Data Protection and Cyber Security Consultant

Data Protection and Cyber Security Consultant

Salary - London ranging from £56,400 - £80,000 and National ranging from £52,200 - £70,000

Are you interested in joining a team where you can act as a cyber security and data protection subject matter expert providing advice, guidance, and policy interpretation?

The team/department

The Security Expertise and Advisory (SE&A) team, based within the Cyber & Information Resilience (C&IR) Department of the COO’s Office, is a cross-functional team responsible for advising the business on cyber security and data protection matters. The SE&A team plays a key role in supporting business and IT change programmes across the organisation.

What will you be doing (the role)

This role will support the wider organisation to ensure that it has appropriate cyber security and data protection measures to meet the requirements of relevant legislation such as the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA), and the Financial Services & Markets Act 2000 (FMSA2000).

• Advise on C&IR’s policies and standards to ensure cyber security and data protection are embedded throughout the lifecycle of all processing within the FCA, and that the policies remain effective and update and provide pragmatic, quality, and timely ad-hoc advice to all areas of the organisation to ensure all new regulatory initiatives comply with the DPA and GDPR, as well as all C&IR’s policies

• This includes advising on new technology and cloud-based products to ensure these developing areas remain secure and in compliance with our policies and standards

• Help to define and embed a Privacy by Design and Security by Default culture to ensure correct processing and security is in place from the start of any new processing in the form of DPIA assessment and provide expert technical advice to reduce the risk of a cyber incident or data breach happening at the FCA, as well as assisting with cyber incidents

• Lead on DPIA processes by working closely with teams across the organisation to provide expert technical advice and guidance

• Ensure personal data processing activities undertaken by these teams are proportionate and that any associated cyber or data protection risks are being effectively identified, managed and mitigated

• Review and advice on contracts, data sharing agreements and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) from a security and data protection input

What will you get from the role?

• You’ll be working with colleagues from across the division as well as other parts of the organisation. This is a great opportunity to be innovative within an evolving environment and assist senior management in this complex decision-making process

• You’ll gain an excellent strategic understanding of what the FCA is about, its strengths and weaknesses and work in an interesting and fast moving, yet friendly and supportive environment

• An opportunity to broaden your professional and personal technical skills and knowledge

Our competitive flexible benefits scheme gives you the opportunity to create a personalised benefits package, tailored to suit your lifecycle. You can use this allowance to purchase additional benefits such as dental or cycle to work or you have the option top up your base salary by taking this as cash. Core benefits that you will receive as standard are: 

• 25 days holiday per year plus bank holidays

• Private healthcare with Bupa 

• A non-contributory Pension of at least 8% of basic salary each month (there are several contribution levels that increase depending on your age – up to 12% a month once you reach age 35) 

• Life assurance of eight times your basic salary 

• Income protection 

We support hybrid working which means you will be able to work from home up to 60% of the time over a month with the remainder of your time in one of our three office locations.  

The skills and experience you will have  

Minimum

We are a signatory to the Government’s Disability Confident scheme. This means that we will offer an interview to disabled candidates entering under the scheme, should they meet the minimum criteria for a role.  

• Proven experience in cyber security and practical working experience of compliance with Data Protection legislation such as DPA, UK GDPR and ePrivacy Directive/PECR

• Ability to interpret data protection and privacy legislation and apply it in practice, including the requirements of the GDPR Security Principle (appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect data)

• Proven stakeholder management experience and ability to proactively develop effective relationships with colleagues at all levels

Essential

• The ability to translate cyber security risks and mitigations into business impact in a way that can be understood by non-technical colleagues

• Proven organisational ability; can demonstrate capability to manage a variety of competing tasks and issues, prioritising appropriately and escalating where necessary

• The ability to absorb considerable amounts of information, spotting patterns and themes, and make sound and reasoned judgments based on the information.

• Capacity to identify potential difficulties at an early stage, understanding when to consult or escalate, including for legal advice or senior awareness

• Demonstrate subject matter expertise in cyber security and generate credibility and capability to influence staff across the FCA

• Very strong communication skills with the ability to deal confidently and effectively with a wide range of staff and external partners

• Ability to constructively challenge staff where appropriate and a flexible and proactive approach, with the ability to cope with periods of high pressure in an area with multiple tasks and changing priorities

About the FCA   

The FCA regulates the conduct of nearly 45,000 firms in the UK to ensure our financial markets are honest, fair and competitive. We do this to make sure markets work well for individuals, businesses and the economy as a whole. For more information on what we do, our three-year strategy can be found here.  

The FCA's Values & Diversity  

Our ambition is to cultivate a culture of inclusion for all employees that respects their individual strengths, views, and experiences. We believe that our differences and similarities enable us to be a better organisation – one that makes better decisions, drives innovation, and delivers better regulation.  

The FCA is committed to achieving greater diversity across all levels of the organisations. Given this, we particularly welcome applications from women, disabled and minority ethnic candidates for our Senior Associate role.  

Flexible working

We welcome applications from candidates who are looking for flexible arrangements.  Many of our staff work flexibly including working part-time, staggered hours, and job shares.  We can’t promise to give you exactly what you want but we won’t judge you for asking.    
 

Multi-location

As part of the FCA’s on-going commitment to develop our national presence, most of our vacancies are now open to working in our Edinburgh, Leeds, or London offices.  This means that as part of the application process you will be able to select your preference of which office location you would like to work from.   

Useful information   

Applications for this role close at 23.59 on 1st November 2024

This role is graded as Senior Associate - Regulatory

Got a question?    

If you are interested in learning more about the role please contact: 

For internal applicants, please contact Katie Ayling at katie.ayling@fca.org.uk

For external applicants, please contact Asha Gladis at asha.gladis@fca.org.uk

What to expect from our interview process  

The assessment process consists of an initial screening call with one our Recruitment Partners . If successful, you will be invited to attend a competency-based interview, followed by technical case study and final round interview.

Application support  

We want to remove any possible barriers and are committed to providing a wide range of reasonable adjustments so that you can keep the focus on your conversations and be at your best.  

If you have an accessibility requirement, disability, or condition that means you might require changes to the recruitment process, please contact your recruiter to discuss this further. Our aim is to make your application as easy and comfortable as possible, and your recruiter will be happy to work with you to make any necessary arrangements where possible.