Information Security Governance, Risk & Compliance Manager (GRC)

Government Recruitment Service; Manchester; On-site; GBP 59,000 - 71,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Disability Confident employer scheme

Job summary

Government Recruitment Service is seeking an Information Security Governance, Risk & Compliance Manager for the Cabinet Office Digital in Manchester. You will lead the GRC team, oversee GovAssure, GovS007 and NCSC CAF compliance, and bridge strategy with technical delivery.

You will own the cyber risk framework, manage the central GRC tool, and drive assurance across high‑value programmes while engaging with senior leadership and external partners.

Qualifications

• Governance, risk and compliance expertise expected.
• Familiarity with security standards and frameworks.
• Leadership and stakeholder management experience.
• Experience in policy development and assurance programs.

Responsibilities

• Own the cyber risk framework and define standards and thresholds.
• Lead GRC platform engineering, automating risk workflows and improving visibility.
• Mature the Cyber Risk Register, with timely risk acceptance and treatment.
• Drive third‑party and supply chain cyber risk assurance.
• Provide risk intelligence to Head of Information Security and senior leadership.
• Facilitate risk workshops with technical and business leads.

Job description

Information Security Governance, Risk & Compliance Manager (GRC)

Cabinet Office Digital sits at the heart of UK government, delivering user-centred digital services, robust technology infrastructure, and progressive digital capability across the Cabinet Office and beyond. Our mission is to make government work better for citizens by modernising legacy systems, championing innovative technologies including secure cloud and AI, and embedding world‑class security into every phase of service delivery. We foster an inclusive, collaborative, and agile environment where technical excellence and public value go hand in hand.

The Role:

As the Information Security Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) Manager, you will serve as the departmental subject matter expert on cyber risk management, security policy, and enterprise assurance. Reporting directly to the Head of Information Security, you will lead and develop the GRC team to drive the departmental cyber governance strategy, ensuring critical systems and digital services remain resilient against evolving threats.

Bridging the gap between executive strategy and technical implementation, you will provide authoritative risk advice to System Owners, Senior Information Risk Owners (SIROs), and Risk Committees. You will oversee central compliance with the Government Functional Standard for Security (GovS 007), lead the GovAssure programme across the department, and embed Secure by Design (SbD) principles across all digital initiatives, while leveraging frameworks such as the NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF), ISO/IEC 27001, and NIST.

This role offers an exceptional opportunity to shape cyber resilience at the centre of government, leading high‑impact assurance initiatives and fostering a culture of proactive risk management across dynamic digital transformation programmes.

Strategic Delivery & Governance

Drive the delivery of the departmental cyber security governance strategy, establishing frameworks that support the organisational risk appetite while ensuring direct alignment with GovS 007 and the NCSC CAF.

Manage GovAssure across the Cabinet Office, directing the central programme for the whole department and providing practical support and guidance to service owners.

Embed Secure by Design (SbD), ensuring security is integrated across the entire lifecycle of departmental digital and data projects.

Represent Cyber Security on key governance boards (e.g., Departmental Risk Committee), presenting complex risk trade-offs to non-technical leadership.

Manage commercial requirements, owning the allocated budget and acting as the contract manager for all GRC tooling and security education platforms.

Risk Assessment & Management

Own the cyber risk framework, defining and maintaining the methodologies, standards, and thresholds that departmental teams must work within.

Lead GRC platform engineering, driving the administration, configuration, and continuous maturity of the central GRC tool to automate workflows and improve risk visibility.

Mature the departmental Cyber Risk Register, ensuring risk owners accurately identify, accept, or treat exposures in a timely manner.

Drive third‑party and supply chain assurance, establishing cyber risk protocols across the enterprise and high‑value procurement contracts.

Provide actionable risk intelligence, delivering regular insights on threat trends and control effectiveness to the Head of Information Security and senior leadership.

Facilitate risk workshops, leading regular sessions with technical and business leads to identify emerging threats and maintain high‑quality risk data.

Compliance, Policy & Assurance.

Author and enforce departmental cyber security policies, ensuring they remain practical and mapped against GovS 007, CAF, ISO 27001, and NIST CSF.

Track and integrate audit findings, working closely with operational security teams to record outputs from IT Health Checks (ITHCs), penetration tests, and external audits, ensuring remediation is tracked.

Govern cyber compliance and threat frameworks, leading on cyber‑specific legislation and enterprise vulnerability management standards. Work alongside Data

Privacy to support UK GDPR/DPA 2018, ensuring operational alignment with CIS Controls and MITRE ATT&CK.

