Michael Knight

Michael Knight is the Chief Information Security Officer of the University of Manchester, appointed in October 2025.

Career path

Michael Knight spent fifteen years working in the NHS, supporting a number of integrated care systems in the south of England as well as working at national level. He was Chief Technology Officer at NHS South, Central and West, where he led the delivery of managed IT services and information security supporting over 45,000 staff across the south of England. In July 2024 he was appointed Chief Information Security Officer for NHS South East London, a newly created role leading the cyber security and technology resilience strategy for health and social care across the region. While at NHS South East London he worked with NHSX to define the Digital Technology Assessment Criteria, the basis of national criteria for digital health technologies used across the NHS in England. He joined the University of Manchester from NHS South East London, taking up the CISO role within the university's IT Services team in October 2025. On accepting the offer, Knight said: "I'm really excited to be joining an organisation that is recognised globally for its innovation and impact to society – this means a great deal to me personally and professionally." He is a Fellow of the British Computer Society and a Chartered Healthcare Chief Information Officer. He also serves as a board trustee of a Multi Academy Education Trust responsible for the operation of nine schools.

Remit at Manchester

At the University of Manchester, Knight leads the Information Security division within the Directorate of IT Services, overseeing the development of the university's next security programme with alignment to the Manchester 2035 strategy. He sits on the IT Leadership Team, where he is listed as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) alongside the Chief Information Officer and Deputy Chief Information Officer. His appointment was also described as bringing experience in leading secure research environments, partnering with the university's research community on compliance and collaboration.

Public talks

While at NHS South East London, Knight appeared on the Security Done Different podcast episode From Chaos to Control: Improving Incident Response in Healthcare, discussing the NHS Cyber Assessment Framework objective on incident response, multi-agency collaboration, and the use of simulation tools and AI-driven technologies in preparing for cyber incidents. As CISO of the University of Manchester, he is listed to speak at the UCISA DISC26 conference on Securing the future together – Positioning Cyber Security at the heart of organisational strategy.