Resilience Advisor

Salary: c£56,000 in London and c£50,000 in Newcastle (more may be available for exceptional candidates + Civil Service Pension).

Please note: if successful, you will be required to undertake and maintain Security Check (SC) level clearance as part of this role.

The National Audit Office (NAO) supports Parliament in holding government to account and improving public services. The NAO Strategy 2025–2030 sets two strategic outcomes: improving the productivity and resilience of public services and strengthening financial management and reporting across government. FaRM is the NAO’s specialist Insights team for financial management, risk management and resilience. We support audit teams and the wider office by curating lessons learned from NAO work, developing practical knowledge products (tools, frameworks and guidance), and providing expert advice and guidance. We also engage with external stakeholders across government and professional communities to influence good practice to help improve public services.

As a core member of FaRM you will support the daily running and delivery of the team’s strategy and programme of work. You will be central to:

• Leveraging NAO knowledge to curate and share insight.
• Developing and sharing accessible lessons learned and good practice.
• Influencing resilience and risk management practices across government.

This is a resilience advisor role within the team’s Risk & Resilience portfolio of insight work. The postholder will focus primarily on resilience advisory and capability‑building, while being comfortable applying core risk management concepts when supporting teams and integrating resilience into audit work.

The postholder will support the Senior Risk & Resilience Specialist, who leads FaRM’s Risk and Resilience portfolio of insight work.

To apply, you should submit no more than two sides of A4, clearly outlining your suitability based on the key criteria below:

Key Criteria

• Resilience subject matter expertise: demonstrate depth of expertise in resilience, with the ability to apply this knowledge in different contexts to inform analysis, shape advice, and support high quality decision making in an advisory role.
• Prioritisation and delivery: balance tasks and priorities to deliver a complex portfolio of work, including supporting others on discrete projects (project management).
• Technical expertise and judgement: use your technical knowledge and expertise to deliver high quality work, applying sound judgement and reaching clear evidence-based conclusions.
• Analysis and synthesis: ability to analyse large and varied sets of data and concepts to develop meaningful insights, recommendations and practical advice.
• Communication and influence: communicate clearly and confidently, with the ability to write well structured outputs that add value and can engage non-specialist audiences.
• Collaboration, teamwork and continuous improvement: work collaboratively and flexibly in a fast‑paced supportive and inclusive team environment, demonstrating initiative, creativity, and a strong commitment to continuous personal and professional development.

In addition, applicants are required to submit their CV alongside their supporting statement.

Selection Process: We will shortlist based on your CV and suitability statement, and if successful, you will be invited to attend an interview which will include a short presentation, followed by a competency and values-based interview. The topic of the presentation will be provided in advance.

Equal opportunities and diversity

Applicants with a disability who wish their application to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme should confirm this when submitting their application. Under this scheme we guarantee an interview to an applicant with a disability who meets the minimum requirements for the role. You should also let our HR team know if you wish us to consider any Reasonable Adjustments at any stage of the process.

Applicants will not be discriminated against on the grounds of any protected characteristic or any other extraneous factor.

Nationality Requirement: UK Nationals, Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK, Nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with (or eligible for) status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS). Please note, we are not able to sponsor work visas or accept temporary visas as we are looking to hire on a permanent basis.

Key objectives

• Develop and deploy knowledge: turning specialist knowledge into accessible insight and usable lessons learned, good practice and advice.
• Providing resilience expertise and advice to VFM and wider assurance teams, helping strengthen audit approaches, methodologies and the quality of resilience-related findings and recommendations.
• Translating resilience concepts into audit-ready approaches, including framing questions (lines of enquiry), identifying and testing evidence, articulating “what good looks like”, and supporting practical, evidence-based recommendations.
• Synthesising evidence and stakeholder perspectives into practical insight and clear, well-structured written outputs that add value and engage non-specialist audiences.
• Engaging with government networks and stakeholders to understand developments, challenges, and opportunities to influence outcomes.
• Providing opportunities for our staff to deepen their expertise through supporting staff in getting relevant on the job experience.
• Leading discrete pieces of knowledge work to successfully deliver high impact and high-quality products and outputs (such as tools, guidance, briefings and presentations).

Demonstrable, relevant resilience experience (e.g., business continuity, emergency management, crisis management, operational/organisational resilience), including applying resilience concepts to improve decision making, planning and delivery. Working knowledge of recognised resilience and/or business continuity standards and frameworks (e.g., ISO 22301) and a clear grasp of how resilience interacts with risk management. Confident applying core risk management concepts (e.g., risk identification, assessment, appetite, tolerance, controls and assurance) in support of resilience thinking and audit work. Complementary professional certification / membership in a relevant discipline (e.g., Business Continuity Institute, Emergency Planning Society, Institute of Crisis Management, Institute of Risk Management or equivalent). Relevant postgraduate qualification and evidence of continued professional development resilience / risk disciplines. Experience of working in, or with, the public sector and/or across government and arm’s‑length bodies. Alternatively, experience from sectors with mature resilience practice (e.g., infrastructure, financial services, utilities).

Educational requirements

Relevant professional risk qualification (e.g., IRM, PRMIA, GARP or equivalent).