Digital and Technical Assurance Lead in Reading

Digital and Technical Assurance Lead

Soteria Cyber & Digital | Reading, hybrid with 2 days per week on site | £65,000 to £75,000 depending on experience and qualifications, plus benefits | Minimum SC clearance, sole UK national

About Soteria

Soteria Cyber & Digital is a UK cyber security and digital consultancy supporting UK Defence and Critical National Infrastructure clients. We provide secure architecture, assurance and technical advisory across complex, high assurance programmes, helping clients design, deliver and mature their digital estates with security built in from the outset. We are small, technically led, and chosen for the quality of our judgement rather than the size of our bench.

The role

We are hiring a Digital and Technical Assurance Lead to set the assurance direction on a major international defence equipment programme.

This is broader than a security assurance post. You will build the client's digital assurance capability, own the assurance strategy the programme runs on, and establish the strategic technical baseline that everything else is measured against. You will assure capabilities as they are introduced, from design through test and acceptance, and you will be in the room at formal design reviews and test events giving evidence-based feedback that programme leadership acts on.

It is a shaping role. The client does not have this capability yet. You are being brought in to create it.

What you will do

• Develop the client's digital assurance capability and maturity, leaving behind a function that works without you.
• Own the assurance strategy and assurance plan for the programme.
• Lead assurance of capabilities being introduced across the programme, including at formal design reviews and test events.
• Produce the documentation that sets the strategic technical baseline and gives the client a springboard to keep maturing its digital posture.
• Work across delivery, engineering and security stakeholders, and hold a consistent line between them

What you will bring

• Experience leading technical or digital assurance across a complex programme, from design through to test and acceptance.
• A track record developing assurance strategies and plans in UK Defence.
• Credibility across both the digital and cyber domains, including working proficiency in JSP 453 (604) and JSP 440.
• The confidence to challenge senior technical stakeholders at formal reviews and hold a position with evidence behind it.
• Strong technical writing, with a track record of producing strategic assurance and baseline documentation.
• The ability to build capability inside a client organisation, not just hand over artefacts.

Desirable

• Programme or project management qualification: APM PMQ, APM Chartered, PRINCE2 Practitioner or MSP.
• Systems engineering background or INCOSE certification, particularly on equipment programmes.
• Secure by Design delivery experience under JSP 440 Leaflet 5C.
• Experience with NCSC CAF, Def Stan 05-138 and 05-139.
• CCP, CIISec membership, or UK Cyber Security Council registration.

Clearance and eligibility

• Minimum SC cleared, and willing to undergo further vetting if required.

Working at Soteria

• You will be one of a small number of senior practitioners, which means your work is visible and your judgement carries weight. There is no layer of account management between you and the client, and no expectation that you sell work you would not want to deliver. We back our consultants to take a position and hold it, and we invest in keeping their credentials current.
• £65,000 to £75,000 depending on experience and qualifications.
• Private MedicalInsurance, Dental Cover, Medicash, Life Insurance, EV Scheme and more.
• Support towards CCP, CIISec, APM or UK Cyber Security Council registration where you do not already hold it.
• A short route to leadership as the consultancy grows.