Head of Chemical Security and Resilience


Company:	Government Recruitment Service
Salary:	£60,732 to £71,296 a year
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	Darlington
Job type:	Permanent
Posting date:	21 Sept 2026
Closing date:	2 Oct 2026

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Summary

This is a unique role leading the security and resilience of the UK’s most hazardous chemical sites. The chemical sector is a key part of the UK economy, accounting for nearly 10% of UK manufacturing exports and contributing circa £14.0bn in gross value added, and the Chemicals and Plastics Division, where this role sits, works closely with the sector to understand their priorities, seek their input on government policy, and influence other government departments to help to ensure positive outcomes.

Some of the sector has been designated as UK Critical National Infrastructure (CNI), and BIST is the lead government department responsible for managing risks to these sites. You will have an important leadership role driving the government’s national security agenda in collaboration with industry, working with significant autonomy to set the direction, hold the relationships with site operators, and work with the Cabinet Office, the Health and Safety Executive and the national technical authorities for cyber and protective security to raise standards across the sector.

This is a rare and exciting opportunity to build national security expertise while working directly with industry, and to help shape how the department develops that capability.

BIST is a modern and diverse workplace, committed to promoting and ensuring equality and valuing diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability status. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity. We ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process.

In this role, you will:

Set the strategic direction and manage the delivery of the team’s priorities on physical, personnel and cyber security, and drive progress against the resilience targets set by the Cabinet Office for all critical national infrastructure sectors.
Design and deliver the improvement programmes that make that progress possible, with cyber work funded through the cross-government Integrated Security Fund. You will oversee delivery of the current cyber programme, which is already agreed, and lead the negotiations to secure the funding and resourcing the team needs in future years.
Work closely with government partners including the Health and Safety Executive and the national technical authorities to strengthen regulatory and assurance frameworks across the sector particularly in relation to cyber security.
Lead engagement with industry and key partners, including the Chemical Industry Association, site operators and their senior leadership. You will chair the sector's governance groups and use them to build the collective commitment needed to raise security standards.
Manage BIST’s ownership of a UK National Risk Register chemical related risk, working with BIST's emergency response function and partners across government to ensure response plans, exercising and escalation routes are ready to use.
Lead and develop a small team of two — a policy lead and a specialist industry adviser — who between them carry work previously spread across a larger team. Setting clear priorities and protecting the team's capacity and well-being will matter just as much as directing the work.

The role also includes membership of the out of hours on-call rota (roughly one week in ten), for which a small allowance is payable.

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