Security Specialist

Salary: From £50,000 per annum (negotiable based on experience) + comprehensive benefits package

Jisc grade: TCY3

Job Type: Permanent

Hours: 35 hours per week

Reports into: Lead security specialist

Working style: Hybrid - A blend of working from home and your nominated hub office. We have hubs located in London, Bristol, Manchester and Oxford.

For 30 years Jisc has pioneered digital solutions for UK education and research, transforming how knowledge is created, shared and used.

We are uniquely positioned to protect, promote and lead the sector in digital and data transformation, making a difference to students, communities and society. Together, we are

working to build a better digital future for education and research.

Raise your potential at Jisc through our culture of lifelong learning. At Jisc, we're all about growth, so embrace new challenges, sharpen your skills and shape a career that excites you.

Join our dynamic Security Team within Group CTO, where we safeguard UK Education and Research from a broad spectrum of cyber threats and help our members strengthen their digital resilience. Our services span Protective (CSIRT, CTI, DDoS defence), Professional (Pen Testing, Cyber Security Assessment, Cyber Essentials certification), and Product teams (management, design, lifecycle). Our Architecture and Engineering team delivers critical infrastructure, including DNS and network time services.

We launched our Security Operations Centre (SOC) in early 2025, offering SIEM, 24/7 monitoring, and endpoint detection and response.

You will work to deliver assurance services to our members (UK colleges and universities), customers, and internally. In addition, you will liaise with security teams (including pen testing, cyber threat intelligence, and SOC) to enhance the quality of assurance services provided.

This position requires the successful candidate to undergo enhanced background screening checks, which include but is not limited to, Basic / Enhanced UK criminal record check, Credit check, international fraud and sanctions.

• Cyber Security Assessment work remotely or at member sites as necessary.
• Prepare and quality assure high quality reports for senior management and technical audiences.
• Enhance and develop best practice cyber security guidance for the educational sector and cyber department.
• Contribute to the promotion of cyber security best practices through the Jisc cyber security community, security conferences, and other relevant channels.
• Provide guidance on prioritising actions and remediations to meet risk, regulatory and compliance objectives.
• Provide appropriate briefings to a range of different management and leadership audiences, simplifying complex security data and provide guidance on suitable detection, prevention, protection and recovery methods.
• Enhancing your expertise by committing to continuing professional development and achieving relevant certifications.
• Supporting the delivery of Cyber Essentials certifications.

• Demonstrable experience in a Security Specialist / Security IT Operations / Penetration Testing or Cloud Security role.
• At least one of the following professional certifications: CISSP, CCSP, CRISC, CGEIT (or relevant penetration testing certifications).
• Experience and understanding of the requirements of working within ISO
  9001, ISO
  27001, CREST or similar environments.
• Familiarity and/or experience of working with CIS, NIST or CAF security frameworks.
• Proven experience of operating a range of industry standard tools for vulnerability scanning.
• Understanding and practical application of information security principles.
• Experience of producing high quality deliverables working alone and as part of a team.
• A high level of competence in effective use of productivity applications to produce high quality deliverables to meet tight timescales.

We know that sometimes people can be put off applying for a job if they think they can’t tick every box, so we encourage you to apply even if you do not meet 100% of the requirements, but if you feel this role is perfect for you. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles!

Specific…