Department for Education searching for a CISO

£105k annual salary for chief information security officer who will be DfE's "policy owner" for cyber risk

The Department for Education (DfE) is on the hunt for a chief information security officer (CISO) who will work within the department's digital, data and technology (DDaT) team.

DfE is offering a salary of around £105,000 for the right candidate to work at board level and provide the department's management committee with advice and support on cyber security matters.

The DDaT team is about to embark on a multi-year transformation programme, which will focus the organisation around the needs of its users; students, parents, teachers and educational establishments.

The changes will be both cultural and technological, and are based around four core values: a user-centric focus; evidence-based decisions; staff empowered to make decisions; and a move away from fragmented services, platforms and teams to a one-team approach enabling the delivery of services from start to end.

"This is an opportunity to play a critical role in a large-scale programme of change that will radically improve how the civil service works and how government interacts with citizens," the job advert states.

"We are looking for candidates who can apply their ‘on the ground' experience of driving the transformation of organisations, not those who will maintain the status quo. Your task will be guided by some fundamental principles; putting the needs of users first, focusing on delivery and outcomes over process, and making the most of openness - open standards, open source, open data and open markets."

The selected applicant will have to develop enterprise strategy, approach and processes to reduce information security risks and enable services to the sector to be delivered effectively. As the department's policy owner for cyber risk in the sector, the CISO will have to establish appropriate standards, controls and policies to protect the department's information assets and technologies.

The CISO will report to the DfE's chief technology officer, Helen Walker, and be a member of the DDaT senior leadership team.

In recent years, the DfE has been investing in its DDaT team. In February 2016, the department poached Mark O'Neill from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to become chief digital officer, and after advertising for a chief data officer last year, DfE hired the deputy director of the Office for National Statistics, Neil McIvor as CDO in October.

Applications for the CISO role close on 28 February 2018.