About Us
GCHQ is an intelligence, cyber and security agency with a mission to keep the UK safe. We use cutting-edge technology, ingenuity and partnerships to identify, analyse and disrupt threats. Working with our intelligence partners MI5 and MI6, we protect the UK from terrorism, cyber-attacks and espionage. At GCHQ you’ll do varied and fascinating work in a supportive and inclusive environment that puts the emphasis on teamwork.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of GCHQ, is the UK Government’s lead authority on cyber security. The organisation is at the heart of the Government’s cyber security strategy and has the aim of making the UK the safest place to live and work online.
The NCSC Private Sector Critical National Infrastructure (PS CNI) team is focused on meeting the NCSC’s first priority, accelerating progress on the cyber resilience of CNI to state threats. The team works across ten critical sectors (Chemicals, Civil Nuclear, Communications, Energy, Digital Services and Infrastructure, Food, Finance, Space, Transport, and Water) to identify the biggest risks to cyber resilience and then works with Lead Government Departments, Regulators and Industry to build a common understanding of the risks, set cyber security targets, and help organisations meet them.
Job Description
What will the successful candidate be doing?
The Sector Lead roles are responsible for leading our work in the Finance, Digital Services and Infrastructure, and Civil Nuclear sectors, where you will lead a diverse, high performing teams. Should other vacancies arise for Sector Lead roles, we will consider candidates for those roles as well.
You will be responsible for building a sound understanding of the sector, the systems that are critical to its functioning, and how its overall cyber security can be improved. This not only covers securing today’s infrastructure, but also helping to ensure future systems are secure by design.
Person Specification
You will have strong relationship management skills, broad cyber security and policy knowledge, the ability to be both aware of and use wider NCSC capabilities and the ability to build and deploy knowledge of the Sector. You will be expected to acquire relevant information assurance skills and capability in post and apply this to support the sector and NCSC and broader UK objectives; we are a collaborative and inclusive team and we will be keen to support you in meeting these upskilling requirements whilst you are in post.
The successful applicant will need:
• An awareness and/or experience of working in cyber policy and/or technical roles
• Experience in intelligence handling and dissemination
• An ability to lead the delivery of the entire NCSC offer to the sector, including providing guidance, advice and hands-on support. You will build cross industry knowledge sharing communities, and support incidents in the sector when they occur
• To demonstrate the abilty to manage a team
• The ability to use your understanding of the sector, policy and technical knowledge, in addition to the right expertise from across the NCSC to deliver measurable improvements
• An ability to build and maintain effective relationships with key partners in the sector. This includes close working relationships with the Lead Government Department overseeing the sector, the key private sector organisations who run critical services within the sector, as well as the regulators and other relevant agencies.
You will also need to be able to travel between our key locations (including our offices in London, Cheltenham and Manchester) and where the sector(s) are largely based. This can be combined with hybrid working arrangements, which will include office working and opportunities for homeworking.
GCHQ Competencies
The NCSC will assess you against competencies used by the UK Intelligence Community. These competencies are based closely on the Civil Service Behaviours. The level 4 competencies you’ll assessed against are:
• Seeing the Big Picture (Civil Service Behaviour Equivalent: Seeing the Big Picture)
• Driving Innovation and Change (Civil Service Behaviour Equivalent: Changing and Improving)
• Working Collaboratively (Civil Service Behaviour Equivalent: Working Together)
• Leading Inclusively (Civil Service Behaviour Equivalent: Leadership)
• Delivering Outcomes (Civil Service Behaviour Equivalent: Delivering at Pace)
Further information on Civil Service Behaviours
Benefits and Rewards
At NCSC and GCHQ, we are proud of our inclusive and supportive working environment that’s designed to encourage open minds and attitudes. As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we are committed to helping you fulfil your potential. With comprehensive training and development opportunities, tailored to your needs and the requirements of your work, we will enable you to flourish in your role and perform to the very best of your abilities.
You’ll receive a starting salary of £69,611.
For roles based in London, you’ll receive an additional £6,250 London Allowance.
Other benefits:
• 25 Days Annual Leave automatically rising to 30 days after 5 years' service, and an additional 10.5 days public and privilege holidays
• An environment with flexible working options
• Opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme
• Interest-free season ticket loan
• Cycle to work scheme
• Facilities such as a gym, restaurant and on-site coffee bars (at some locations)
• Paid parental and adoption leave.
• Excellent pension scheme - Civil Service pension
Equal Opportunities
At GCHQ diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission. To protect the UK, we need a truly diverse workforce that reflects the society we serve. This includes diversity in every sense of the word: those with different backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, ways of thinking and those with disabilities or neurodivergent conditions. We therefore welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including those from groups that are under-represented in our workforce such as women, those from an ethnic minority background, people with disabilities and those from low socio-economic backgrounds.
Find out more about our culture, working environment and diversity on our website:
We’re Disability Confident
GCHQ is proud to have achieved Leader status within the DWP’s Disability Confident scheme. This is aimed at encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people. As a Disability Confident Leader we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants who best meet the essential minimum criteria for this position, will be offered an interview, if it is practical for us to do so. (This is known as Offer of an Interview.) To secure an interview for this role, the minimum criteria (in order of application process) are:
• Demonstrate awareness and/or experience of working in cyber policy and/or technical roles – assessed at application sift
• Demonstrate experience in intelligence handling and dissemination – assessed at application sift
• Demonstrate experience of managing large teams – assessed at application sift
Selection Process
What to Expect
Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:
• Online Application
• Application sift, looking at your motivation for the role and the organisation
• Interview
• If successful, you’ll receive a conditional offer of employment
Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 6 - 9 months to process including vetting, so we advise you to continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer.
Before You Apply
To work at GCHQ, you need to be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. You can read our full eligibility criteria here.
This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community undertakes. You can find out more about the vetting process here.
Please note we have a strict drugs policy, so once you start your application, you can’t take any recreational drugs and you’ll need to declare your previous drug usage at the relevant stage.
Before you apply, we advise you to consider setting up a separate email address for your contact with us, to ensure your personal and application correspondence remain separate. Try to avoid having identifying features in your email address, such as your first and/or surname and date of birth. This is good practice and will help you to manage your application with us more discretely.
The role is based in either Cheltenham, London or Manchester, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application, as we do not offer relocation costs.
Please note, you should only launch your application from within the UK. If you are based overseas, you should wait until you visit the UK to launch an application. Applying from outside the UK will impact on our ability to progress your application. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member.
The closing date for this role is: Tuesday 20th May 2025 at 23:55.
Right to Withdraw Statement:
Please be aware that we withhold the right to bring forward the closing date for this role from the original closing date once a certain number of applications have been received. Please be mindful of this and submit your application at your earliest convenience to avoid disappointment.