Job Specifications
Permanent - Security Cleared HPC Cyber Security SME
JOB DESCRIPTION
Job Title: Permanent DV-Cleared HPC Cyber Security Expert*
Industry: Defence & National Security
Clearance: DV-Cleared (preferred)
Location: Hybrid UK-Wide (1-2 Days/Week Office)
Employment Type: Permanent
THE OPPORTUNITY
Award winning HPC systems integrator (partner to Cray, NVIDIA, Intel, Dell) - is expanding its secure HPC delivery team due to multi-year classified Defence & Intelligence wins. We require DV-cleared HPC Cyber Security Experts to own the end-to-end secure build of exascale-class clusters for air-gapped MOD, GCHQ, AWE, and allied programmes.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Secure HPC environment design & deployment: Linux compute/storage (Slurm, PBS Pro, Lustre, BeeGFS, GPFS), Infiniband/RoCE fabrics, GPU clusters.
Cyber security benchmarking & hardening: NCSC CAF, CIS Top 20, NIST 800-53, JSP 440, DEF STAN - full IL5/IL6 compliance.
Zero-trust architecture: SELinux/AppArmor, OPA Gatekeeper, NVIDIA DCGM, cross-domain solutions.
Automation & IaC: Ansible, Terraform, Python/Bash/Go for repeatable secure builds.
Threat modelling & audits: Red-team HPC workloads, SIEM integration (Splunk/Elastic), vulnerability management.
Documentation: Security design records, hardening guides, risk assessments for NCSC/MOD sign-off.
Customer-facing consultancy: Advise end-clients (Defence Primes, CNI) on secure HPC roadmaps.
ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS
Active Security Clearance: preferable Active DV-Clearance but also accept SC-Cleared (client-held preferred; client can sponsor transfer where viable).
Experience securing HPC/Linux environments in Defence/National Security contexts.
Deep Linux expertise: Kernel hardening, secure boot, containerised HPC (Apptainer/Singularity).
Compute & storage mastery: Cluster setup, parallel file systems, high-speed interconnects.
Benchmarking experience: NCSC, CIS or Microsoft Security Baselines applied to HPC.
Automation proficiency: Scripting for SOAR, config management, audit trails.
Proven delivery on classified programmes (eg, AWE exascale, DSTL AI clusters).
Certifications: CISSP, OSCP, NCSC CCP (Senior), or equivalent.
DESIRABLE SKILLS
Secure AI/ML pipelines on HPC (CUDA hardening, PyTorch/TensorFlow).
Quantum-resistant cryptography integration.
Air-gapped/cross-domain HPC (data diodes, guarded transfers).
Cloud-hybrid HPC (AWS HPC, Azure CycleCloud with gov-cloud sec).
Publications or cleared patents in HPC security.
NEXT STEPS
If interested, please send your most recent CV to: so that we can speak in more detail about the opportunity.
About the Company
Specialising in recruitment across the tech, digital, engineering, and government and defence sectors, iO Associates have extensive experience in securing the best talent to create the products and infrastructure of the future. Our dedicated team of highly experienced and knowledgeable consultants provide bespoke solutions, working with businesses to find the perfect fit across contract, interim, search, and permanent appointments. We offer end-to-end support, from Statements of Work and IR35 determination processes to full ...
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