Critical National Infrastructure Specialist - 34595

• building effective partnerships to jointly manage risks, and with internal and external organisations,
• able to work with senior people, manage multiple priorities, and competing demands
• experience of stakeholder management, with clear communication and engagement skills
• There is a conditional requirement to achieve Security Check (SC) level of National Security Vetting.
  
  
  

Job Description

Are you a collaborative team member with technical security knowledge? Are you keen to use your skills to protect the organisation, our assets, and employees?

As a CNIS Specialists you will work in a small team providing strategic leadership, consistent standards, and expert capability across physical, personnel, cyber, and supply chain security for CNIS. The team will ensure compliance with national security obligations, resilience, and risk management.

We are recruiting for three roles: CNIS Protective Security Specialist, CNIS Personnel Security and Vetting Specialist, Commercial Security Assurance Specialist.

CNIS Protective Security Specialist role: you will lead protective security risk assessments and controls across CNIS assets, designing, publishing, and maintaining standards, ensuring alignment with asset management and corporate policies. Key responsibilities include:

• Conduct and assure site risk assessments and define protective measures
• Provide security design requirements for new builds/major changes, reviewing specifications
• Coordinate with CTSA for site advice and plan testing/exercises
• Oversee incident management playbooks and after-action reviews for physical incidents
  
  
  

CNIS Personnel Security & Vetting role: you will define and assure role-based vetting and personnel security requirements across CNIS roles and contractors. Key responsibilities include:

• Set role-based vetting, working with Defra group Security on applications

Embed insider risk controls, working with Professional Standards

Partner with Professional Standards, HR and Security to manage investigations and cases

Define, create, and manage training requirements

Commercial Security Assurance role: you will ensure contracts, procurement, and supplier management do not compromise CNIS security. Key responsibilities include:

• Work with Commercial on CNIS security clauses and schedules, providing advice during procurement and on managing contracts securely
• Run supplier due diligence and ongoing assurance
• Coordinate with NPSA/NCSC guidance for supply chain risk, advising on remediation and termination where needed
• Monitor contract performance against security KPIs, escalating non-conformance
  
  
  

The team

You will be part of a small team within the Corporate Management, Assurance, and Security team, who are focused on protecting and empowering the organisation to function effectively and be resilient.

The wider team manages a diverse range of work and are welcoming. There is also an expectation that you will become involved in work the wider team does, which will give you the opportunity to gain a wide range of experience of key activities.

Experience/skills Required

• 5 or more years in protective security; familiarity with site operations and design standards, or
• 5 or more years in personnel security/vetting; understand UK government vetting regimes and insider risk or,
• 5 or more years in procurement/supply chain security; strong contracting knowledge; supplier assurance.
• building effective partnerships to jointly manage risks, and with internal and external organisations,
• able to work with senior people, manage multiple priorities, and competing demands
• experience of stakeholder management, with clear communication and engagement skills
• There is a conditional requirement to achieve Security Check (SC) level of National Security Vetting.
  
  
  

Contact and additional information

Everyone that joins us is required to undertake training and participate in incident response duties when needed. An incident role is an essential part of working for the Environment Agency, how we help communities and prevent harm to the environment. 

Further information on incident response can be found within your candidate pack.

There will be an informal session to hear more about the role and ask questions on Wednesday 17th June at 12.15. For further details please contact Emma Young at emma.young@environment-agency.gov.uk to join the session or receive a transcript of the session.

Interviews are scheduled to take place from week commencing 13th July 2026.

To apply for this post, please provide examples for each of the competencies below.

Competence 1

Builds and Sustains Relationships

Description

Key to your success in this role will be your ability to work well with others. Please give an example of a time when you built a strong working relationship that led to successful joint delivery. What did you do to establish rapport, and what was the outcome?

Competence 2

Takes Decisions and Solves Problems

Description

Please give an example of when you had to make a time-critical decision relating to a security issue or risk. What approach did you take and what was the impact?

Competence 3

Achieves Results

Description

Give an example of when you identified a risk to delivering a security-related objective and took action to resolve it. What was the outcome?

If you are applying from the Civil Service please note that the Environment Agency is not a part of HM Civil Service and you would not be a Crown Servant in the event of being appointed. Therefore, you will not be eligible for continuous service. For applicants who currently work in local government or other bodies listed in the Redundancy Payments (Continuity of Employment in Local Government etc) (Modification) Order 1999, you may be eligible for continuous service for the purpose of calculating any future redundancy payment. If you are unsure of your status then you should contact your own HR Team.

We are fully committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce to reflect the communities we serve. We welcome flexible working patterns for all our vacancies, including job share, so please include clearly any information regarding your preferred working arrangements on your application.

We also have a Guaranteed Interview Policy to support those with a disability who are seeking employment. We have committed to guaranteeing an interview to anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

The Environment Agency, as a Non-Departmental Public Body, is committed to providing value for money and utilises Central Government frameworks and contracts for all external recruitment needs. For this reason, we are unable to engage with the market directly through post, email or phone calls . Should you wish to become a support supplier on one of these frameworks or contracts please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/become-a-crown-commercial-service-supplier/becoming-a-supplier-through-the-crown-commercial-service-what-you-need-to-know for more information.