Security Accreditation Specialist — Risk Assessment and Assurance for NATO with security clearance

Before a classified system goes live, somebody has to be able to say what the risks are, what controls answer them, and what is left over. A multinational defence organisation is looking for the engineer who does that work: the assessment, the paperwork that carries it and the conversations with the authorities who sign it off.

What you would be doing

• Contributing to solution architecture in your areas by identifying which security directives actually apply.
• Advising on how physical, procedural and technical security controls are applied and operated, and explaining plainly what each one is for.
• Running security risk assessments for communication and information systems: the threats, the vulnerabilities across every asset, the residual risk and what to do about it.
• Spotting the risks a candidate technical architecture creates, and proposing alternatives or countermeasures rather than only objections.
• Scoping, defining and prioritising the requirements that accreditation depends on, to agreed standards and with the evidence written down.
• Working with stakeholders to prioritise those requirements and to resolve the conflicts between them.
• Advising project and system managers across the whole life of a system, including input to project proposals and invitations to bid.
• Planning, requesting and managing the documents accreditation needs — system description, accreditation plan, risk assessment report, security requirement statements, operating procedures and the test and verification plan.
• Witnessing security testing and agreeing the remediation plan with the accrediting authority.
• Building durable working relationships with accreditation boards, national authorities, system operating authorities and the internal teams that support the process, and representing the organisation on accreditation matters.

What you would bring

• A bachelor's degree from a recognised university in a related discipline with two years of relevant experience behind it. Exceptionally, around six years of progressive expertise in this kind of work can stand in place of the degree.
• At least two years across each of the areas the post turns on: accreditation of major system acquisition or development projects in a large organisation; risk assessment methods and tooling; and the planning, design and implementation of security components.
• Working knowledge of the organisation's security policy framework and its supporting directives.
• Time spent in an international environment with both military and civilian colleagues, and a working picture of how the alliance's commands are organised.
• Relevant certification such as CISA or CISSP.
• English you can defend a risk position in, in writing and in front of a board.

Extensions are offered where the work goes well. Applications are reviewed as they arrive.