Deputy Director Chief Technology Officer - CNO Ref. 3821 in Cheltenham

Salary, including specialist skills payment, up to £155,355 per annum subject to candidate skills assessed during recruitment. This role is full-time and office based for 37 hours per week - flexible or compressed working patterns will be considered. This role will be based predominantly in either Cheltenham or Manchester, with reasonable regular travel required between the two locations.

About us

GCHQ is the nation’s intelligence, cyber and security agency. We work to make the UK the safest place to live and work online; connect the national security community securely; and provide insights and counter threats through SIGINT and effects. Our people work closely with MI5 and MI6 as well as defence, international, and industry partners across a variety of locations, with major hubs in Cheltenham, London and Manchester as well as other sites in the UK and overseas. We live by the values of ingenuity, integrity, impact and teamwork as we work to keep the UK safe, resilient and prosperous in an uncertain world. A role with us means you will do unique and challenging work in a supportive environment, making a meaningful difference to national security.

The role

Applications are sought to fill a newly created Chief Technology Officer (CTO) role for GCHQ’s Computer Network Operations (CNO). This role provides an exciting opportunity for a CNO specialist to use their expertise to set the vision for the future of this work in GCHQ – charting a course for specialist delivery teams and shaping the direction for capability development and workforce skills for the future. GCHQ needs a combination of deep understanding and the confidence to develop new approaches and make judgements on when existing ways of working need to evolve. GCHQ’s CNO specialists are at the cutting edge of our capabilities, operating in creative ways in hostile environments. They infiltrate computers, helping to discover vital intelligence, and discover and disrupt the plans of terrorists and criminals. The CTO will provide the technical direction for CNO work, and work with technology teams across the intelligence community to influence the capability resilience and eventual operational impact of HMG CNO, for intelligence and effects purposes. You will have responsibility for the CNO capabilities and for workforce technical health from recruitment through to skills development and retention. The successful candidate will have a high level of appropriate technical knowledge and experience of working in this or related fields, for example in sophisticated red teaming or ethical hacking.

Key Responsibilities

• Has demonstrable ability to provide technical leadership, long-term strategy and direction for the team.
• Has proven success inspiring and developing high-performance, technical teams.
• This is a role not just for an individual contributor, but someone who can lead others and innovate.
• Is able to thrive in ambiguity and create simplicity out of complexity.
• Can demonstrate an ability to get to grips with the challenges of national security mission teams and find creative technological solutions.
• Experience in technologies designed to operate in hostile or contested environments.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is critical to our mission and we expect all our leaders to demonstrate a commitment to its delivery. To protect the UK, we need a truly diverse workforce that reflects the society we serve and therefore would like to encourage applications from a wide range of backgrounds for this role.

About you

• Sees the bigger picture, and anticipates the long-term impact on GCHQ of economic, environmental, social and technological developments, both nationally and internationally.
• Delivers outcomes by translating strategic priorities into clear outcome-focused goals for managers and teams, acting as a role model for delivery by showing efficiency and focus.
• Establish an inclusive culture which allows people space and authority to be innovative and take well-judged risks.
• Makes effective decisions, acting decisively and making bold, transparent and unbiased decisions at a strategic level.
• Makes sense of a wide range of political and national pressures and influences to develop strategies which meet organisational goals.
• Works collaboratively, proactively creating, maintaining, and promoting strong contacts across the organisation and externally.
• Communicate with conviction and clarity in the face of tough negotiations or challenges.
• Influence external partners, stakeholders and customers, in order to successfully secure mutually beneficial outcomes.

Key responsibilities

• Accountability for GCHQ’S current and future CNO technical capabilities, and the technical direction of the specialist CNO workforce.
• Responsibility for the investment portfolio for CNO work.
• Role-modelling exemplary leadership to provide staff with the culture and environment which enables success.

Selection Process

Your application will be sifted to assess your evidence against the criteria stated in this job description – scheduled for w/c 5th October (stc). If longlisted, you will participate in a telephone interview with our recruitment partners – scheduled for ws/c 12th, 19th & 26th October (stc). If shortlisted at telephone interview, you will be invited to participate in a Staff Engagement Session with a small group of GCHQ staff. This will be held virtually, with full details of the assessment process made available to shortlisted candidates – scheduled for w/c 16th November (stc). You will be invited to attend a panel interview held in person, where your motivational fit, values, competency evidence and technical experience will be assessed – scheduled for w/c 30th November (stc).

Rewards and Benefits

You will receive remuneration up to £155,355 (depending on assessed skills and experience), along with additional benefits including:

• 25 Days Annual Leave automatically rising to 30 days after 5 years' service, and an additional 10.5 days public and privilege holidays
• Opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme
• Interest‑free season ticket loan
• Excellent pension scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Facilities such as a gym, restaurant and on‑site coffee bars (at some locations)
• Paid parental and adoption leave

Equal Opportunities

At GCHQ diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission. To protect the UK, we need a truly diverse workforce that reflects the society we serve. This includes diversity in every sense of the word: those with different backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, ways of thinking and those with disabilities or neurodivergent conditions. We therefore welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including those from groups that are under‑represented in our workforce such as women, those from an ethnic minority background, people with disabilities and those from low socio‑economic backgrounds.

We’re Disability Confident

GCHQ are proud to have achieved Leader status within the DWP’s Disability Confident scheme. This is aimed at encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people. Being Disability Confident, we aim to offer a fair and proportionate number of person‑to‑person interviews to any candidate who self‑identifies as disabled and meets the essential criteria for the role. This is our ‘Offer of Interview’ (OOI). To secure an interview for this vacancy, the essential criteria (in order of application process) are:

• Meeting the eligibility criteria
• Meeting the essential criteria for the role at initial sift

There is a wide range of extra support available throughout the recruitment process to enable you to do your best. See our website for information on the reasonable adjustments we can offer.

Before You Apply

To work at GCHQ, you need to be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. You can read our full eligibility criteria here. This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community undertakes. You can find out more about the vetting process here. The role can be based in Cheltenham or Manchester, but the successful candidate would be expected to spend time across both locations. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities associated with the location and travel require for the role before submitting an application, as we do not offer relocation costs.

Right to Withdraw Statement:

Please be aware that we withhold the right to bring forward the closing date for this role from the original closing date once a certain number of applications have been received. Please be mindful of this and submit your application at your earliest convenience to avoid disappointment.