Head of Cyber Security (Lead) - Incident Management | NHS England

Posting date:	09 February 2026
Salary:	Not specified
Additional salary information:	£100,055 - £115,287 Per Annum (this includes a RRP payment of 30%). Exclusive of HCAS
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	11 March 2026
Location:	Leeds/Exeter/London, LS1 4AP
Company:	NHS England
Job type:	Permanent
Job reference:	7782224/990-TDD-CY-602-E

Summary

Cyber Operations purpose is to support safe care and build public trust by building NHS England’s cyber resilience and enabling the wider health system to be cyber resilient, supporting Transformation Directorate’s purpose of delivering the best care and outcomes for the NHS.

The Cyber Operations sub-directorate consists of four operational areas:
• Cyber Security Operations Unit (CSOU & SIO)
• Cyber Delivery Unit (CDU)
• Cyber Improvement Programme
• Chief Information Security Office Function (CISO)

The National CSOC Incident Management function operates within the NHS National CSOC operational team, working alongside protective monitoring, threat hunting, and intelligence activities. This team is responsible for coordinating the management of cyber incidents across the entire NHS, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and its arm's-length bodies. Their responsibilities include overseeing incident response capabilities and managing relationships with our internal and external stakeholders. 

The Head of Security (Lead) Incident Management, will be accountable for the delivery of key operational services and outputs from the Incident Management function within the Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC). This includes oversight and management of Incidents Management, Incident Response, prioritising tasks, services, resourcing, and outputs.
• Ensure the objectives and activities of the Incident Management team are aligned with overarching CSOC strategy.
• Lead the 24/7 major cyber incident response: triage and categorisation, containment, eradication, service recovery and post-incident review.
• Act as primary Incident Commander during nationally significant incidents, providing clear strategic direction and proportionate, risk-based decisions.
• Own and continually improve national incident playbooks, escalation frameworks and exercised readiness (including cyber incident response exercises).
• Provide executive-level briefings and assurance to NHS England leadership and, when required, cross-government partners and Ministers.
• Establish governance, reporting and metrics for incident preparedness and response; drive lessons learned and maturity uplift programmes.
• Ensure integration of incident management with business continuity, disaster recovery, clinical safety and public communications.
• Coordinate with regional and local organisations during incidents, ensuring consistent messaging and effective multi-agency collaboration.
• Oversee secure handling of incident information, evidence preservation, regulatory notifications and sensitive communications.
• Responsible for the management and production of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for the function.
• Responsible for the national cyber incident management strategy aligned to NCSC incident management guidance and government resilience frameworks.

Our staff bring expertise across clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, software engineering, education, and commercial specialisms — enabling us to design and deliver high-quality NHS services.

We lead the NHS in England by:
• Enabling local systems and providers to improve the health of their people and patients and reduce health inequalities
• Making the NHS a great place to work, where people can develop and make a difference
• Working collaboratively to ensure our healthcare workforce has the right knowledge, skills, values and behaviours to deliver accessible, compassionate care
• Optimising the use of digital technology, research, and innovation
• Delivering value for money

Earlier this year, the Government announced that NHS England will gradually merge with the Department of Health and Social Care, to create a smaller, more strategic centre that reduces duplication and waste.

If successful at interview, we will initiate an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). This retrieves key data from your current or previous NHS employer to support onboarding, including competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement. You may opt out at any stage of the process.

Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in-person.

Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.

Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification for more information about the role and responsibilities.

Please ensure your supporting statement includes demonstratable evidence and specific examples on how you meet the criteria for each of the key skills specified. This will be used in both the shortlisting and interview processes

Important: Please be aware there are residency requirements you need to meet:

All NHS England Cyber Security personnel must hold Security Clearance level as a minimum. To meet National Security Vetting requirements, SC clearances require 5 years continuous UK residency. In certain cases, this can be reduced to three years continuous UK residency, with additional overseas checks for the previous two years. Candidates who were posted abroad for service with HM Government, Armed Forces or within a UK government role - will still be considered.
Please make sure you meet these requirements before applying for this role. You don’t need to have SC already, however, failure to achieve the requirements for SC after offer will result in the job offer being withdrawn. For further advice please check https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels#security-check-sc

Please be aware that should you be successful in this position, you will be hired to the job title of Head of Security (Lead) and this job title is advertised to attract the right skills needed for the role.

The post of Head of Security (Lead) has been awarded a Recruitment and Retention Premia (RRP) in response to current labour market conditions. In recognition of this, the role attracts an additional monthly RRP payment equal to 30% per annum.
Please be aware that RRP is non-contractual and subject to review.

If you like what you have read and think you have the skills and experience, we need then don't delay, apply today! We get lots of applications for our roles and so we sometimes have to close our posts early. Don't miss out!






This advert closes on Monday 23 Feb 2026