Senior Investment Security Adviser

The Investment Security Unit (ISU) within the National Security Secretariat (NSS) is looking for three enthusiastic, curious and high-calibre individuals to join the friendly and high-performing Risk Assessment team as Senior Investment Security Advisers. You will be working at the cutting edge of the governments economic security agenda, in an exciting role that uniquely combines policy and operational delivery, cross-government negotiation, exposure to senior Ministers, and opportunities for business and diplomatic engagement.

The NSS keeps the UK safe, secure and prosperous by bringing together the UKs national security community, providing high-quality support to the Prime Minister and the National Security Council and maintaining centre-to-centre relationships internationally. Working within the wider Cabinet Secretariat and led by the Prime Ministers National Security Adviser (NSA), we assist the Prime Minister and the Cabinet in the development, coordination and implementation of its highest priority objectives.

Our overarching strategy is set out in the National Security Strategy, which serves as the UKs primary roadmap amidst an era of uncertainty and intensifying global threats.

The NSS values professional and personal development for all of our staff and recognises that a continued focus on learning and development (L&D) will enable us to grow our capability. We are also committed to fostering a culture that welcomes new ideas and fresh perspectives and supporting diversity and inclusion, including through flexible patterns and ways of working.

We offer stretching and engaging work to enhance career development and gain highly transferable skills. We expect our staff to rise to new challenges, demonstrating the agility required to respond to urgent and changing events, and to work collaboratively to achieve results both within NSS and across government. A role with the NSS is a real opportunity to impact the lives of our citizens and make a difference every day.

The ISU leads the Government's screening of foreign investments into UK companies under the National Security and Investment Act (NSIA); assessing the risks that mergers and acquisitions, investments or the transfer of assets could present to the UK's national security. The NSIA, which commenced at the start of January 2022, protects the nation from potential security risks resulting from foreign investment. It bolsters the UKs status as an attractive place to invest by providing more efficient scrutiny of relevant acquisitions and more certainty and clarity for investors and businesses.

The ISU's Risk Assessment team is responsible for leading the cross-government and intelligence community risk assessment of cases. These assessments cover the national security, economic and diplomatic implications of individual investments, identifying remedies to address risks and supporting ministerial decision-making. This role is at the heart of the operational response to changes in the global economy and balance of power, as ISU coordinates cross-government responses to protect our capabilities and critical national infrastructure. ISU, embedded within NSS, is an exciting and diverse place to work, with teams delivering a range of operational, policy, analytical and international activities. This role is an excellent opportunity to strengthen core behaviours and skills at this level and above, offering wide exposure to other government departments within and beyond the national security space, and a range of private sector industries. Economic security is a top government priority and there is huge interest in this policy area from senior ministers.

Your responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

• Coordinating expertise and stakeholder management

You will drive cross-government and multi-agency collaboration. You will do this by chairing discussions and collaborating with key partners to synthesise the expertise required to make a judgement on the level of risk that a foreign investment into a UK entity may pose. You will apply legislative frameworks by partnering with policy and legal advisors to determine how the NSIA can be applied to effectively mitigate national security threats. You will manage high-level external relations with C-suite executives, law firm partners and parliamentarians. You will skilfully balance investor relationships and commercial sensitivities without prejudicing the NSI process or compromising UK national security.

• Critical Analysis and Risk Assessment

You will synthesise multi-source intelligence by conducting rigorous analysis of cross-government assessments while formulating your own independent, evidence-based risk judgements. You will be able to comfortably navigate complexity and apply critical thinking to weigh competing viewpoints and ambiguous information to determine the definitive level of risk posed by specific investments. You will also need to consider how individual investment scenarios interact with and impact broader HMG economic and national security strategies.

• Briefing and advising

You will service senior ministerial decisions by producing and delivering high-quality, impactful written and oral advice to support senior officials and Ministers in making critical decisions under the NSIA. You will act as a reliable conduit for crucial information, ensuring leadership is kept sighted on fast-moving developments, often at short notice.

• Driving Operational Excellence

You will elevate the ISU's capabilities by supporting the day-to-day operations of the ISU, ensuring we deliver an outstanding service to both Ministers and the businesses we interact with. You will champion continuous improvement by leading initiatives to refine the NSI process and leveraging your operational experience to inform and shape cross-Whitehall economic security policy - cementing the ISU as a true centre of excellence for investment and economic security. You will play a pivotal role in fostering an inclusive environment. This includes coaching colleagues, driving wellbeing initiatives, delivering tailored L&D, and championing inclusivity.

We are looking for candidates who can lead efficiently in a dynamic operational environment, while also possessing the analytical skills and aptitude to cope with novel policy challenges that can have impacts beyond your area of work. You will need an eye for detail and look for ways to improve current systems and processes. We are looking for someone who knows how to present clear arguments, often from incomplete information, to help senior Ministers make decisions.

You should be capable of building knowledge from experience and able to anticipate issues and identify trends that impact your work area. We are looking for individuals who are comfortable working as a team, with a track record of delivering high-quality results to tight deadlines. If you are someone who cares about keeping the UK safe and prosperous, someone who seeks a rewarding, challenging and exciting role, then we want to hear from you.

We welcome applications from a diverse range of candidates, including those from underrepresented groups.

Essential criteria :

• Ability to confidently analyse a wide variety of sources of (sometimes) ambiguous information to arrive at a well-reasoned decision;
• Ability to deliver high-quality work at pace;
• High-quality drafting skills;
• Experience engaging with internal and external stakeholders at a range of levels;
• Experience in working with cross-government groups and agreeing a way forward on issues where there are competing priorities;
• Excellent communication skills, able to communicate persuasively

Desirable criteria :

• Experience working on national security or economic security policy;
• Knowledge of, or an interest in, mergers and acquisitions or investment transactions;
• Experience tackling new or novel policy problems independently;
• Experience of working in a legislative casework function;
• Experience of working with the UK Intelligence Community, utilising intelligence assessments and on matters pertaining to UK national security

Cabinet Office policy is that a minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. For some roles, due to their nature and the business need, this may be up to 100%. Requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.

We are supportive of flexible working, but these roles require candidates to work from the London office for the majority of the working week. Some degree of home working should be possible, subject to business need, but applicants should ...