessment of cyber risk, and considering the implications of changes to equipment design, offering mitigation advice in the process
• Build strong working relationships across all areas of the business, including interfacing with authorities like the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)
• Engage with internal and external stakeholders, to gain an understanding of their requirements and translate these into an agreed set of deliverables and outputs
• Implement and effectively develop cyber security guidance, policy, and tools
• Convert business objectives into tangible outputs and support the mitigation of the strategic cyber risk

Person specification

To be successful with your application, you'll need to show that you meet the following essential criteria:

• You will hold a relevant Level 6 qualification (Degree) in an Engineering or Science subject or clearly demonstrate equivalent experience
• You must hold professional registration with a recognised body such as BCS, Engineering Council or CIISec, or an equivalent internationally recognised body
• You will demonstrate to SFIA Consultancy Level 6 (SFIA Consultancy competence) and be a Member of the Institute of Consulting (MICS)
• You will hold qualifications in one of the following or equivalent: CESG Certified Professional / CISSP / CISM or with an equivalent internationally recognised body
• You will demonstrate experience and/or knowledge of applying recognised information security risk management frameworks such as ISO27005 or the NIST RMF, whilst demonstrating your ability to manage multiple projects and delivering to agreed expectations

In addition to the responsibilities above, the following technical competences and behaviours will be assessed at interview:

• Technical Risk Management (Expert)
• SFIA Framework – Consultancy (Level 6)
• Leadership
• Communicating and influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £61,600, Ministry of Defence contributes £16,632 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

Your application will go through the following stages of assessment:

1. Pre-sift - We will check that you meet any essential or eligibility criteria that are listed in the Person Specification section of this advert. On your CV, please clearly show how you meet the essential criteria.
2. Sift - Your CV will be assessed against the following categories, using a simple numerical scoring system: Key Achievements; Relevant Experience; Applied Knowledge and Skills

Please follow our guidance on CV writing for best chance of success.

1. Interview - If you're invited to interview, you'll be assessed against the Sift categories listed above, as well as the Technical Competences and Behaviours listed in the Person Specification section of this advert.

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

Open to UK nationals only.

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.