Cyber Security Project Manager at UK Research & Innovation, Swindon/Remote, 6 Months, £Contract Rate

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is the national funding agency investing in science and research in the UK.

UKRI invests £8 billion of taxpayers' money each year into research and innovation and the people who make it happen. They work across a huge range of fields - from biodiversity conservation to quantum computing, and from space telescopes to innovative health care. They give everyone the opportunity to contribute and to benefit, bringing together people and organisations nationally and globally to create, develop and deploy new ideas and technologies.

Job Purpose:

The Cyber Resilience (CR) project is a coordinated programme of initiatives aimed at strengthening UKRI's ability to withstand and respond to an increasingly complex cyber threat landscape. It focuses on enhancing existing defensive capabilities, reducing the risk of attack and compromise, and transitioning UKRI from a reactive to a proactive security posture. Building on the foundations established through the Security: Foundations & Digital Resilience (ST&DR) programme, the project seeks to protect against financial and reputational harm while ensuring compliance with the UK Government Cyber Security Strategy 2022 -2030. Overall, it delivers targeted, proportionate improvements aligned to identified threats and supports UKRI's ambition to operate as a resilient, high-reliability organisation.

The programme consists of ten workstreams that collectively advance cyber resilience across key areas, including threat intelligence, third-party risk management, phishing and email security, cloud security, and incident response. These initiatives include deploying threat intelligence tooling, strengthening phishing detection and spoofing protections, enhancing cloud security through CASB, CSPM, and CNAPP capabilities, and improving oversight of third-party risks.

The project also introduces measures to strengthen organisational readiness and recovery, such as defining a Minimal Viable Organisation, implementing incident response exercises and lessons learned processes, and procuring immutable backup solutions to support business continuity. Together, these workstreams enhance existing capabilities while introducing new controls that materially improve UKRI's cyber resilience.

As a Cyber Security Project Manager, your main responsibilities will be:

• Integrated cyber resilience delivery plan - A single, coherent plan aligning all ten workstreams (e.g. threat intelligence, cloud security, incident response) with clear milestones, dependencies, and sequencing to deliver a unified uplift in capability.
• Governance, assurance, and compliance reporting - Structured reporting and assurance outputs demonstrating progress, risk posture, and alignment with UK Government Cyber Security Strategy 2022 -2030 requirements.
• RAID management and risk reduction tracking - Active management of risks, issues, and dependencies, with clear mitigation plans and evidence of reduced exposure to cyber threats and vulnerabilities.
• Coordinated implementation of cyber capabilities - Oversight and integration of key technical deliverables such as CASB, CSPM, CNAPP, phishing protections, and threat intelligence tooling into an effective, layered defense model.
• Organisational readiness and response artefacts - Delivery of outputs that improve resilience and recovery, including the Minimal Viable Organisation definition, incident response exercise programme, and lessons learned processes.
• Benefits realisation and resilience outcomes - Measurable evidence that the project has strengthened UKRI's security posture (e.g. improved detection, reduced risk, enhanced recovery), alongside formal closure and lessons learned documentation.

Essential:

• Cyber security literacy - Strong understanding of cyber resilience principles, threat landscapes, and key technologies (e.g. threat intelligence, cloud security, incident response) to effectively engage with specialists and make informed delivery decisions.
• Complex programme and workstream management - Ability to coordinate multiple interdependent workstreams, manage sequencing and dependencies, and maintain delivery momentum across a diverse portfolio of initiatives.
• Stakeholder engagement and communication - Experience working with senior leaders, technical teams, and external partners to align priorities, manage expectations, and clearly articulate risks, progress, and outcomes.
• Risk and issue management - Proactive identification, assessment, and mitigation of delivery and cyber risks, ensuring appropriate controls are in place and escalation is effective.
• Governance and compliance awareness - Familiarity with government cyber security standards (e.g. UK Cyber Security Strategy) and the ability to ensure delivery aligns with regulatory and organisational governance frameworks.
• Change and resilience mindset - Capability to drive cultural and operational change, embedding more proactive security practices and ensuring sustainable, long-term resilience improvements across the organisation.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.

Disability Confident 

As a member of the Disability Confident Scheme, UKRI guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. This scheme encourages candidates with a disability and/or neurodivergence to apply. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

Armed Forces Commitment

UKRI guarantees to interview veterans or spouses / partners of military personnel who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of ex-military candidates / military spouses or partners, who meet all of the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different.