About the job

Job summary

We're looking for somebody to join the Government Security team as Head of Physical Security and Incident Management.

Government Security is one of the youngest professions in the civil service, continually changing to develop high skilled, proactive security practitioners.

Now is an exciting time to get involved so if you think that you have the required skills and experience, we’d love to hear from you!

Job description

In this role your responsibilities include:

• Assessing potential risks and threats that DfT could face and providing recommendations for suitable security measures and precautions, while also incorporating insights from external experts as needed. Any risks that exceed the acceptable threshold should be reported to the Security Advisor, Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO), or relevant Directors.
• Developing and maintaining an effective and responsive assurance and risk management strategy that adapts to changing policy and delivers the timely assessment and assurance of appropriate resilience mitigations.
• Providing oversight of the Department’s internal resilience policies, ensuring that all aspects of preparing the organisation to respond to and recover from disruptive incidents are appropriately managed through effective planning and preparation.
• Leading the governance arrangements through effective interactions with Board-level sponsors and champions, and engaging with relevant boards and steering groups.
• Influencing and managing relationships with a range of colleagues (including DGs, Directors, policy leads, Security Liaison Officers and specialists) to ensure that they recognise the importance of protective security and accept recommended controls and procedures, explaining in a clear and collaborative way the need for proportionate security measures to be implemented.

For a more in-depth outline of the role please see the attached Role Profile.

Please note: although you can be based in our Birmingham office regular travel to/ attendance at the London office will be a mandatory requirement of the role.

Person specification

You will be part of the wider Government Security Profession; a community with a mandate to enable, manage and protect departments through modern security frameworks. From protective security to responding to incidents, you will help assess and mitigate risks for DfT, its Arms Length Bodies (ALBs) and industry customers, and across Government to protect civil servants, other public sector colleagues and the public we serve. You will work collaboratively with other Security professionals and teams.

Additional Information

A minimum of 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace, although requirements to attend other locations for official business, or carry out detached duty in another DfT workplace, will also count towards this level of attendance. 

We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities.  

Benefits

Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits. We offer generous annual leave, attractive pension options, flexible working, inclusive working environments and much more to support a healthy work/life balance. 

 

Find out more about what it's like working at the Department for Transport 

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.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV and personal statement. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

How to Apply 

When considering applying please look at how your experience relates to the role, and within your CV and Personal Statement (1000 word limit) please provide detailed evidence of your experience of the following: 

• Excellent verbal and written briefing skills adopting the most suitable tools and communication channels for the audience.
• Effective leadership, with the ability to adopt different leadership styles in different situations.
• Previous working experience of protective security and resilience, specifically in the areas of physical security, business continuity and incident management

Sift & Interview Dates 

The sift is due to take place 26th February.

Interviews are due to take place from 11th March.

This interview could be conducted via a video interview, details of which will be provided to you should you be selected for interview. 

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates. 

The selection process will be designed specifically for the role. As a result, your assessment will include: 

• an interview
• a briefing exercise

You’re encouraged to become familiar with the role profile, as you may be assessed against any of the criteria recorded within. 

The Department for Transport alongside other Government Departments recruit using Success Profiles. This means for each role we consider what you will need to demonstrate in order to be successful. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. 

For further information on Success Profiles visit our Careers website.   

Reasonable Adjustments

As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

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

If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Document Accessibility

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

This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you cannot access the information on our website for any reason, please email DRGComms@dft.gov.uk for assistance.

Further Information

For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit the How We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.

Pre-employment Checking

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.

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

Security

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.