Personnel Security Controller

**Personnel Security Controller**

Here at Cognizant, we work with clients across the UK’s public sector to help modernise their businesses. As one of our largest growing business sectors, we guide our government, defence and healthcare clients through their digital transformation journeys.

In this role, you will be responsible to the Board of Directors for the strategic development of an effective personnel security culture within the company and the day-to-day management and delivery of personnel security policy, procedures, risk assessment, management and general security processes.

**Some of your key responsibilities will be to**:
The establishment and oversight of an organisation’s approach to Personnel Security including:

- Ensure that the company’s personnel security business processes are compliant with relevant legislation, and that the company operates according to the principles embedded in relevant Government standards.
- Facilitate where necessary visits and inspections by individuals representing either the Government or Contracting Authority and to ensure any relevant documentation, process or records are available for inspection.
- Interpreting, implementing and monitoring security controls for the appropriate maintenance of personnel security for National Security Vetted staff either in the employment of the company or subcontractor.
- Ensure that any aftercare responsibilities for individuals within the company’s network are undertaken to ensure compliance with current regulation and guidance for the holding of a National Security Vetting clearance.
- Responsible for ensuring the Board, and senior managers are aware of and discharge their security obligations and business choices in respect of personnel security risks and controls.
- Owning and maintaining a personnel security Risk Register where risks are identified, documented, tracked, mitigated and monitored.
- Taking clear ownership of all personnel security incidents/breaches or ensuring that oversight is kept if handled by other parts of the company.
- Ensuring that incidents, changes of circumstances or any other situation or event that may affect an individual’s ability to hold an NSV clearance are reported via the appropriate means to UKSV in their role as UK Vetting Authority for Government.
- Advising management on the interpretation and implementation of contractual and, where appropriate, legislative or regulatory security controls.
- Ensuring that processes are in place to brief/de-brief Security Check (SC) and Developed Vetting (DV) cleared staff who may travel to certain foreign countries, either on business or privately.
- Contributes to strategic plans, which satisfy the current and ongoing needs of the company’s business strategy, and its current and future capabilities.
- Co-ordinating the planning of appropriate security controls for a new contract or for the personnel security elements of employee controls in the event of insolvency, mergers or buy-outs.
- Arranging for appropriate security education and awareness training, ensuring that staff understand the scale, nature of the threats and security actions required.
- Ensuring that any breach of personnel security is immediately reported in accordance with Government requirements and contractual responsibilities.
- Ensure that the outcome of any security incident is recorded in breaches register, and a full report and impact analysis is passed to the Contracting Authority, or other Government organisation, where appropriate.

**The experience you will need to demonstrate to be successful**:

- Communicates and influences orally and in writing, to senior colleagues at both internal and senior external stakeholder levels.
- Can present complex technical and non-technical security information, concepts and intelligence to a wide range of audiences and stakeholders.
- Willing to challenge assumptions and ‘business as usual’.
- Actively manages strategic collaboration between stakeholders.
- Project/business leading skills to meet time and quality targets.
- Maintains an awareness of security technologies and thinking to drive strategic business development.