Technology Consultant, Cyber

Plexal; Cheltenham; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary range £45k-£65k

Pension scheme (up to 10%)

Private healthcare, life assurance and

Critical illness cover

Annual bonus scheme

25 days holiday plus bank holidays

Volunteering day

Job summary

Plexal is seeking an Innovation Consultant in Cheltenham to serve as a subject-matter expert across client projects, delivering evidence-based insights on cyber security and AI, and helping organisations navigate threat landscapes.

You will work within cross-functional teams to design research, interpret findings, and produce recommendations, while monitoring trends and shaping Plexal’s innovation strategy. Plexal offers a competitive salary and benefits.

Qualifications

• Higher Education degree or equivalent knowledge gained via work experience.
• Solid grounding in cyber security and interest in AI’s role in shaping the threat landscape.
• Ability to communicate cyber and emerging technology topics to non-specialist and specialist audiences.

Responsibilities

• Act as a subject matter expert on cyber security and AI, providing clients with clear, evidence based insights.
• Support the design and delivery of end-to-end research and consulting projects for clients, including scoping research questions, applying qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, interpreting findings and turning analysis into clear recommendations.
• Monitor emerging cyber and AI trends, threat vectors, market dynamics and regulatory developments to shape Plexal’s innovation strategy.
• Create high-impact deliverables, presentations and reports that help clients make decisions on cybersecurity, emerging technology strategy and innovation opportunities.
• Assess technology robustness, interrogate vendor claims, and evaluate risks, tradeoffs and opportunities.
• Monitor cyber technology trends, threat landscapes, policy developments, market needs and wider drivers to inform client advice and Plexal’s innovation work.
• Support clients to engage effectively with the cyber innovation ecosystem, including startups, academia and industry.

Skills

Research skills

Cyber security concepts

Threat landscapes

AI in cybersecurity

Written communication

Independent work

Education

Higher Education degree

Job description

Plexal’s innovation and technology consulting services are growing regionally, with a specific focus on cyber security and the evolving impact of AI on the threat landscape.

As an Innovation Consultant, you will act as a subject matter expert to be deployable across a wide range of client projects, providing expert input wherever cyber and AI considerations are relevant. Working as part of cross-functional consulting and research teams, you will help organisations navigate the cybersecurity and emerging technology landscape, understand threat landscapes, assess opportunities and risks, and make informed strategic and operational decisions.

This role is suited to individuals with a solid grounding in cyber security, and an interest in how AI is transforming the field.

What You'll Do

• Act as a subject matter expert on cyber security and AI, providing clients with clear, evidence based insights.
• Support the design and delivery of end-to-end research and consulting projects for clients, including scoping research questions, applying qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, interpreting findings and turning analysis into clear recommendations.
• Monitor emerging cyber and AI trends, threat vectors, market dynamics and regulatory developments to shape Plexal’s innovation strategy.
• Create high-impact deliverables, presentations and reports that help clients make decisions on cybersecurity, emerging technology strategy and innovation opportunities.
• Assess technology robustness, interrogate vendor claims, and evaluate risks, tradeoffs and opportunities.
• Monitor cyber technology trends, threat landscapes, policy developments, market needs and wider drivers to inform client advice and Plexal’s innovation work.
• Support clients to engage effectively with the cyber innovation ecosystem, including startups, academia and industry.

Your Skills

• Strong research and analytical skills, including methodological thinking and the ability to frame ambiguous problems.
• Demonstrable expertise in cyber security concepts, threat landscapes, system architectures and security principles.
• Clear interest in how AI is enabling, accelerating or hindering cyber security.
• Applied understanding of modern cybersecurity concepts, threat landscapes and system architectures, with the ability to assess technology robustness and interrogate vendor claims with appropriate support.
• High quality written communication suitable for advisory work
• Ability to work proactively and independently within a matrix environment.

Your Experience

• Experienced working within two or more of the following: a large innovation function, leading consultancy, technology startup or accelerator, research environment, cyber organisation or technology delivery team.
• Able to demonstrate strategic awareness across cybersecurity and emerging technology markets and provide an outside-in perspective to clients on emerging market needs, trends, opportunities and technologies.
• Able to communicate cyber and emerging technology topics in an accessible and compelling narrative for non-specialist and specialist audiences.

Who You Are

• Higher Education degree, or equivalent knowledge gained via work experience. (Essential)
• Energised by solving complex problems and exploring emerging technologies.
• Passion for cyber security and curiosity about AI’s role in shaping the future threat landscape.

We thrive in a dynamic and fast-paced work environment dedicated to empowering innovators. We embrace individuals who leverage technology and creativity to tackle our greatest challenges head-on. We strongly advocate for maintaining a harmonious work-life balance, our goal is to ensure every member of our team can authentically be themselves and live their best lives. We firmly believe that innovation and creativity flourish when we cultivate a diverse workforce, comprising highly skilled individuals with a wide range of perspectives to contribute.

In return we will offer you:

• Salary: £45,000 - £65,000 depending on skills and experience
• A generous pension scheme (with a company contribution of up to 10%)
• Private healthcare, life assurance and critical illness cover

We thrive in a dynamic and fast-paced work environment dedicated to empowering innovators. We embrace individuals who leverage technology and creativity to tackle our greatest challenges head-on. We strongly advocate for maintaining a harmonious work-life balance, our goal is to ensure every member of our team can authentically be themselves and live their best lives. We firmly believe that innovation and creativity flourish when we cultivate a diverse workforce, comprising highly skilled individuals with a wide range of perspectives to contribute.

In return we will offer you:

• Salary: £45,000 - £65,000 depending on skills and experience
• Annual bonus scheme
• A generous pension scheme (with a company contribution of up to 10%)
• Private healthcare, life assurance and critical illness cover
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays
• Volunteering day

Plexal is an equal opportunities employer and we actively encourage applicants from individuals from all backgrounds. We are a Disability Committed employer and are willing to make reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

About us

Plexal is the innovation and growth company helping to strengthen the UK’s technology capabilities through collaboration.

With teams in London, Manchester and Cheltenham, we work closely with government, industry, startups and academia to drive economic growth and reinforce national security.

Founded by Delancey in 2017, Plexal delivers four core services: creating workspaces for innovators, running innovation programmes and consultancy, building regional tech clusters and helping SMEs scale strategically.

By closing the gap between early-stage and established organisations – across the public and private sectors at home and abroad – we’ve impacted over 1,200 businesses, added £731m to the UK economy and helped create 9,400 jobs.

Headquartered at Here East on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Plexal partners with organisations including the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the National Cyber Security Centre, Airbus, Amazon, Barclays Eagle Labs, Google Cloud, TfL, The Alan Turing Institute and the University of Oxford.