An introduction to the team at the UK Cyber Security Council, and their roles and backgrounds.
Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Vanessa joined the UK Cyber Security Council in June 2022. She joined to lead the work within the programme directorate related to careers, outreach, and diversity. In addition to this she was leading on establishing and managing key partnerships with organisations and businesses across the UK to drive forward our company mission.
Vanessa’s background spans the employment, education, recruitment, and skills sectors in both the public and private space, she has over 20 years’ experience managing a variety of national, local government Section 106 and grant funded contracts.
Vanessa is passionate about CPD and is a qualified careers advisor, teacher, supervisor and project manager.
Director of Professional Standards
Annmarie joined the UK Cyber Security Council in February 2023 as the Director of Professional Standards. Her remit includes the development and management of professional standards and ethics.
Annmarie is keen to support the enhancement and expansion of cyber skills and professional registration across all roles, within industry, academia, government and not for profit organisations, to drive a world class and diverse cyber security profession. She has extensive experience managing technical advisory and steering groups, subject expert panels, committees and boards.
Exploring how professionals apply ethical values of organisational best practice is a key area of interest for Annmarie, in order that professional practice is core to operational success, compliance and safety.
Head of Governance and Executive Assistant
Vicky joined the UK Cyber Security Council in January 2022. She has supported CEO’s, Trustee Boards and Directors in Charities, member organisations and local government for the last twenty years, working in a diverse range of fields from Transport, IT and Education.
Director of Finance and Operations
Lorraine is employed by the council as Head of Finance and Operations and has over 20 years’ experience in finance, she has worked across the globe in the charity sector assisting start-ups in areas of governance, finance and audit.
Lorraine has qualifications in Personal Development Coaching and Events Management. She obtained these to fundraise and run large events for mental health charities and now runs weekly mental health circles.
Web Developer and IT Manager
Peter joined the Council in 2023 and is currently pursuing a Masters in Cybersecurity, building upon a foundation forged from over 7 years of experience as a software engineer.
He is passionate about AI and Blockchain and thrives on unravelling the complexities of these technologies. Now he is seeking innovative ways to fortify cybersecurity within these domains.
Events & Membership Co-ordinator
Emma joined the Council in November 2023 as the Events and Membership Coordinator, Emma supports and oversees events which further the Council's work.
Emma has over 10 years experience in the events industry, with nearly two of those spent in cybersecurity events and webinars.
She’s helped run conferences, weddings, festivals, private, corporate, and immersive events. She’s also freelanced with membership management, sales, social marketing and design.
Coming from a creative and performance background, Emma was able to develop a superpower in people skills.
Head of Qualifications and Careers
Sonja joined the Council in April 2022 and has extensive experience working in education in a range of roles across Higher Education, apprenticeships, and technical qualifications. This has enabled her to develop an in-depth knowledge and appreciation of education pathways. She is a firm believer that education should deliver high quality outcomes for both learners and employers, while addressing shortages and needs within the sector. Sonja is a qualified project professional (and a natural born planner!) and enjoys creating plans that deliver outstanding achievements for stakeholders.
Programme Officer – Careers
Harry joined the Council in September 2023, working to demystify cyber security careers and promote the many routes into the profession. He has previously worked in teaching roles and in local government, most recently working on refugee visa programmes.
He is passionate about extending opportunities to people by increasing their skillset - whether to young people considering their future or to those looking to switch careers.
Programme Officer – Professional Standards
David joined the Council in September 2022 originally as CRM & Data Administrator. His background is a deceptively data-heavy bachelor’s degree in political economy and a graduate job at an ISP.
He is also studying a MSc in Public Policy & Management, and outside of work and study he can usually be found gardening.
Programme Manager – Professional Standards
Leanne has worked within Standards for 16 years, adhering to, creating, updating, and managing processes and policies around them. Leanne joins the Council with experience in risk management and volunteer management also.
As a PRINCE2 qualified Project Manager she became part of the UK Cyber Security Council Formation project and feels very excited to now be part of the team delivering the Standards to the profession.
Strategic Technical Lead
Bryan has spent over 30 years as a cyber security professional in both the public and private sector, achieving a successful career built on providing direction, leadership, expertise and value to organisations and clients.
He has had many roles ranging from CTO to Business Unit Manager. He has worked in numerous countries developing a wider perspective on the role of security and privacy in society.
Quality Manager
Ruby joined the Council in September 2022 as Quality Assurance Manager. Her background is in quality assessment and process improvement within IT service delivery for government accounts, coordinating activities between multifunctional teams of varying levels of technical knowledge.
She is a certified experienced lead auditor in Information Security Management, Business Continuity Management, and Quality Management.
She will utilise her skills and knowledge of Kaizen, Lean, Six Sigma, CMMI, and other methodologies to ensure quality is always assured at the Council.