Academy, advisory and audit
Capability framework
See which capability sits behind any module, track, advisory area or audit, at what depth, for whom, and in which disciplines it is applied
Capability built once, carried across every discipline
The domains name professional work that stays the same whatever the standard. Hold one at a given depth, and only the subject matter of the next discipline is new.
Overview
Domain, level and role answer different questions
Organisations run management systems for quality, security, privacy, environmental responsibility, AI governance and operational resilience. The subject matter differs in every case. The professional work does not: framing scope and accountability, analysing exposure, designing proportionate controls, proving that they operate, changing the system without breaking it, and deciding under uncertainty.
The framework names that work as capability domains, sets out the depths at which each can be held, and describes the roles that apply them from different angles. The domains are already held by the time the second discipline starts.
Capability and discipline are separate things
Most training conflates the two, which is why practitioners relearn the same reasoning in every new standard. A module combines one capability with one disciplinary context, and both halves are named.
Transfers between disciplines
Professional capability
Structuring scope, accountability and decision rights
Analysing exposure and judging significance
Designing controls people can actually operate
Reading evidence and challenging what it proves
Specific to each discipline
Subject matter
The clauses and control sets of one standard
Regulatory and contractual obligations
The vocabulary auditors and regulators expect
Domain practice, tooling and typical failure modes
Both columns are illustrations of the distinction rather than lists the framework holds. The lists it does hold are below.
Capability domains
Most capabilities transfer between disciplines
A domain is a body of professional work with its own reasoning and its own outputs.
Capability levels
Judgement separates one level from the next
A level is a depth at which a domain can be held.
01
Conceptual
Understands the principles, interprets requirements correctly, and can explain how the parts of a system relate
02
Applied
Designs and implements within a defined scope, using structured methods and defensible outputs
03
Strategic
Makes system-level decisions under uncertainty, weighs the trade-offs, and carries accountability for the recommendation
Roles
Each role weights the domains differently
A role is a vantage point on the same system.
Disciplines
Standards and vocabulary change with the discipline
A discipline supplies the context a capability is exercised in, and it is the half that changes.
Cross-discipline modules teach the capability itself, with no standard attached. We publish in the disciplines we also advise and audit in.