From building capability to shaping culture, John Keegan FBCS, Deputy Director Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), talks to Grant Powell MBCS about leadership, public impact and the people-first foundations of modern cybersecurity. He also shares his insights on Fellowship of BCS, what this means and the responsibility that comes with it.

Achieving Fellowship of BCS recognises sustained excellence and leadership. What aspects of your career and professional contribution do you feel most strongly demonstrate the standards expected of a Fellow?

I’ve built my career over many years around enabling teams to succeed - helping people develop their skills, grow their careers, and ultimately deliver meaningful outcomes. For a significant portion of my career I worked in the private sector, developing and delivering services for government. That work was both challenging and rewarding, and gave me a strong foundation of knowledge and skills.

Over the last decade, I’ve transitioned to working client-side within DWP, where my focus has been on building internal capability. That shift has been particularly important to me - creating sustainable, in-house expertise that directly supports people, whether that’s through helping them back into work or ensuring timely payments.

To me, Fellowship is not just about individual achievement; it’s about impact. It’s about contributing to the public good while also investing in the next generation of talent who will lead both government and industry in the future.

Speaking of leadership, you have led large-scale transformation across some of the UK’s most complex IT and cybersecurity environments. How has this experience influenced your view of strategic leadership in tech and security environments?

Strategic leadership in this space comes down to being measured, sincere, and transparent. You have to deliver results, but you also need to build trust along the way. During my time at DWP, I’ve led the creation of a comprehensive cybersecurity capability, strengthening the protection of citizen-facing services and ensuring we stay ahead of evolving threats and risks. Alongside that, we’ve brought significant parts of the IT estate back in-house. This has resulted in a reduction in costs while increasing our speed of delivery and ability to innovate.

A critical part of that transformation has been people. Fifteen years ago, much of the organisation was focused on managing suppliers. Today, we’ve built a diverse workforce that includes graduates, apprentices, and early-career professionals, alongside experienced specialists. We’ve developed engineers, security professionals, and more, across a wide range of disciplines, all within an environment that supports growth and learning.

That investment in people creates not only capability, but also loyalty and resilience - both of which are essential for long-term success.

Your work spans technical delivery, engineering, and executive engagement. How do you balance deep technical understanding with the need to communicate clearly and credibly at board and senior leadership level?

It’s a constant balancing act. My natural instinct is to get hands-on; to explore how things work and stay curious about new technologies. I think that curiosity is essential.

However, at senior levels, the conversation needs to shift. It’s less about the technical ‘how’ and more about the ‘what’ and the ‘why’: what we’re doing, why it matters, what outcomes it will deliver, and what risks we need to manage.

Being able to explain those points clearly, especially to leaders whose primary expertise isn’t in technology, is critical. At DWP, for example, senior leaders are typically focused on outcomes and risk, so communication must align with that perspective.

Equally, communication isn’t one-size-fits-all. The way you explain something to an engineer will differ from how you explain it to a board member. Effective leadership requires adapting your communication style to your audience, ensuring shared understanding at every level.

Throughout your career, you’ve managed a variety of programmes. What lessons have you learned about building resilient, sustainable technology and security capabilities at scale?

When it comes to the technology, one of the most important lessons is simple: check, test, and check again! In terms of people, you need to build teams you trust - teams that can deliver! You also need to challenge assumptions and validate decisions. Challenging constructively is essential to avoiding failure or, at the very least, ensuring that when things do go wrong, they do so in a controlled and recoverable way.

Resilience comes from strong foundations: clear structures, robust planning, and the right skills around you. It’s also about creating environments where issues can be identified and addressed early, with fallback options in place. Ultimately, sustainable capability is built on a combination of trust, challenge, and disciplined execution.

Fellows are often seen as role models for professionalism and public good. How do you believe experienced leaders should contribute back to the profession and help shape the future of cybersecurity and ICT?

There are a few areas where experienced leaders can make a real difference. First, sharing knowledge and experience is vital - whether through mentoring, coaching, or simply being open about what you’ve learned over time. Supporting those early in their careers, or those developing into new roles, is an important responsibility.

Second, I strongly believe in the value of both mentoring and reverse mentoring. Learning should never stop, and engaging with people from different backgrounds, generations, and perspectives helps challenge your own thinking and identify blind spots.

Finally, contributing to the profession is about more than technical expertise. It’s about fostering inclusivity, encouraging diversity of thought, and recognising that no one has all the answers. Strong teams, and strong professions, are built on collaboration and continuous learning.

Reflecting on your journey to Fellowship, what advice would you offer to experienced practitioners who are aspiring to senior recognition but may underestimate the value of their impact and leadership?

My first piece of advice is: don’t rush. You’ll know when the time is right to apply, and that’s when you can clearly evidence your impact and reflect confidently on your experience.

That said, don’t hesitate to test the waters. Speak to existing Fellows, seek feedback, and explore where you stand. The application process itself is valuable, even if you’re not immediately successful. It helps you understand the expectations and identify any gaps.

I’ve supported a number of colleagues through Fellowship and also been involved in assessment, and one consistent message is that people often underestimate their own impact.

So, don’t be afraid to put yourself forward. Embrace the process, learn from the feedback, and treat it like any other professional challenge. If you’re not quite ready, you’ll gain clarity on what to focus on next. That, in itself, is progress.