Cyber Security Lead

Interim Cyber Security Lead

Location: Slough, hybrid, 2 to 3 days per week in the office

Organisation: Local authority

Reporting to: Head of Enterprise Architecture & Cyber Security

Contract: Interim

We are looking for an experienced Cyber Security Lead to strengthen a local authority's cyber security and resilience. You will lead cyber assurance, risk management and improvement activity, alongside practical oversight of incident readiness and response.

Key responsibilities

• Lead work towards the Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) for local government, coordinating assessments, gathering evidence and identifying gaps.
• Maintain a prioritised cyber improvement plan with clear ownership, tracking delivery and reporting progress, risks and outstanding actions.
• Lead cyber incident response and resilience activities, maintaining and exercising response plans and coordinating investigation, escalation and recovery.
• Support business continuity planning and turn lessons from incidents and exercises into practical improvements.
• Work with operational IT teams and the managed Security Operations Centre (SOC) to review alerts, threat intelligence and vulnerabilities, prioritise remediation and follow through on actions.
• Advise on security controls across cloud and on premises services.
• Coordinate cyber audits and assessments, review control effectiveness and supporting evidence, and track improvements through to completion.
• Escalate unresolved risks through the council's governance arrangements.
• Contribute to security policies, technical design reviews, change assurance and staff awareness activities.

Essential experience

• Experience leading or managing cyber security functions and coordinating delivery across technical and service teams.
• Practical experience applying CAF, assessing maturity, identifying gaps and developing improvement plans.
• Strong knowledge of cyber governance, risk management, security assurance and control assessment.
• Experience managing cyber incidents, vulnerabilities and operational security risks.
• Ability to explain cyber risks and recommendations clearly to senior leaders and non technical stakeholders.
• Experience working with operational IT, information governance, third party suppliers and managed security services.
• Ability to influence delivery, establish ownership and demonstrate completion of agreed actions.

Desirable experience

• Local government or comparable public sector experience.

Working arrangements: Hybrid working, with 2 to 3 days per week in the Slough office.

Rates depend on experience and client requirements