Lead the security awareness programme, ensuring staff understand current threats and secure data handling practices through effective, metrics‑driven education.

Team Leadership & Stakeholder Management

Line manage and mentor a team of security specialists, supporting continuous technical development and professional growth.

Build strategic partnerships with external bodies, including the Government Security Group, DCMS, the NCSC, and partner agencies.

Practice inclusive leadership, building a culture of shared accountability and continuous improvement in security outcomes.

Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme

Information Security Governance, Risk & Compliance Manager (GRC)

Company: Government Recruitment Service Salary: £59,207 to £70,958 a year Hours: Full-time Location: Manchester Job type: Permanent Posting date: 21 Oct 2026 Closing date: 2 Nov 2026

Summary

About Cabinet Office Digital:

Cabinet Office Digital sits at the heart of UK government, delivering user-centred digital services, robust technology infrastructure, and progressive digital capability across the Cabinet Office and beyond. Our mission is to make government work better for citizens by modernising legacy systems, championing innovative technologies including secure cloud and AI, and embedding world‑class security into every phase of service delivery. We foster an inclusive, collaborative, and agile environment where technical excellence and public value go hand in hand.

The Role:

As the Information Security Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) Manager, you will serve as the departmental subject matter expert on cyber risk management, security policy, and enterprise assurance. Reporting directly to the Head of Information Security, you will lead and develop the GRC team to drive the departmental cyber governance strategy, ensuring critical systems and digital services remain resilient against evolving threats.

Bridging the gap between executive strategy and technical implementation, you will provide authoritative risk advice to System Owners, Senior Information Risk Owners (SIROs), and Risk Committees. You will oversee central compliance with the Government Functional Standard for Security (GovS 007), lead the GovAssure programme across the department, and embed Secure by Design (SbD) principles across all digital initiatives, while leveraging frameworks such as the NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF), ISO/IEC 27001, and NIST.

This role offers an exceptional opportunity to shape cyber resilience at the centre of government, leading high‑impact assurance initiatives and fostering a culture of proactive risk management across dynamic digital transformation programmes.

Strategic Delivery & Governance

Drive the delivery of the departmental cyber security governance strategy, establishing frameworks that support the organisational risk appetite while ensuring direct alignment with GovS 007 and the NCSC CAF.

Manage GovAssure across the Cabinet Office, directing the central programme for the whole department and providing practical support and guidance to service owners.

Embed Secure by Design (SbD), ensuring security is integrated across the entire lifecycle of departmental digital and data projects.

Represent Cyber Security on key governance boards (e.g., Departmental Risk Committee), presenting complex risk trade-offs to non-technical leadership.

Manage commercial requirements, owning the allocated budget and acting as the contract manager for all GRC tooling and security education platforms.

Risk Assessment & Management

Own the cyber risk framework, defining and maintaining the methodologies, standards, and thresholds that departmental teams must work within.

Lead GRC platform engineering, driving the administration, configuration, and continuous maturity of the central GRC tool to automate workflows and improve risk visibility.

Mature the departmental Cyber Risk Register, ensuring risk owners accurately identify, accept, or treat exposures in a timely manner.

Drive third‑party and supply chain assurance, establishing cyber risk protocols across the enterprise and high‑value procurement contracts.

Provide actionable risk intelligence, delivering regular insights on threat trends and control effectiveness to the Head of Information Security and senior leadership.

Facilitate risk workshops, leading regular sessions with technical and business leads to identify emerging threats and maintain high‑quality risk data.

Compliance, Policy & Assurance.

Author and enforce departmental cyber security policies, ensuring they remain practical and mapped against GovS 007, CAF, ISO 27001, and NIST CSF.

Track and integrate audit findings, working closely with operational security teams to record outputs from IT Health Checks (ITHCs), penetration tests, and external audits, ensuring remediation is tracked.

Govern cyber compliance and threat frameworks, leading on cyber‑specific legislation and enterprise vulnerability management standards. Work alongside Data

Privacy to support UK GDPR/DPA 2018, ensuring operational alignment with CIS Controls and MITRE ATT&CK.

Lead the security awareness programme, ensuring staff understand current threats and secure data handling practices through effective, metrics‑driven education.

Team Leadership & Stakeholder Management

Line manage and mentor a team of security specialists, supporting continuous technical development and professional growth.

Build strategic partnerships with external bodies, including the Government Security Group, DCMS, the NCSC, and partner agencies.

Practice inclusive leadership, building a culture of shared accountability and continuous improvement in security outcomes.

Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme

About Disability Confident Disability Confident is a government scheme. It encourages employers to recruit and retain disabled people and those with long term health conditions.