My role in leading the Government Security Profession is to ensure we build the capability we need across government to meet these aims and to enable departments to attract, develop and retain the expertise they need. It has been a challenging and busy time since joining eight months ago, but I have loved every minute of it – almost!
I am proud of the team. They have worked hard across government to influence and collaborate with departments to create early initiatives. These form the professional building blocks that will allow us to attract, develop and retain the high-quality security professionals we need. Key to this has been the Government Security Profession career framework, and I am really excited this now come to fruition.
The framework is the first of its kind in Security, representing a major collaborative effort involving 300 subject matter experts in over 40 working groups to transform the way the government does security. Defining distinct career pathways for progression across four security specialisms (cyber, physical, technical and personnel) and corporate enablers, it illustrates internal and external routes into the profession, with information on increasing skills and development opportunities.
This is important, as it gives a real sense of belonging by using a common language across technical specialisms to break down barriers, reduce silo working and inspire people to see themselves as part of a wider and diverse community. The introduction of our Knowledge Hub as a one-stop portal for all things about the security profession will support this and allow communities of practice.
The career framework is very much the start of an exciting journey for the Government Security Profession. Linked to this will be a comprehensive professionalisation offer during 2020. This includes learning linked to mentoring with industry exchanges and professional accreditation, starting with The Security Institute. This will be launched with a digital skills assessment tool during 2020/21, allowing individuals to benchmark their skills and link to the learning all in one place.
I am also keen to build our pipelines into the profession, for example through refreshing our Cyber Apprenticeship scheme and by looking at the feasibility of a graduate fast stream to meet the cyber skills gap.
Crucially we will continue to build awareness of the security profession and the opportunities we offer by getting out and about. You will find us at CYBERUK in May and Civil Service Live during the summer, so come and speak to us to find out more.
This is just a glimpse of our work. If you want to know more about Government Security or are interested in working for us, please visit our Government Security Blog, our careers site, the online community at Knowledge Hub, or get in touch with the Government Security Profession: gsp@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.