Deputy Director, Head of The Office of the Intelligence and Security Committee

The Intelligence and Security Committee

The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC) was established under the Intelligence Services Act 1994. Its powers were reinforced in the Justice and Security Act 2013. Under the Justice and Security Act 2013 and the accompanying Memorandum of Understanding, the ISC has statutory responsibility for oversight of the policies, expenditure, administration and operations of MI5, MI6, GCHQ, Defence Intelligence, the National Cyber Force, the Joint Intelligence Organisation, the National Security Secretariat (NSS) and Homeland Security Group.

The Committee consists of nine Members, drawn from both Houses of Parliament. The members are nominated by the Prime Minister and appointed by parliament. The Chair of the Committee is elected by its Members. The Members are subject to Section 1(1)(b) of the Official Secrets Act 1989 and are routinely given access to highly classified material in carrying out their duties. The Committee takes evidence from Ministers, the Heads of the intelligence and security Agencies, senior officials, experts, and academics as it considers necessary. The Committee’s evidence sessions are held in private due to the classified nature of the subject matter. Its Inquiries tend to concentrate on current events and issues of concern, and therefore focus on operational and policy matters, while its annual reports provide consideration of administration and finance.

The Office of The Intelligence and Security Committee

The Committee is supported in its work by the Office of The Intelligence and Security Committee, a team of analysts and investigators (including legal, technical and financial expertise where required). The Office of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament is currently a Cabinet Office Business Unit for administrative purposes, but the staff work directly for, and under the direction of, the Committee. (The Cabinet Office and Parliament are currently considering whether this administrative arrangement provides appropriate independence and whether alternative administrative arrangements would be appropriate.)

The Head of the Office of the Intelligence and Security Committee is responsible for supporting the committee in undertaking their statutory responsibilities, through:

• assisting the committee in determining its programme of enquiries;
• ensuring appropriate access to evidence and witnesses, including through providing or supervising the provision of policy analysis and background briefs;
• arranging and supporting formal and informal meetings of the committee, capturing appropriate records of discussions and ensuring follow-up;
• organising and accompanying the committee on domestic and overseas fact-finding visits where determined useful by the Committee;
• leading or supervising the preparation, drafting, and editing of final committee reports before they are formally presented to Parliament and the Government;
• managing relationships between the committee and its key external stakeholders, including the organisations overseen by the Committee;
• providing authoritative, politically impartial advice to the Committee Chair and Members regarding the statutory responsibilities of the Committee and parliamentary rules, privileges, and Standing Orders.

The Head of the Office is also responsible for ensuring appropriate management of the Office and the supporting infrastructure, through:

• recruiting and managing the staff to support the full range of the Committee's work (up to a ceiling of 30 FTE); fostering an inclusive, resilient team culture; and actively supporting staff wellbeing and professional development within a high-pressure, secure working environment;
• managing the Budget for the Office, which has recently been increased to c£3.2M to ensure the Committee can undertake its work; and
• working with Cabinet Office corporate teams and specialist IT providers to ensure the Committee has access to appropriate high classification estate and communications.
• working with Cabinet Office and Parliament to ensure the Office of the ISC has the appropriate Governance arrangements to support the Committee's independent status.

It is important that, through your CV and supporting statement, you provide evidence of the professional skills, breadth of experience and personal qualities for this post.

Essential Criteria:

• Communication: Exceptional written English skills, with a track record of distilling vast, complex technical jargon into concise, accessible policy papers under tight deadlines.
• Relationship Management: Strong interpersonal skills to deal directly with high-ranking military officials, ministers, and international dignitaries.
• Personnel Management: A demonstrated ability to effectively lead strong, multi-skill teams, promoting team welfare, psychological safety, and workload resilience, particularly within fast-paced stressful operating environments.
• Impartiality: Demonstrated ability to work in a strictly non-partisan, objective environment, supporting politicians across all political spectrums.
• Excellent knowledge of, or a proven ability to rapidly master, complex areas within the responsibility of the Committee; and/or experience working within policy and experience of parliament or of the areas overseen by the Committee.

Whatever your role, we take your career and development seriously, and want to enable you to build a really successful career within the Department and wider Civil Service.

It is crucial that our employees have the right skills to develop their careers and meet the challenges ahead, and you’ll benefit from regular performance and development reviews to ensure this development is ongoing. As a Civil Service employee, you’ll be entitled to a large range of benefits.

This includes:

• 25 days annual leave on entry, increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service. This is in addition to 8 public holidays and one privilege day to mark the King's birthday.
• A competitive contributory pension scheme that you can enter as soon as you join where we will make a significant contribution to the cost of your pension; where your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken; and where your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire;
• Flexible working patterns including part-time or term-time working and access to Flexible Working Schemes allowing you to vary your working day as long as you work your total hours;
• Generous paid maternity and paternity leave which is notably more than the statutory minimum offered by many other employers;
• Childcare benefits (policy for new employees as of 5 April 2018): The government has introduced the Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme. Working parents can open an online childcare account and for every £8 they pay in, the government adds £2, up to a maximum of £2000 a year for each child or £4000 for a disabled child. Parents then use the funds to pay for registered childcare. Existing employees may be able to continue to claim childcare vouchers, so please check how the policy would work for you here;
• Interest-free loans allowing you to spread the cost of an annual travel season ticket or a new bicycle;
• The opportunity to use onsite facilities including fitness centres and staff canteens (where applicable);
• Occupational sick pay.

Job contact :

• Name : SCS Recruitment Team
• Email : scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

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