Assurance Specialist; office locations

Job Description

We are hiring an Assurance Specialist to join us here at Genomics England!

This is a broad assurance role spanning operational resilience, data protection and cyber and information security, focused on assurance, governance, and compliance rather than hands‑on technical delivery. The role supports the organisation in meeting relevant standards, regulations, and internal policies, helping ensure risks across services are understood, monitored, and addressed.

You will work closely with assurance leads across the three pillars, supporting risk assessments, assurance activities, reporting, and awareness initiatives. You will help review and maintain policies, track compliance evidence, support audits and reviews, and contribute to the continuous improvement of assurance frameworks.

This role suits an Assurance Specialist already working in an assurance, risk, governance, or compliance environment, who enjoys variety, autonomy with clear guardrails, and operating across a complex, regulated organisation. Trust, resilience, and compliance are central to the role, supporting services that deliver nationally important healthcare and research outcomes.

This is an excellent opportunity to further broaden and advance your assurance career, on meaningful work and across multiple disciplines and regulated environments.

• Support assurance activities across operational resilience, data protection and cyber and information security, identifying risks and recommending mitigation actions.
• Review and contribute to policies, procedures, and governance materials to ensure compliance with relevant standards and regulations.
• Support audits, assurance reviews, penetration tests, supplier assessments, and incident‑related activities, tracking findings and ensuring timely follow‑up.
• Prepare and analyse management information and assurance reporting, turning evidence into clear, actionable recommendations for stakeholders.
• Assist with business impact analyses, business continuity, and disaster recovery planning, observing exercises, documenting lessons learned, and tracking remediation.
• Contribute to staff awareness initiatives, embedding assurance, compliance, and risk awareness across the organisation.
• Experience working in an assurance, risk, governance, or compliance role.
• Ability to assess and articulate risk across both technical and non‑technical domains.
• Experience supporting audits, assurance reviews, or compliance activities.
• Strong analytical skills, able to interpret evidence, identify gaps, and make proportionate recommendations.
• Clear and confident communicator, able to engage a wide range of stakeholders.
• Proven organisational skills, able to manage multiple assurance activities across complex environments.
• Familiarity with standards such as ISO 22301, ISO 27001, or similar frameworks.
• Knowledge of data protection principles, including GDPR and UK DPA 2018.
• Experience in business continuity, disaster recovery, or operational resilience assurance.
• Experience working within the NHS, healthcare, life sciences, public sector, or other heavily regulated environments.
• Experience contributing to assurance reporting, management information, or staff awareness initiatives.
• Experience with supplier audits, third‑party risk management, or accreditation support.

• Formal qualifications are not essential. However, certifications or training related to audit, assurance, risk, data protection, information/cyber security, or operational resilience are welcome and considered beneficial.

This is a chance to step into a truly broad and impactful assurance role, helping shape how Genomics England manages risk, compliance, and resilience across nationally important services.

Salary From: £51,000

Closing Date: Wednesday 25th February at 23:00 (UK time)

Being an integral part of such a meaningful mission is extremely rewarding in itself, but in order to support our people, we’re continually improving our benefits package. We pride ourselves on investing in our people and supporting them to achieve their career goals, as well as offering a benefits package including:

• Generous Leave:
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