Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Sefton; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust invites a strategic CISO to lead cyber security, information governance and digital risk management across its multi-site NHS group. The role shapes policy, drives resilience, and ensures DSPT, GDPR and Cyber Essentials Plus compliance while enabling safe, digital-enabled care delivery.

The postholder will translate national policy into practical controls, build governance, manage incidents, and partner with clinical and operational leaders to

Qualifications

• Experience in senior leadership within large complex organisations.
• Proven ability to translate policy into security strategy.
• Experience with DSPT, GDPR and Cyber Essentials Plus.
• Budget management experience.
• NHS or healthcare sector experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead cyber security and information governance strategy.
• Maintain group-wide digital assurance and risk framework.
• Ensure compliance with data protection and cyber standards.
• Provide strategic leadership on cyber risk and incident response.
• Oversee cyber threats, vulnerabilities and incidents.
• Embed security in all digital programmes.
• Develop policies and procedures for security and governance.
• Advise senior leaders and governance forums.
• Develop organisational capability in cyber security and data protection.
• Manage external regulators and partners.

Skills

Stakeholder comms

Negotiation & influencing

Strategic planning

Analytical judgement

Board engagement

Supplier management

Education

Master's degree in Cyber Security

Postgraduate Leadership qualification

CISSP / CISM / CRISC certifications

Job description

Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

The closing date is 12 November 2026

The Chief Information Security Officer is a senior Group leadership role within Group Digital Services, accountable for leading a coherent, resilient and risk-based cyber security function across the UHL Group.

The postholder will provide strategic leadership for cyber security, digital assurance and security governance, ensuring that the Group's digital estate, information assets and critical services are protected in a way that supports safe, effective and sustainable care delivery. The role will operate within the group-wide Digital TOM, where cyber security, information governance and digital risk management are brought together through a unified assurance framework to reduce variability, strengthen resilience and ensure compliance with national standards.

Working across the UHL Group's multi-site environment, the postholder will translate national policy, strategic ambition and technical assurance requirements into practical controls, operating models and leadership behaviours that enable digitally enabled transformation. The role will support the UHL Group's five-year ambition to make best use of digital and data, contribute to the analogue-to-digital shift described in the national 10-year plan, and ensure that innovation, interoperability, patient trust and clinical safety are underpinned by robust cyber resilience, secure digital design and proportionate assurance.

Main duties of the job

The CISO will establish a Group-wide cyber and information governance framework for the UHL Group. You will shape cyber strategy, define risk appetite, influence investments, and interface directly with boards to embed security, resilience, and compliance into all digital service delivery. This includes delivering comprehensive cyber assurance, information governance, and digital risk management while ensuring strict compliance with DSPT, GDPR, and Cyber Essentials Plus.

To succeed, you must translate these expectations into a robust operational capability. This involves leading incident response, forensic activity, privacy assessments, access controls, and breach investigations, ensuring clear accountability across all sites. Crucially, you will need to align with the UHL Group Target Operating Model by balancing Group-wide security standardisation with practical, locally responsive solutions tailored to individual hospitals and services.

Ultimately, success depends on building trusted relationships with clinical and operational leaders so that security is viewed as a core enabler of safe care rather than a barrier. By protecting patient confidentiality and fostering trust, the role directly supports the UHL Group's five-year analogue-to-digital transformation, enabling the secure rollout of the single patient record, seamless data sharing, interoperability, and future AI adoption.

About us

NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group (UHL Group) was formed on 1 November 2024, born from a shared aim to improve the care we provide our communities.

We are one of the largest employers in region, with over 18,900 colleagues who are dedicated to caring for our communities - from birth and beyond.

For the 630,000 people across Merseyside, we are their local NHS. We provide general and emergency hospital care, alongside highly specialised regional services that extend to more than two million people in the North West.

We operate from five hospital sites:
Aintree University Hospital is the single receiving site for adult major trauma patients in Cheshire and Merseyside, and hosts a number of regional services including an award-winning stroke facility.
Broadgreen Hospital is home to several elective surgical, diagnostic and treatment services, together with specialist patient rehabilitation.
Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital provides specialist services in cardiothoracic surgery, cardiology and respiratory medicine, both in the hospital and out in the community.
Liverpool Women's Hospital specialises in the health of women and babies, delivering over 7,200 babies in the UK's largest single site maternity hospital each year.
The Royal Liverpool University Hospital is the largest hospital in the country to provide inpatients with 100% single en-suite bedrooms and mainly focuses on complex planned care and specialist services.

Job responsibilities

Lead the development and delivery of the UHL Group cyber security and information governance strategy

Establish and maintain a Group-wide digital assurance and risk management framework

Ensure compliance with national and regulatory standards for data protection and cyber security

Provide strategic leadership on cyber risk, resilience and incident response

Oversee the management of cyber threats, vulnerabilities and security incidents

Embed security and assurance into all digital programmes and services

Lead the development of policies, standards and procedures for cyber security and information governance

Provide expert advice and assurance to senior leaders and governance forums

Develop organisational capability and culture in cyber security and data protection

Manage relationships with external regulators, partners and assurance bodies

Skills

• Ability to communicate highly complex, sensitive or contentious information to senior leaders and large stakeholder groups where barriers to acceptance may exist
• Advanced negotiation, influencing and relationship management skills in highly regulated and politically sensitive environments
• Ability to formulate long-term organisational strategies covering cyber security, information governance, assurance and resilience
• Highly developed analytical and judgement skills involving interpretation of complex technical, legal, financial and organisational information
• Board-level presentation and stakeholder engagement experience
• Strategic supplier management, assurance review and regulatory inspection experience

Qualifications

• Master's degree in Cyber Security, Information Security, Information Governance, Digital Leadership, Computer Science or related discipline, or demonstrable knowledge and operational experience to an equivalent level
• Advanced theoretical and practical specialist knowledge acquired through degree-level study, supplemented by postgraduate specialist training, management qualifications and substantial strategic leadership experience, or demonstrable knowledge and operational experience to an equivalent level
• CISSP, CISM, CRISC, ISO 27001 Lead Implementer, Data Protection Practitioner or equivalent professional accreditation
• Postgraduate qualification in Leadership, Governance, Risk Management, Organisational Development or related discipline

Experience

• Significant senior leadership experience managing multiple services relating to Cyber Security, Information Governance, Information Assurance or Digital Risk within a large and complex organisation
• Experience developing and implementing organisation-wide cyber security, information governance and assurance strategies
• Experience managing substantial budgets, specialist teams and complex supplier relationships across multiple service functions
• Experience analysing highly complex organisational, regulatory, technical and risk issues requiring evaluation of multiple options and strategic decision-making
• Experience operating within a large NHS organisation or integrated healthcare environment
• Experience leading enterprise-scale cyber resilience, assurance or regulatory compliance programmes

Knowledge

• Advanced knowledge of cyber security, information governance, digital assurance and organisational risk management
• Extensive knowledge of data protection, records management, confidentiality, cyber resilience, information assurance and regulatory compliance
• Knowledge of Microsoft 365, Azure, identity management, cloud security, security operations and enterprise technology governance
• Knowledge of digital transformation, assurance frameworks and security-by-design principles
• Knowledge of NHS information governance requirements and national digital policy
• Knowledge of enterprise architecture, operational resilience and technology assurance methodologies

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust