Regulatory Cyber Assurance Principal

Job description

Job summary

Protect Great Britain's Critical Energy Infrastructure

At Ofgem, we work on behalf of energy consumers to ensure every household and business across Great Britain can rely on a safe, affordable and environmentally sustainable energy supply.

As Great Britain's energy system continues to evolve, cyber resilience plays a critical role in maintaining secure and reliable services. Through our responsibilities under the Network and Information Systems (NIS) Regulations, Ofgem acts as the Competent Authority for the Downstream Gas and Electricity (DGE) sector, helping ensure operational systems and networks remain resilient against cyber and related security threats.

We're looking for two experienced Regulatory Cyber Assurance Principals to join our Cyber Regulation team on a permanent basis. This is an opportunity to play a leading role in protecting critical national infrastructure, working directly with Operators of Essential Services (OES), government partners and industry stakeholders to strengthen cyber resilience across the energy sector.

Job description

As Ofgem's Cyber Assurance expert, you will lead and maintain relationships across a designated portfolio of Operators of Essential Services (OES), delivering a regulatory model that is engaging, collaborative and focused on improving cyber resilience.

You will provide leadership on cyber assurance activities across the Downstream Gas and Electricity sector, assessing compliance with the NIS Regulations, making expert compliance determinations and advising on appropriate regulatory responses where concerns or breaches are identified.

Working at the intersection of cyber security, regulation and critical national infrastructure, you will conduct assurance activities including inspections, review audit, exercising and technical testing outcomes, while influencing improvements that help safeguard services relied upon by millions of consumers across Great Britain.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and maintain relationships across a designated portfolio of Operators of Essential Services (OES).
• Provide expert advice and guidance to the DGE sector on compliance with the NIS Regulations.
• Lead and support regulatory assurance and engagement activities, ensuring alignment with regulatory expectations.
• Contribute to and lead NIS inspections, including evidence reviews, on-site assessments and the production of high-quality inspection reports.
• Review and assess compliance documentation, including assurance reports, audit findings, exercising and testing outcomes, remediation plans and incident reports.
• Assess and make expert determinations on compliance with the NIS Regulations.
• Document inspection outcomes, assurance findings and regulatory decisions accurately and consistently.
• Escalate compliance concerns where appropriate and collaborate with Enforcement teams to support the application of regulatory tools and drive improvements.
• Provide expert advice regarding enforcement action where NIS Regulations have been breached.
• Lead the development and continuous improvement of cyber assurance policies, products, methodologies and regulatory approaches.
• Work collaboratively with government departments, other Competent Authorities, industry stakeholders and external assurance providers to support resilience objectives.
• Provide inclusive leadership through knowledge sharing, coaching and support across the Cyber Regulation team, contributing to Ofgem's values and culture.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Relevant professional qualification in cyber security, such as: CISSP, CISA, CISM, ISO 27001 Lead Auditor, GICSP, ISA/IEC 62443 Cybersecurity Expert, or a related degree. Equivalent experience in a cyber regulatory environment will also be considered. (LEAD)
• Expert in understanding cyber risk assessments and methodologies in relation to OT and IT of Critical National Infrastructure environments, and the application of appropriate and proportionate controls across people, process, and technology to mitigate risk.
• Practitioner in advising on the implementation of cyber regulation and policy, promoting good security practice within the sector.
• Proven experience of inspecting, auditing, or testing with an information security role.
• Strong technical author skills.
• Good understanding of the NIS Regulations and the NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF), with practical experience applying these eg in either policy, process, assurance, inspection, and/or enforcement activities.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of 63,443, OFGEM contributes 18,379 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

Ofgem can offer you a comprehensive and competitive benefits package which includes; 30 days annual leave after 2 years; Excellent training and development opportunities; The opportunity to join the generous Civil Service pension which also includes a valuable range of benefits; hybrid working (currently 1 day a week in the office but this is kept under review), flexible working hours and family friendly policies. Plus lots of other benefits including clean and bright offices based centrally, engaged networks and teams and an opportunity to contribute to our ambitious and important targets of establishing a Net Zero energy system by 2050. This exciting blend of professional challenge and personal reward identifies career opportunities at Ofgem as something to get excited about.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

When you press the Apply now button, you will be asked to complete personal details (not seen by the sift panel), your career history and qualifications.

You will then be asked to provide a 1250 word personal statement evidencing how you meet the essential skills and capabilities listed in the role profile. Please ensure you demonstrate clearly, within your supporting statement, how you meet each of the criteria listed in the role profile. In the event of receiving a large number of applications, an initial sift may take place on just the lead criteria indicated in the essential criteria.

The personal information we have collected from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. If any of these are detected, you could be refused certain services or employment. Your personal information will also be used to verify your identity. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas, and your data protection rights, can be found by [ https://www.cifas.org.uk/fpn ].

At Ofgem, we expect our staff to carry out their roles with honesty, fairness and openness. They should follow the Civil Service code and be free from any influence or bias. We are committed to making sure interests are recognised, declared and managed appropriately so that we can fulfil our duties as an energy regulator. Our Conflicts of Interest policy outlines the types of interests Ofgem staff must declare before onboarding, and the rules they must follow throughout employment so that we can clearly demonstrate that our decisions are not influenced by private interests.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window) .

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window) .

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window) .

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window) .

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window) .

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants
Job contact :

• Name : Rob Wilkins
• Email : [email protected]

Recruitment team

• Email : [email protected]

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commissions Recruitment Principles. You have the right to complain if you feel there has been a breach of these Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly via [email protected]. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission, please visit their website.

Attachments 486261 - Regulatory Cyber Assurance Principal Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 892kB) 486261 - Role profile Regulatory Cyber Assurance Principal Opens in new window (pdf, 226kB) Terms and Conditions April 2025 Opens in new window (pdf, 335kB)