Chief Secure Design & Risk Leader - Hybrid, Pension

DWP Digital; Birmingham; Hybrid; GBP 83,000 - 102,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Civil service pension

Generous leave (26–31 days)

Job summary

Head of Secure Design at DWP Digital leads cyber security, fraud risk and secure design across Working Age Services. You will enable risk-based decision making while ensuring services are secure, resilient and trusted.

You will oversee security standards, risk and assurance activities, strengthening responses to threats and enabling the safe delivery of services at scale. This is a senior role shaping security direction across a large public sector portfolio.

Qualifications

• Strategic leadership in cybersecurity for complex environments.
• Innovation in protective security balancing safety and service delivery.
• Holistic threat understanding using threat models and intel.
• Oversight of security specialists (pen-testers, architects, DevSecOps) in change programs.
• Proven ability to communicate risk for informed decisions and prioritisation.
• Experience on large-scale, high-impact programs.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for cyber security across Working Age Services.
• Enable risk-based decision making while ensuring secure, resilient services.
• Embed security from the outset with senior leaders and multidisciplinary teams.
• Shape standards, controls and assurance activities across the function.
• Strengthen response to emerging threats, vulnerabilities and fraud risks.
• Drive digital transformation to deliver secure services at scale.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Protective security

Threat modelling

Lead security experts

Risk lifecycle

Enterprise programs

Job description

Head of Secure Design at DWP Digital leads cyber security, fraud risk and secure design across Working Age Services. You will enable risk-based decision making while ensuring services are secure, resilient and trusted.

You will oversee security standards, risk and assurance activities, strengthening responses to threats and enabling the safe delivery of services at scale. This is a senior role shaping security direction across a large public sector portfolio.