Head of Secure Design
| Posting date: | 10 March 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £75,026 to £92,522 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 23 March 2026 |
| Location: | M2 3LR |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 451453/3 |
Summary
Within Working Age Services Digital, we support a range of critical services, including the department’s highest‑profile benefit service, Universal Credit. These services sit at the heart of society, helping millions of people every day.
We are looking for an exceptional Head of Secure Design to play a major role in one of the most demanding and important service areas in government. The products and services you influence will directly shape the future of digital public services, helping us build secure, resilient and user‑centred systems at scale.
Security is central to everything we do. Our services must demonstrate strength‑in‑depth across cyber, fraud and error prevention. As we modernise our technology landscape standardising security stacks, improving consistency in delivery, and transforming monolithic systems into microservices you will be key to ensuring robust, well‑designed security foundations.
In this role, you will lead the team responsible for identifying controls, assessing vulnerabilities, and recommending improvements across products, projects and programmes. You’ll work closely with product owners and subject matter experts to enable informed, risk based decision making, while influencing the management of both tactical and strategic security risks.
You will play a critical role in overseeing technical and fraud related risk operations and managing our security tooling framework. This includes developing and maintaining security protocols, mitigating fraud risks, and ensuring actionable insight from our suite of security tools. Deep experience in information security and web‑enabled fraud risk management is essential.
As a hands‑on leader, you will work across multidisciplinary service teams to ensure that the Working Age Services security strategy shaped with your input is consistently applied. You will also collaborate with wider DWP DSRM functions to align approaches to cyber controls and provide clear, transparent metrics on security rigour.
As Head of Secure Design, you will own security and fraud standards and roadmaps, ensuring we deliver high quality, secure and consistent solutions that meet the needs of our agents and claimants. You’ll be part of the team delivering Universal Credit for 5.5 million citizens every day.
We’re looking for a proactive and influential security leader to help protect some of the UK’s most important digital services. As Head of Secure Design, you will play a critical role in safeguarding Working Age Services by strengthening our security posture, reducing fraud risk, and ensuring our teams have the expertise needed to make well‑informed, risk‑based decisions.
As Head of Secure Design your responsibilities will include:
- Provide leadership to ensure effective security and fraud risk expertise, advice and support is delivered to business managers, Senior Risk Owners, and the Working Age Services SLT within DWP.
- Establish and manage the Working Age Services security posture and initiatives, ensuring the protection of information assets from internal and external threats.
- Develop, manage, and enhance the fraud risk management framework to minimise the department’s exposure to fraud risks.
- Oversee the implementation, management, and proper utilisation of security tools such as intrusion detection systems, vulnerability management, anti-virus software, and data encryption.
- Assess and manage the identification and mitigation plans of existing and emerging security threats, vulnerabilities, and risks.
- Maintain awareness of information security technologies and fraud risk management methodologies, applying best practices and driving knowledge through Working Age Services.
- Lead security awareness and education programmes to ensure colleagues maintain a high level of vigilance.
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