Security Assurance Lead in Cambridge

Location: Cambridge/ Hybrid with 2 days a week minimum in the office

Contract: Permanent

Hours: 35 hours per week

Join our organisation as a Security Assurance Lead. Utilise your expertise and drive to safeguard operations in this impactful role.

We are Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a world-leading academic publisher and assessment organisation and a proud part of the University of Cambridge.

About the role

As Security Assurance Lead, you will play a key role in protecting Cambridge University Press & Assessment's information assets and strengthening our security posture. You will lead assurance activity across security testing, risk management, governance and compliance, working closely with technology, security and business teams to identify risks, improve controls and support secure ways of working.

This is a varied and influential role where you will help us understand and reduce our exposure to cyber threats, shape practical security guidance, and ensure assurance activities are embedded across our technology environment.

• Lead security assurance activity across areas such as attack surface management, vulnerability management, penetration testing and security posture improvement.
• Work with technology and security teams to identify, assess and remediate vulnerabilities across systems, applications, cloud services and infrastructure.
• Develop and maintain security policies, standards and guidance that support effective assurance testing and secure delivery.
• Support risk assessments, supplier security reviews and risk register management, ensuring risks are clearly understood, tracked and reported.
• Contribute to security governance, compliance activities and external assessments, including alignment with frameworks such as ISO 27001 and NIST.
• Use threat intelligence, testing outcomes and assurance data to help shape priorities, improve resilience and inform senior stakeholders.
• Support incident preparedness, including investigations and exercises that test our ability to respond effectively.
• Help shape our security strategy, monitor emerging threats and intelligence, identifying opportunities to strengthen our approach through security automation.

This position has been classified as a hybrid role, requiring the selected candidate to typically spend 40-60% of their time collaborating and connecting face-to-face at their dedicated location. Aside from our hybrid principles, other flexible working requests will be considered from the first day of employment, including other work arrangements should you require adjustments due to a disability or long-term health condition.

About You

We are looking for someone with extensive knowledge of 5+ years experience in security testing and assurance and a strong understanding of information security principles, emerging threats, best practices, compliance frameworks (e.g. ISO 27001, NIST) and risk management practices.

You should hold a degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience, with relevant professional qualifications including CISSP and accredited security testing.

You should have proven experience in developing and managing security risks and mitigations within medium to large organisations with strong experience in stakeholder management.

You should have excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to influence at all levels of the organisation, analytical skills to measure the effectiveness of vulnerability management plans, and be very self-motivated, proactive, and able to manage multiple projects simultaneously.

If you meet the above minimum requirements, we encourage you to apply. Your application will be even stronger if you can also demonstrate the following desirable criteria:

• Development and maintenance of a supply chain risk register within a similar sized organisation.
• Hands-on experience of the use of various AI applications and tooling, including, for example, Microsoft CoPilot, Claude etc.
• Experience using and deploying Pen Testing and Vulnerability Management Tools such as Tenable within complex infrastructure.
• Experience of reporting risks to senior leadership.

We are a Disability Confident (DC) employer that is committed to equality and inclusion ensuring our recruitment process is accessible to all. The DC scheme's Offer of an Interview commitment applies to applicants who opt in, and disclose a disability or a long-term health condition, and best meet the minimum criteria for the role.

In instances where interviewing all qualifying candidates is not practicable, we prioritise those who best meet the minimum criteria, as we would for applicants who do not have a disability or long-term health condition.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is an approved UK employer for the sponsorship of eligible roles and applicants under the Skilled Worker visa route. Please refer to the gov.uk website for guidance to understand your own eligibility based on the role you are applying for.

Rewards and benefits

We will support you to be at your best in work and to live well outside of it. In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a world-class, flexible rewards package, featuring family-friendly and planet-friendly benefits including:

• 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Private medical and Permanent Health Insurance
• Discretionary annual bonus
• Group personal pension scheme
• Life assurance up to 4 x annual salary
• Green travel schemes

Ready to pursue your potential? Apply now.

We aim to support candidates by making our interview process clear and transparent. The closing date for all applications will be 2nd September. We will review applications on an ongoing basis, and shortlisted candidates can expect interviews to take place shortly after.

The application and interview process consists of:

• 3 role related questions with brief answers
• A 15-minute screening call with the Hiring Manager.
• First stage virtual interview via MS Teams.
• Final stage interview: in-person at our offices in Cambridge.

If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process due to a disability or a long-term health condition, there will be an opportunity for you to inform us via the online application form. We will do our best to accommodate your needs.

Please note that successful applicants will be subject to satisfactory background checks including DBS due to working in a regulated industry.

We are committed to an equitable recruitment process. As such, applications must be submitted via our official online application procedure. Please refrain from sending your CV directly to our recruiters. If you experience technical difficulties or require additional support with submitting your online application, contact the Recruiter.

Why join us

Joining us is your opportunity to pursue potential. You will belong to a collaborative team that is exploring new and better ways to serve students, teachers and researchers across the globe for the benefit of individuals, society and the world. Sharing our mission will inspire your own growth, development and progress, in an environment which embraces difference, change and aspiration.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is committed to being a place where anyone can enjoy a successful career, where it is safe to speak up, and where we learn continuously to improve together. We welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of demographic characteristics (age, disability, educational attainment, ethnicity, gender, marital status, neurodiversity, religion, sex, gender identity and sexual identity), cultural, or social class/background.

We believe better outcomes come through diversity of thought, background and approach. We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and communities, actively seeking to employ people from a wide range of different communities.