Location(s): Greater Manchester, Central London
Hours: Fulltime - flexible/remote working available (can be limited, subject to business needs)
Salary: Central London £57,495 to £65,792 (depending on skills, experience) Greater Manchester £55,448 to £63,341 (depending on skills, experience)
Flexible Working:
Available (subject to core hours and business need), as well as term time and part time working patterns (minimum coverage of 3 days). The role is primarily office-based, with regular opportunities to work from home for personal development and research (around one day a week, on average).
About Us:
MI5 keeps the country safe from serious threats like terrorism and attempts by states to harm the UK, its people and way of life. We carry out investigations by obtaining, analysing and assessing intelligence, and then work with a range of partners, including MI6 and GCHQ to disrupt these threats. Through our protective security arm, we provide advice and guidance to government, businesses and other organisations about how to keep themselves safe. A role in MI5 means you’ll do unique and challenging work in a supportive and encouraging environment, making a real difference to UK national security.
The Role:
As a Software Engineer, you’ll be at the heart of MI5’s strategic approach to tackling the vast, complex data and threat landscape. You’ll be at the forefront, developing software to help us identify threats from data, efficiently and automatically, using machine learning.
This isn’t a typical software engineering development role because it’s designed to help you move into Machine Learning. You’ll work in agile teams on a variety of projects, with many data types. You’ll also be part of our wider product team of Data Scientists, Machine Learning Engineers and Software Engineers, turning mission challenges into software solutions. It’s all part of a big collaborative effort that keeps growing as we do.
You can expect to set the technical direction in your area, tackling exciting new problems, and solving real-world challenges with innovation. Using open source technology, you’ll deliver value to customers, as you develop robust, scalable capabilities. As well as helping Business Analysts handle increasing volumes of data, you’ll work closely with customer teams to test and refine tools and methods, supporting deployment decisions that maximise their impact. You could even help to shape our approach to AI ethics and Green AI Principles, best practice and more.
This role might also offer opportunities for national and international travel, as you collaborate more closely with our government partners.
About You:
Data Science and Machine Learning will be something you’ve developed an interest in – you’ll be keen to further your career in these areas, as an engineer or developer. You’ll have experience of Python programming and C-Sharp, or Infrastructure as Code and AWS. You’re also familiar with containerisation, including Docker, and developing in a Linux environment.
Crucially, we’re looking for someone who’s able to contribute in both a team setting and on an individual basis, communicating clearly to a variety of audiences. You’re ready to mentor junior colleagues, and demonstrate sound problem solving and judgement skills. Plus, you’re up to date with new and emerging technologies, using these to improve our tools and processes.
Training and Development:
At MI5, you can expect many career opportunities and sustained progression. In a growing team where Data Science meets AI, you’ll find that continual professional development is a core part of our ethos. As such, you’ll be offered training opportunities throughout your time with us.
Learning and development opportunities may include:
· Attending conferences and hackathons
· Up to 20% innovation and personal development time
· Getting involved with our internal communities
· Joining our internal development programmes
· Becoming certified or maintaining your certification, such as AWS Certifications
· Access to a wide variety of classroom and online learning
· Gaining professional membership and accreditations, such as the Institute for Engineering and Technology (IET) and the British Computing Society (BCS)
· Sampling mission-related training
You could also pursue a funded Masters degree or PhD on topics relevant to your role.
When you first arrive, we’ll get you up to speed with the systems we use, the datasets we handle, and the processes we follow. After, you’ll have a support network of experienced staff on your sprint team to help identify areas for training and development. We also operate buddy and mentoring schemes to help you settle in.
You’ll usually be required to stay in the role for 2 years, after which you can apply for other opportunities at MI5.
Rewards and Benefits:
You’ll receive a starting salary in the range of £57,495 to £65,792 for London based roles, or £55,448 to £63,341 for positions in Manchester (dependant on skills and experience), plus other benefits including:
• 25 Days Annual Leave automatically rising to 30 days after 5 years' service, and an additional 10.5 days public and privilege holidays
• Opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme
• Personal Learning Budget
• Interest-free season ticket loan
• Excellent pension scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Facilities such as a gym, restaurant and on-site coffee bars (at some locations)
• Paid parental and adoption leave
Equal Opportunities:
At MI5 diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission. To protect the UK, we need a truly diverse workforce that reflects the society we serve. This includes diversity in every sense of the word: those with different backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, ways of thinking and those with disabilities or neurodivergent conditions. We therefore welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including those from groups that are under-represented in our workforce such as women, those from an ethnic minority background, people with disabilities and those from low socio-economic backgrounds.
Find out more about our culture, working environment and diversity on our website:
MI5 Diversity
We’re Disability Confident:
MI5 are proud to have achieved Leader status within the DWP’s Disability Confident scheme. This is aimed at encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people. Being Disability Confident, we aim to offer a person-to-person interview to any candidate who self-identifies as disabled and meets the essential criteria for the role. This is our ‘Offer of Interview’ (OOI). To secure an interview for this vacancy, the essential criteria (in order of application process) are:
• Demonstrate a level of technical competence which will be assessed at Codility
• