Assessor Alliance · By invitation
Scale how the UK certifies defence.
Thousands of defence SMEs are heading into DCC assessment. Snubnose is how Certification Bodies meet that demand at scale, without drowning your team in paperwork. Efficient, consistent, defensible.
Certification Bodies delivering DCC through Snubnose
Why assessors join More audits.
More audits.
Less scope negotiation.
DCC is about to put thousands of SMEs through assessment. We're making sure the ones who land on your desk arrive ready.
You verify the scope. In-app.
You're in from the start. The SME builds their scope inside Snubnose and you verify each step (sites, systems, data, people, target level) before a single piece of evidence is collected.
No more audit-day scope surprises. No email chains to reconcile.
Evidence you can actually read.
Every artifact is tagged to the controls it satisfies, versioned, and annotated. Our AI pre-validates against the standard so junk evidence doesn't reach your reviewers.
Audit effort per engagement drops materially.
Preferred CB status & referrals.
Alliance members sit on the preferred-CB list we draw from when an SME asks us to introduce them to a Certification Body. You choose the sectors, sizes and regions you want to see.
Grow your book without growing your BD team.
A seat at the roadmap table.
Quarterly working sessions with our product team. Your interpretations shape the control library, the evidence rules, and the assessor workspace itself.
The tool fits the way you actually audit.
One workspace. Trained, certified, assessor-ready.
Your team is trained on the Snubnose platform before your first engagement. You then assess inside the same workspace the SME prepared in (reviewing evidence, raising clarifications, and issuing findings, all in-app) as we build towards a seamless, guided assessor experience focused on the controls that matter most to a supplier's cyber resilience.
Audit day stops being a surprise. For both sides.
How the alliance works Four steps from
Four steps from
application to first referral.
We keep the alliance small on purpose. Every member goes through the same onboarding.
Step 01 Start here
Apply & intro call.
Tell us about your firm, your DCC readiness, and the sectors you serve. We review applications weekly and run a 30-minute intro call with every qualifying firm. We can also help with your DCC certification.
Step 02
Platform training.
Your assessors get hands-on training on the Snubnose platform, the DefStan 05-138 control library, and the evidence review workflow. Certification is completed in a single afternoon.
Step 03
Added to our preferred-CB list.
We add your firm to the preferred-CB list we draw from when SMEs ask us to introduce them to a Certification Body. SMEs in your chosen sectors are matched to you based on scope fit, capacity, and sector expertise.
Step 04
First engagements, together.
We pair alliance members with SMEs at the start; you verify the scope in-app, then review evidence as it's submitted. No hand-off, no audit-day surprises, and every engagement feeds back into the platform, making the next one cleaner.
Deeper read
The full guide to how the Alliance works.
A longer-form explainer: who the Alliance is for, what Certification Bodies receive, why no referral fees change hands under ISO/IEC 17021-1, and how the Alliance sits inside the DCC scheme alongside IASME and UKAS.
Read the full explainerWho we're looking for A high bar.
A high bar.
Deliberately.
The alliance isn't open to everyone. We're looking for CBs who meet all of the following.
UKAS-accredited or equivalent
You're an established Certification Body with a track record in information-security standards (ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus, or similar).
Active in UK defence supply chains
You've already audited defence-sector SMEs, or you're credentialed to assess against DefStan 05-138 / DCC.
Capacity for 5+ engagements in year one
You have assessor capacity to take on referrals. The programme is built for CBs who can absorb real pipeline, not a logo-only partnership.
Willing to co-design
You'll join quarterly working sessions and give direct feedback on the control library, evidence rules, and assessor workspace.
We prioritise
CBs with defence in their DNA.
We give preference to firms with a strong defence focus (veteran-founded, veteran-led, or with demonstrable ties to UK defence primes and MOD supply chains). The SMEs going through DCC are building the capability our armed forces depend on. We want assessors who get that.
Assessor Alliance · By invitation Deliver DCC at scale.
Deliver DCC at scale.
Without scaling the overhead.
Applications are reviewed weekly. If you're a CB working in UK defence, we'd like to hear from you.
NDA-backed conversations Decisions within 2 weeks Invitation-only