Location: Hanslope Park, Milton Keynes
Working Arrangement: Onsite
Rate: £550-£650 per day, Inside IR35
Contract: 3 years
Clearance: Developed Vetting (DV) - Essential
The Role
We are seeking an experienced DV Cleared Duty Manager to join a high-profile government Command Centre capability based at Hanslope Park, Milton Keynes.
The Duty Manager will act as the senior operational authority and primary point of contact for the Command Centre during their shift, providing command and control across a broad range of operational capabilities, including Cyber/SOC, NOC, Infrastructure, Service Management and Physical Security.
This is not a SOC Manager, Cyber Operations Manager or hands-on technical engineering position. The successful candidate will sit across multiple specialist teams, maintaining the overall operational picture, understanding business impact, setting priorities, coordinating responses and managing escalation.
Key Responsibilities
Act as the senior operational authority for the Command Centre during assigned shifts.
Maintain a clear Common Operating Picture (COP) across cyber, network, infrastructure, service management and physical security operations.
Coordinate the response to significant incidents, service disruptions, emerging risks and operational issues.
Set operational priorities and ensure the appropriate specialist teams are engaged.
Manage escalations across multiple technical and operational teams and third-party suppliers.
Provide clear, concise and authoritative operational updates to senior leadership and stakeholders.
Produce and deliver operational briefings covering significant incidents, service impacts, emerging risks and relevant overnight/weekend activity.
Engage confidently with senior stakeholders and provide appropriate challenge where required.
Bring in technical specialists when deeper technical expertise is required rather than attempting to resolve technical issues directly.
Take operational ownership of the Command Centre's AV and command-wall capability, including SOC, NOC and other operational feeds.
Help develop appropriate screen layouts, operational dashboards and the overall Common Operating Picture.
Support the development of Command Centre runbooks, escalation procedures, reporting, operating processes and ways of working.
Contribute to the transition towards a full 24/7 operational model.
Support training and knowledge transfer for Command Centre personnel.
Ensure effective handovers between shifts and maintain strong operational continuity.
About You
We are looking for someone who is comfortable operating at the intersection of technology, service management and operational command.
You will ideally have experience in a 24/7 command centre, operations centre, major incident environment, government/defence environment or similarly critical operational setting.
You should be able to demonstrate:
Significant experience in operational command, duty management, major incident management or service operations.
Experience coordinating multiple teams during complex or high-impact incidents.
Strong understanding of SOC, NOC, infrastructure and IT service management environments.
Experience operating in a 24/7 environment.
Excellent stakeholder management skills, including the ability to brief senior leadership.
Strong decision-making and prioritisation skills under pressure.
Experience managing escalations and coordinating third-party suppliers.
Ability to maintain an accurate operational picture across multiple concurrent issues.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Experience developing operational procedures, runbooks and escalation processes.
A calm, authoritative and structured approach during significant incidents.
Desirable Backgrounds
Candidates may come from a variety of backgrounds, including:
Duty Manager / Operations Duty Manager
Command Centre / Command Centre Manager
Major Incident Manager
Service Operations Manager
Operations Manager
Watch Manager / Watch Officer
Incident Commander
Operations Controller
Service Delivery Manager
Operational Resilience
Defence, government or critical national infrastructure
24/7 managed service or operations environmentsExperience within government, defence, national security, telecommunications, critical infrastructure or other highly regulated environments would be particularly valuable.
Clearance
Current Developed Vetting (DV) clearance is essential for this position.
Candidates without current DV clearance will not be considered
Salary description
£550.00 - £650.00 per day