Security Standards, Assurance & Best Practice Lead - 7048

Job Title: Security Standards, Assurance & Best Practice Lead

Salary: £45,100 - £60,400

Location: Cambridge, UK - Hybrid (2-3 days per week in office)

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time (35 hours per week)

Play a pivotal role in the upholding the security of IELTS.

We are looking for a seasoned security professional with a strong intelligence, investigations or operational security background to strengthen and future proof IELTS worldwide in the role as Security Standards, Assurance & Best Practice Lead.

You will sit at the same level as the Technical Test Security Lead, Intelligence Lead, and Investigations & Malpractice Lead, forming a key part of the Central Security Team IELTS (CSTI).

You will lead the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of robust security standards and best practices across the IELTS global ecosystem, working in close partnership with the Technical Test Security Lead, Intelligence Lead, and Investigations & Malpractice Lead to ensure intelligence, investigations, technical controls, and assurance activities are fully aligned and mutually reinforcing.

We are Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a world-leading academic publisher and assessment organisation and a proud part of the University of Cambridge.

About The Role

This role delivers strategic leadership, embedding consistent, risk based security governance across the global IELTS ecosystem, supporting the development and implementation of security strategies that protect test fairness, maintain candidate trust and ensure regulatory compliance across the global and digital IELTS environment.

You will lead continuous improvement in security performance, delivering clear, evidence‑based assurance to senior leadership, regulators, and key stakeholders, overseeing the governance of risk‑based security assurance activities, driving the adoption of best practice and monitoring global implementation

Additional responsibilities and accountabilities include:

• Design and lead a mature, risk-based security assurance programme that draws on intelligence insights, investigation findings, and technical security expertise.
• Translate complex threat intelligence and post-incident learnings into clear, actionable standards and best practices.
• Conduct deep-dive reviews focused on high-impact risks (AI-enabled cheating, proxy testing, organised fraud rings, question leaks, impersonation, and document fraud).
• Provide evidence-based assurance reporting to senior leadership, regulators, and partners.
• Drive the adoption of consistent security standards
• Work hand-in-hand with the other operational security leads to embed a cohesive, intelligence-led approach to test security.
• Embed a culture of continuous improvement by capturing lessons from investigations and incidents and ensuring they result in measurable uplift in our overall security posture.
• Support the integration of controls into operational processes and partner requirements.
  
  

This position has been classified as a hybrid role, requiring the selected candidate to typically spend 40-60% of their time collaborating and connecting face-to-face at their dedicated location. Aside from our hybrid principles, other flexible working requests will be considered from the first day of employment, including other work arrangements should you require adjustments due to a disability or long-term health condition.

About You

• Direct experience turning intelligence and investigation findings into improved standards, controls, and operating procedures.
• Ability to design and run effective risk-based assurance programmes in complex, multi-partner environments.
• Experience in security standards, policy development, assurance, or risk management.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, especially with senior leaders and external partners.
• Knowledge of current examination malpractice methods, including proxy testing, question leaks, AI cheating and organised fraud
• Excellent communication skills, including report writing, stakeholder engagement, and delivering guidance
  
  

If you meet the above minimum requirements, we encourage you to apply. Your application will be even stronger if you can also demonstrate the following desirable criteria:

• Previous experience in intelligence analysis, fraud, or security investigations.
• Experience working in law enforcement, the military, or regulatory environments
• Background in regulated or high-integrity environments.
  
  

If you're passionate about security assurance and thrive on solving complex challenges, this role is for you.

For a detailed job description, please refer to the link at the bottom of the advert on our careers site.

We are a Disability Confident (DC) employer that is committed to equality and inclusion ensuring our recruitment process is accessible to all. The DC scheme's Offer of an Interview commitment applies to applicants who opt in, and disclose a disability or a long-term health condition, and best meet the minimum criteria for the role. In instances where interviewing all qualifying candidates is not practicable, we prioritise those who best meet the minimum criteria, as we would for applicants who do not have a disability or long-term health condition.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is an approved UK employer for the sponsorship of eligible roles and applicants under the Skilled Worker visa route. Please refer to the gov.uk website for guidance to understand your own eligibility based on the role you are applying for.

Rewards And Benefits

We will support you to be at your best in work and to live well outside of it. In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a world-class, flexible rewards package, featuring family-friendly and planet-friendly benefits including:

• 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Private medical and Permanent Health Insurance
• Discretionary annual bonus
• Group personal pension scheme
• Life assurance up to 4 x annual salary
• Green travel schemes
  
  

Ready to pursue your potential? Apply now.

We aim to support candidates by making our interview process clear and transparent. The closing date for all applications will be 28th May. We will review applications on an ongoing basis, and shortlisted candidates can expect interviews to take place from week commencing 1st June or 8th June.

If you are shortlisted and progressed through the stages, you can expect:

• First stage virtual interview via MS Teams.
• Final stage interview: in-person at our offices in Cambridge.
  
  

If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process due to a disability or a long-term health condition, there will be an opportunity for you to inform us via the online application form. We will do our best to accommodate your needs.

Please note that successful applicants will be subject to satisfactory background checks including DBS due to working in a regulated industry.

We are committed to an equitable recruitment process. As such, applications must be submitted via our official online application procedure. Please refrain from sending your CV directly to our recruiters. If you experience technical difficulties or require additional support with submitting your online application, contact the Recruiter.

Why join us

Joining us is your opportunity to pursue potential. You'll belong to a collaborative team that's exploring new and better ways to serve students, teachers and researchers across the globe – for the benefit of individuals, society and the world. Sharing our mission will inspire your own growth, development and progress, in an environment which embraces difference, change and aspiration.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is committed to being a place where anyone can enjoy a successful career, where it's safe to speak up, and where we learn continuously to improve together. We welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of demographic characteristics (age, disability, educational attainment, ethnicity, gender, marital status, neurodiversity, religion, sex, gender identity and sexual identity), cultural, or social class/background.

We believe better outcomes come through diversity of thought, background and approach. We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and communities, actively seeking to employ people from a wide range of different communities.