Cyber Operations purpose is to support safe care and build public trust by building NHS England’s cyber resilience and enabling the wider health system to be cyber resilient, supporting Transformation Directorate’s purpose of delivering the best care and outcomes for the NHS.

The Cyber Operations sub-directorate consists of four operational areas:

Cyber Security Operations Unit (CSOU & SIO)

Cyber Delivery Unit (CDU)

Cyber Improvement Programme

Chief Information Security Office Function (CISO)

This is for a role within the NHS England CSOC, the Cybersecurity Operations Centre with a national remit across publicly funded healthcare in England.

Please be aware that should you be successful in this position, you will be hired to the job title of Security Trainee and this job title is advertised to attract the right skills needed for the role.

The Trainee Cyber Security Incident Manager role is within the NHS England National CSOC (Cyber Security Operations Centre), supporting the coordination, triage and management of cyber security incidents across the health and care system.

Support the identification, triage and coordination of cyber security incidents within the NHS England National CSOC.

Assist with incident management activity, ensuring incidents are logged, tracked and progressed in line with agreed processes and procedures.

Work with technical analysts and operational colleagues to gather information, support investigations and maintain situational awareness during live incidents.

Provide clear and timely updates to internal teams and stakeholders, escalating issues where appropriate.

Develop knowledge of cyber security incident response, national processes and the wider NHS cyber threat landscape.

Support the maintenance of accurate incident records, actions, decisions and lessons identified.

Contribute to continuous improvement activity by identifying opportunities to strengthen incident management processes and ways of working.

Keep up to date with cyber security developments and build the skills needed to support effective incident coordination in a national environment.

Provide support to NHS organisations during cyber security incidents under the guidance of experienced colleagues.

NHS England has a wide range of statutory functions, responsibilities and regulatory powers. These are focused on supporting the wider NHS to deliver high quality care, as well as doing those things that are best done once for the whole NHS.

Our staff bring expertise across clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, software engineering, education, and commercial specialisms — enabling us to design and deliver high-quality NHS services.

In March 2025, the Government announced that NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care will increasingly merge functions, ultimately leading to NHS England being fully integrated into the department.

If you currently work within the NHS and if successful at interview, we will initiate an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). This retrieves key data from your current or previous NHS employer to support onboarding, including competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement. You may opt out at any stage of the process.

Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in our offices.

Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.

We cannot offer visa sponsorship for any vacancies.

As part of the shortlisting process you may be asked to complete an assessment via a third party platform called Immersive Labs. Immersive Labs is a gamified learning environment. We use their screening product to help assess whether our candidates meet the technical requirements we’re looking for during the recruitment process.

Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification for more information about the role and responsibilities.

Please ensure your supporting statement includes demonstratable evidence and specific examples on how you meet the criteria for each of the key skills specified. This will be used in both the shortlisting and interview processes

Important: Please be aware there are residency requirements you need to meet:

All NHS England Cyber Security personnel must hold Security Clearance level as a minimum. To meet National Security Vetting requirements, SC clearances require 5 years continuous UK residency. In certain cases, this can be reduced to three years continuous UK residency, with additional overseas checks for the previous two years. Candidates who were posted abroad for service with HM Government, Armed Forces or within a UK government role - will still be considered.
Please make sure you meet these requirements before applying for this role. You don’t need to have SC already, however, failure to achieve the requirements for SC after offer will result in the job offer being withdrawn. For further advice please check https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels#security-check-sc

If you like what you have read and think you have the skills and experience, we need then don't delay, apply today! We get lots of applications for our roles and so we sometimes have to close our posts early. Don't miss out!