Cyber Security Lead

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 Cyber Governance, Risk and Compliance, operating within the Chief Information Security Office (CISO) Function. This team is responsible for providing leadership with accurate information regarding cyber and information security risks in a timely manner, helping to ensure the resiliency of national services and Critical National Infrastructure.
You will play a pivotal role in developing and maintaining an understanding of the security risk exposure across the organisation, working alongside other CISO Functions to maintain a functioning security framework, enabling proactive security risk management.
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.
The post of 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.
**As a Cyber Security Lead, your responsibilities include**:
Deputise for the Head of GRC, leading the GRC team and managing outputs as required.
Embed and mature an organisational security operating model to support risk-driven, evidence-based decision making.
Oversee the security policy lifecycle, ensuring policies are harmonised, accessible, and risk-focused.
Manage and track security risks and issues on behalf of the CISO, working with stakeholders to maintain risk within tolerance.
Design, implement, and monitor key controls to reduce risk, provide assurance, and meet compliance obligations.
Provide effective security metrics and reporting to governance boards, senior leaders, and audit functions.
Conduct research and analysis using diverse data sources to inform security best practices and decisions.
Promote ‘security by design’ across directorates, strategies, and business plans.
Monitor organisational changes and support audits of high-risk activities, assets, and third parties.
Ensure compliance with statutory, regulatory, and contractual obligations, aligning security activities with business priorities.
Streamline assessment and audit processes to reduce operational burden.
Collaborate with product and service teams to identify and remediate compliance gaps and manage associated risks.
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.
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.
Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification for more information about the role and responsibilities.
Please ensure your supporting statement includes demonstratable evidence and specific examples on how you meet the criteria for each of the key skills specified. This will be used in both the shortlisting and interview processes
**Important**: Please be aware there are residency requirements you need to meet:
Please be aware that should you be successful in this position, you will be hired to the job title of Security Lead and this job title is advertised to attract the right skills needed for the role.
Secondments
Please note that the reason for the fixed term of this contract is short term vacancy