Job TitleExercise Lead Specialist – GCAP Headquarters (Reading, United Kingdom)Job SummaryThe Exercise Lead Specialist supports the planning, execution and continuous improvement of adversarial security assessments across the organization, assisting the Exercise Manager to design realistic threat emulation scenarios and ensuring that red team operations deliver meaningful insights that strengthen the company's defensive posture.ResponsibilitiesPlanning and execution of exercisesSupport end‑to‑end red‑team operations: reconnaissance, threat modelling, scenario design and post‑exercise analysis.Collaborate with blue teams, purple teams and stakeholders (e.g., Thames Valley Police) to ensure safe, controlled, and effective execution.Support operational security, risk management and deconfliction processes during exercises.Reporting and communicationDraft clear, actionable reports translating technical findings into business‑relevant insights.Present results to senior leadership, including risk assessments and recommended remediation strategies and system hardening where appropriate.Collaborate with defensive teams to validate detection gaps and support purple‑team improvement cycles.Governance and complianceEnsure all red‑team activities comply with legal, ethical and organisational guidelines.Maintain documentation, authorisations and audit trails for all exercises.Contribute to incident‑response readiness and tabletop exercises when needed.Success indicatorsRed‑team exercises that meaningfully challenge the organisation and uncover real‑world weaknesses.Strong partnerships with defensive teams that lead to measurable improvements in detection and response.RequirementsEducational qualification aligned with security assessment activities.Certifications such as GIAC Red Teaming (GRT) or equivalent.Experience in threat intelligence, incident response or purple‑teaming.Familiarity with enterprise security controls, SIEMs, EDR tools and detection engineering.Experience in regulated sectors or large enterprise environments.Technical and Soft SkillsEssentialStrong stakeholder management with proven ability to communicate with senior management across functions.Pragmatic decision‑making and ability to collaborate closely with the business.Proven problem‑solving skills (forward and lateral thinking) applied to complex issues.Independent management of responsibilities within a project, with full awareness of personal accountability.DesirableAnalytical, structured and detail‑oriented approach.Discretion and reliability, with strong judgement when handling sensitive information.Confident communicator capable of simplifying complex concepts for diverse audiences.Proactive, curious and committed to continuous improvement.Ability to combine strategic vision with operational execution.Job DetailsLocation: Reading, United KingdomSeniority: ExpertContract type: PermanentHybrid Working: HybridLanguage: EnglishC1
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