Cyber Security Specialist (Sponsorship Available) At NICE

Employer: NICE
Job Title: Cyber Security Specialist
Location: Manchester, United Kingdom
Salary: £57,528 to £64,750 a year
Job Type: Full-time
Closing Date: 02 October 2026

Job Summary

Do you want to do meaningful work that makes a genuine difference to society? The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)’s main purpose is to improve health and wellbeing by putting science and evidence at the heart of health and care decision-making. As an organisation NICE all collaborate to achieve this goal by empowering the workforce to do great things!

Please note that this role may not be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route. Please refer to the DirectGov website for more information on eligibility.

NICE reserve the right to close the advert early should NICE receive sufficient applications, so please don’t delay your submission.

Please be aware interviews will be face to face in the NICE Manchester Office.

Main Duties of the Job

As a Cyber Security Specialist (Operational), you will play a key hands on role in protecting NICE’s digital platforms, systems, and data from cyber threats. Working as part of a collaborative cyber security function, you will investigate security alerts, manage vulnerabilities, respond to incidents and help ensure NICE services remain secure, resilient and compliant.

The role combines technical expertise with clear communication, supporting both operational delivery and the continual improvement of NICE’s cyber security posture.

What the Candidate Will Be Expected to Do / Bring

• Act as a hands on cyber security specialist, investigating security alerts, responding to incidents and supporting day to day operational cyber resilience.
• Configure, manage and maintain security tooling and infrastructure across on premise and cloud environments, embedding secure by design principles.
• Carry out routine vulnerability assessments, threat analysis and horizon scanning to identify and mitigate emerging risks.
• Serve as a technical escalation point for complex security issues, contributing expert analysis and practical solutions.
• Support compliance with recognised security standards and frameworks (e.g. Cyber Essentials, ISO27001), maintaining clear and auditable records.
• Communicate complex technical risks and findings clearly to both technical and non technical stakeholders

About NICE

The Infrastructure, Cyber & IT Operations team plays a critical role in ensuring NICE’s digital services are secure, resilient, and reliable. The team is responsible for safeguarding systems and information, supporting users across the organisation, and maintaining operational stability with minimal risk or disruption.

As part of this team, you will help protect nationally important digital services while enabling NICE to deliver trusted guidance and information to health and care users across England.

NICE is passionate and proud of the work NICE do and the impact NICE make. NICE offer:

• Generous NHS Pension – Secure your future with one of the most rewarding pension schemes in the UK
• Flexible working – Enjoy a healthy work-life balance with options like remote working, compressed hours and flexible start/finish times
• Exclusive discounts – Save on shopping, dining and more with a Blue Light CardTime to recharge – Start with 27 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays
• Inclusive staff networks – Join supportive communities like Women in NICE, Race Equality Network, Disability Advocacy and NICE and Proud – NICE celebrate diversity
• Tailored development – Grow your career with personalised learning and development opportunities

If you feel this is the type of environment you will enjoy working in, apply today!

Job Description

Job Responsibilities

To be considered for this role, you should be able to particularly demonstrate the person specification criteria in the job advert in your application. However, applicants should be able to demonstrate all essential criteria through the entirety of the recruitment process to be considered for the job. Please see job description attached for full list of responsibilities.

Person Specification

Knowledge

Desirable

• Knowledge of Microsoft Defender, Sentinel, including Kusto Query Language (KQL), threat hunting, analytics rule development, security monitoring, incident investigation and automation capabilities.

Education/Qualifications

Essential

• Holds highly developed specialist knowledge and expertise acquired through master’s degree level or equivalent qualification/experience. Additionally holds specialist knowledge of the relevant area(s) of expertise as outlined in the person specification, acquired through relevant practical experience and training/development

Education/Qualifications

Desirable

One or more of the following qualifications, or equivalent experience, is desirable for this role: FEDIP Senior Practitioner, Cyber Security Professional (ACSP) ,BCS Certificate in Information Security Management Principles (CISMP), SSCP Systems Security Certified Practitioner

Experience

Essential

• Extensive technical expertise across cyber security operations, threat detection, incident response, vulnerability management, security monitoring, and cyber risk reduction within complex enterprise environments. Experience gained through roles such as Security Analyst, SOC Analyst, Cyber Security Engineer, Incident Responder, or similar technical cyber security positions.

Experience

Essential

• Demonstrable experience as an individual contributor within a cyber security team, with clear evidence of personal ownership, technical decision-making, incident resolution, vulnerability remediation, and delivery of measurable security outcomes.

Skills/Knowledge

Essential

• Extensive hands-on experience across cyber security operations, threat detection, incident response, vulnerability management, security monitoring, and cyber risk reduction within complex enterprise environments. Proven experience in implementing, configuring, maintaining, and optimising security technologies including SIEM, EDR, XDR, SOAR, vulnerability management platforms, cloud security solutions, identity and access management controls, endpoint protection, and threat intelligence capabilities. Skilled in cyber incident investigation, threat hunting, security architecture, infrastructure hardening, digital forensics, and the application of industry best practices, standards, and frameworks to strengthen organisational resilience, improve security posture, and support operational cyber security objectives.

Skills/Knowledge

Essential

• Demonstrable hands-on experience securing, supporting, implementing, and improving cyber security controls across enterprises in Microsoft O365, Azure, AWS, and on-premises or cloud environments. Strong technical expertise in network security, cloud security, identity and access management, endpoint security, infrastructure hardening, vulnerability management, security monitoring, threat detection, and incident response. Candidates must be able to provide practical examples of how they have personally investigated security incidents, remediate vulnerabilities, implemented security controls, enhanced monitoring and detection capabilities, and applied risk-based decision making to identify, assess, and mitigate cyber security risks within live operational environments.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

How to Apply

If you’re interested in this role, visit the company’s official website for more information — click here to submit your application.