Deputy Chief Information Security Officer

UK Home Office; Salford; On-site; GBP 81,000 - 99,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Civil Service pension

Flexible working

Inclusive culture

Learning & development

Job summary

The UK Home Office is recruiting a Deputy Chief Information Security Officer (Cyber Strategy, Governance, Risk and Compliance) to lead cyber GRC, strategy and professional practice across the organisation. You will report to the CISO and set the direction, standards and reporting to safeguard critical government services.

You will lead capability planning, recruitment and cross‑government collaboration, deputise for the CISO when needed, and build strong relationships with senior leaders and

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading enterprise-scale cyber governance, risk and professional practice.
• Able to influence senior leaders to embed cyber governance and risk ownership.
• Provide authoritative advice and constructive challenge on cyber security matters at executive and board level.
• Champion strong cyber security culture and value for money across the organisation.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve cyber security GRC and practice strategy aligned to Home Office priorities.
• Provide strategic leadership of second-line cyber risk and assurance, set priorities, report insights to leadership.
• Set, maintain and assure enterprise cyber security policies, standards, frameworks and reusable patterns.
• Own the cyber reporting framework: define metrics, dashboards and MI.
• Lead cyber security professional practice: capability and workforce planning, recruitment, standards and career paths.
• Build relationships with senior business, digital, technology and security leaders; represent externally with bodies like NCSC & UK Cyber Security Council.
• Deputise for the CISO; represent function on SMT and lead for multiple G6 leads.

Skills

GRC leadership

Cyber risk management

Policy development

Executive communication

Stakeholder management

Job description

Location: Croydon | Manchester | Glasgow | Sheffield | Cardiff

Advert close: 11:55pm 8th November 2026

The Deputy Chief Information Security Officer (Cyber Strategy, Governance, Risk and Compliance) is the senior accountable owner for the Home Office cyber governance, risk and compliance (GRC) function, cyber strategy, cyber security professional practice, and cyber business management function. The postholder provides enterprise-wide leadership and second-line assurance over cyber risk management, policy, standards and reporting, ensuring cyber risk is understood, owned and managed proportionately across the organisation.

Reporting directly to the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), the role sets the strategic direction and operating model for cyber GRC, strategy, professional practice and business management, ensuring effective governance and decision-making through clear risk appetite, metrics and management information.

The role has leadership responsibility for the heads of governance, risk, compliance, business management, strategy and professional practice functions, ensuring the delivery of an integrated, high-performing capability that supports Home Office cyber security objectives.

The role leads capability planning, recruitment, career pathways and deployment of cyber professionals across Product Family Groups and Platforms, so the right skills and capacity are aligned to service criticality, delivery priorities and the threat landscape.

This is a senior strategic leadership role with enterprise-wide accountability for cyber security governance, risk and compliance and ownership of the Home Office cyber security professional practice. As the Deputy Chief Information Security Officer (Cyber Strategy, Governance, Risk and Compliance), you will provide leadership across cyber GRC and professional practice, ensuring they align with and enable delivery of the overall Home Office Cyber Strategy. You will ensure that policies, standards, assurance and reporting remain aligned to the threat landscape, business priorities and government policy.

In addition, the role provides strategic leadership for the Cyber Business Management function, ensuring effective financial management, workforce planning, performance reporting, governance support, resource prioritisation and organisational effectiveness across the cyber security function. The postholder will ensure these activities operate effectively across the function and support delivery of the Home Office Cyber Strategy.

You will lead the cyber security professional practice, with accountability for capability planning, recruitment, career pathways, deployment and effective use of cyber professionals across the central cyber function and within digital delivery teams. Your leadership will thereby ensure the right skills and capacity are aligned to risk, service criticality and delivery priorities.

Your main day to day responsibilities will be:

• Owning and evolving the cyber security GRC and cyber practice strategy, ensuring alignment with Home Office priorities, Digital First Transformation Programme and cross government policy.
• Providing strategic leadership of second line cyber risk and assurance, including setting assurance priorities, aggregating and analysing enterprise cyber risk, and reporting clear, actionable insights to senior leadership and governance forums.
• Setting, maintaining and assuring enterprise cyber security policies, standards, frameworks and reusable patterns, ensuring they are proportionate, risk based and consistently applied across Product Family Groups and Platforms.
• Owning the cyber reporting framework, including defining metrics, dashboards and management information to support effective oversight of cyber risk, maturity and performance.
• Leading the cyber security professional practice, including capability and workforce planning, recruitment, standards, career pathways, professional assurance and succession planning. Including, overseeing the prioritisation and allocation of cyber professionals, balancing demand, capacity and capability.
• Building and sustaining strong, trusted relationships with senior business, digital, technology and security leaders across the Home Office and wider government, including representing the cyber GRC and practice function externally with bodies such as NCSC & UK Cyber Security Council.
• Deputising for the CISO as required, including representing the function on the CISO Senior Management Team (SMT) and supporting senior decision-making and governance. Providing direct line management and leadership for multiple G6 leads

You will have a demonstrable passion for cyber security, with proven experience operating at enterprise scale, and the ability to lead complex governance, risk and professional practice functions.

You will be able to demonstrate experience in:

• Providing senior leadership for a large cyber security function, setting clear vision, strategy and operating models aligned to organisational priorities and government policy.
• Influencing senior leaders and decisionmakers across business, digital, technology and security functions to embed effective cyber governance and risk ownership.
• Providing authoritative advice, assurance and constructive challenge on cyber security matters at executive and board level.
• Championing a strong cyber security culture, continuous improvement and value for money across the organisation.

Alongside your salary of £90,000, Home Office contributes £26,073 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%