Cyber Security Lead

Job overview

The post of Cyber Security Lead has been awarded a Recruitment and Retention Premia (RRP) in response to current labour market conditions. In recognition of this, the role attracts an additional monthly RRP payment equal to 30% per annum.

Please be aware that RRP is none contractual and subject to review.

NHS England's Cyber Operations team is at the forefront of safeguarding critical national healthcare services and ensuring patient safety through robust cyber resilience. The Cyber Security Lead role is a key part of the Security Consulting Team, operating within the Chief Information Security Office (CISO) function. This team provides specialist consultancy across NHS England, ensuring national services and Critical National Infrastructure are secure by design.

You will play a pivotal role in developing and implementing cyber-resilient architectures, providing expert advice and ensuring systems meet stringent security standards. Acting as a trusted advisor to project teams, you will embed secure practices into systems before they become live services, safeguarding data and operations across the NHS.

This role offers unparalleled opportunities to address challenges of national scale, contribute to improving healthcare outcomes, and enhance NHS cyber resilience. As part of a supportive and innovative environment, you will benefit from access to professional development, collaborative initiatives, and impactful work that directly supports patient care.

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As a Cyber Security Lead, your responsibilities include:       

Provide expert consultancy and guidance to ensure secure system design, governance, and compliance with frameworks like NIST Special Special Publications, ISO 27001/2/3, and NCSC guidelines.

• Set and embed security standards and patterns, aligned with best practices, to strengthen NHS England's cyber resilience.
• Lead threat modelling, security assessments, and risk mitigation efforts, delivering actionable advice to address identified vulnerabilities.
• Collaborate with stakeholders and teams to address challenges via DevSecOps practices, security reviews, and comprehensive risk analysis.
• Drive the development and implementation of NHS England's integrated cyber security strategy, defining objectives and addressing technical controls, risks, and issues.
• Act as a trusted advisor and subject matter expert, representing Cyber Operations at governance forums and during project lifecycles.
• Scope and review security testing reports, vulnerability assessments, and compliance audits to ensure robust application and endpoint security.
• Provide architecture modelling expertise to design and implement resilient, secure systems and services across NHS England.
• Support systems and services throughout their lifecycle, ensuring secure practices are maintained to minimise risks.   

Working for our organisation

The NHS England board have set out the top-level purpose for the new organisation to lead the NHS in England to deliver high-quality services for all, which will inform the detailed design work and we will achieve this purpose by:

• Enabling local systems and providers to improve the health of their people and patients and reduce health inequalities.
• Making the NHS a great place to work, where our people can make a difference and achieve their potential.
• Working collaboratively to ensure our healthcare workforce has the right knowledge, skills, values and behaviours to deliver accessible, compassionate care
• Optimising the use of digital technology, research, and innovation
• Delivering value for money.

If you would like to know more or require further information, please visit https://www.england.nhs.uk/.

Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in-person.

Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.

NHS England hold a Sponsor Licence; this means that we may be able to sponsor you providing the Home Office requirements are met. To be eligible for sponsorship through the Skilled Worker route you’ll usually need to be paid the ‘standard’ salary rate of at least £38,700 per year, or the ‘going rate’ for your job, whichever is higher. You can find more information on the Government website.