Head of APHA Security (CR330)

We are looking for people with a passion for leadership, for interesting senior roles that help civil servants succeed and support citizens by collaborating across the public sector.

You will provide security and people leadership, driving transformative change, innovation and excellence for APHA.

• Are you someone who can lead and manage change in a challenging and dynamic environment?


• Do you want a role safeguarding standards of animal and plant health and welfare?


• Do you have the ability to influence others and guide your team in a shared strategy?


• Do you have an operational background in specialist Security functions on a complex site?


The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, and works on behalf of the Scottish Government and Welsh Government. Our diverse teams of over 3,000 skilled and committed professionals come together to provide research, advice and services to UK Government for safeguarding animal, public and plant health for benefit of the environment and economy.

Reporting to the Director of Science Capability, you will be responsible for leadership and direction of a new APHA Security function for APHA, setting requirements for our highly regulated and specialised Weybridge site of Critical National Infrastructure, and across our wider GB portfolio of sites and activities.

Working closely with Defra Security and Property colleagues, you will support us in delivering effective security for APHA. You will be leading on the management and mitigation of security risks and incidents for APHA, considering cyber, physical and personnel issues holistically. Setting new standards for adoption of 'secure by design' principles and aligning to government and departmental standards and policies is a priority in this role. You will be responsible for the Threat and Vulnerability Risk Assessment for APHA Weybridge and for ensuring continuous improvement of statutory security compliance applicable to APHA.

You will support business delivery leads and colleagues with their responsibilities, helping to build and embed a strong security culture within APHA and associated partners.

This is an exciting opportunity to join us and play a significant part in ensuring that we meet our wide-ranging obligations for UK biosecurity. The role is also part of the wider Government Security Profession; a community with a mandate to establish transformation, and responsibility for an entirely new security model to protect the UK.,
• Develop and maintain an effective APHA Security function and Weybridge Security Management System


• Advise APHA Executive Board on the management of security risks and provision of day-to-day strategic and operational direction on security matters, escalating those above the risk appetite for APHA and Defra Board decision


• Contribute to the development of Defra Group level security strategy and policies through your role on the Property Security Management Board


• Ensure that industry good practice security principles and requirements are embedded across all aspects of security within APHA


• Drive a strong security culture across APHA, ensuring effective practices are implemented, monitored and maintained


• Understand, assess impacts and communicate APHA business and information risk context in relation to physical, personnel and cyber security threats


• Role model the security community and model Civil Service values to foster and develop the team's professional capability. This includes resourcing and line management responsibility for the Security team including performance , development and monitoring of progress


• Develop and improve the Weybridge Threat Vulnerability Risk Analysis (TVRA) and wider APHA Operating Requirements in collaboration with stakeholders


• Operational Leadership, resource management, direction and continuous improvement of the APHA Security Function, acting as part of APHA's senior leadership team


• Provide professional advice, guidance and incident investigation to Defra Group Property and their contracted guardforce., We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:


• Making Effective Decisions


• Communicating and Influencing


• Working Together


• Leadership


• Delivering at Pace


• Seeing the Big Picture


We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Making Effective Decisions


• Communicating and Influencing


• Working Together, Where the location is 'National' the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra's location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.


Successful applicants currently employed by the hiring Defra organisation for this post may choose to remain in their current contractual location or may choose to change contractual location to one of those listed above. This should be discussed and agreed prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations.

Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee.

The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location, and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time.

Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD.

The contractual workplace is APHA Weybridge (New, Haw, Addlestone, Surrey) and will be the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate.

Reserve List
A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made., Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter.

The Weybridge site is a strategically important national asset due to its role as a reference laboratory supporting the Government's response to national emergencies including disease outbreaks. For this reason all postholders based on the APHA Weybridge site must hold as a minimum of a valid Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) security clearance. It is up to each person applying for a post at APHA Weybridge to ensure they meet the residency criteria. For this role you will hold or be required to obtain SC clearance or higher and may be required to obtain DV clearance at a later date. Therefore, applicants must be currently resident in the UK & have at least five years continuous UK residency as this is a requirement to work at the Weybridge site.

Full Time Only
This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying. We may consider two part-time staff on a job share basis if continuity can be arranged.

Childcare Vouchers
Any move to Defra from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.,
• UK nationals


• nationals of the Republic of Ireland


• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK


• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)


• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)


• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020


• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
  
  Security and risk management, recognising future risks and strategically planning to mitigate them;


• Background in physical security, personnel security, cyber security or technology professions


• Proven technical experience in defining and articulating requirements and high-level design criteria for security controls in one or more domain (physical security or cyber security)


• Demonstrable experience in security compliance, business continuity or incident management roles


• Experience in security leadership in government and/or a large corporate environment of a comparable scale within high-risk industry


• Ability to work across organisational boundaries and across disciplines to deliver results, collaborating effectively with stakeholders


• Experience of acting as an intelligent customer managing supplier relationships and contracts


The successful candidate may be required to complete additional training provided by the NPSA, depending on their level of experience., Level 5 Security Management qualification
Certificate of Business Continuity Institute, or equivalent
Cyber Security qualification, i.e. CISSP or equivalent., A presentation or additional exercise may also be assessed, further details of this will be given at the time.

Alongside your salary of £67,640, Animal and Plant Health Agency contributes £18,262 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

In return for your dedication and hard work, we will support your ongoing personal development through appropriate training as inclusion, support and the development of our people matter to us. We aim to support the career and personal wellbeing of everyone in APHA. Our benefits include generous annual leave, a generous employer contributory pension (27%), staff bonuses and recognition, salary sacrifice benefit options, and an employee discount scheme, reward vouchers and in-year bonuses. We also offer additional days off if accrued extra hours (flexi-time -if accumulated), three paid volunteering day per year. We also have a social committee who run team building and fun events at the Weybridge site. Further details can be found in the Candidate Information Pack.

Everyone in APHA is supported to develop their skills and capabilities. When you join the Directorate, you will be welcomed into your new team through an induction programme that will provide you with helpful information on the civil service, our work and our policies. Your line manager will also work with you to establish your priorities for the year, developing a performance, learning and development plan tailored to you and your role.

Things you need to know, New entrants are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band.

Visa Sponsorship Statement
Please take note that Defra does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship.

Reasonable Adjustment
If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.