Head of Cyber Platform Engineering in Leeds

In this role you will:

• Lead and manage a multi-disciplinary engineering team, ensuring high-quality delivery across cyber security operations, infrastructure, and cloud services.
• Collaborate with stakeholders across HMRC to align cyber engineering efforts with strategic objectives and to ensure secure and resilient services.
• Drive continuous improvement in tooling, automation, and operational processes by designing, implementing and maintaining end-to-end service configuration.
• Work with vendors and HMRC stakeholders on service delivery, to ensure the Security Incident Event Management (SIEM) platform is secure and available to all end-users.
• Provide technical direction and mentorship, supporting team members in developing their expertise and achieving their potential.
• Champion a culture of learning and development, supporting apprentices, fast streamers, and industrial placements within the team.

Person specification:

The successful candidate will be a proactive and analytical problem solver, capable of designing and implementing solutions that support the maintenance and modernisation of existing platforms. They will play a key role in shaping and evolving the team’s DevSecOps strategy, including the development of tooling, policies, and procedures in driving modern DevOps and CI/CD practices for reliable and secure services. The role requires strong interpersonal skills and the ability to engage effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders, as well as experience in managing supplier relationships to ensure alignment with organisational goals.

Essential Criteria:

• Proven experience leading technical teams in infrastructure, cloud, or cyber security environments.
• Strong technical background in networking, public cloud technologies (e.g., AWS, Azure).
• Solid understanding of cyber detection and response technologies and tooling such as Security Incident Event Management (SIEM), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), Network and Endpoint Security tools.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to tailor technical information to different audiences, especially with vendors and third-party subject matter experts.
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities and deliver in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent understanding of Docker, Git, Hashicorp, and Kubernetes, as part of Continuous Improvement /Continuous Development (CD).
• Excellent understanding of architecting and deploying SIEM, SOAR or threat intelligence tooling.
• Solid understanding of cyber risk, security principles and operational practices including coverage outside of normal business hours.

Qualifications – evidence of at least one of:

• Bachelors degree in cyber security or a related field
• SANS certification
• Splunk Enterprise Certified Architect
• Splunk Enterprise Certified Admin
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) System Administration
• AWS or Azure architecture
• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
• Certified Information Systems Manager (CISM)

Additional Security Information:

Please note: Candidates must hold Security Check (SC) vetting as a minimum and be willing to obtain and maintain Developed Vetting (DV) status.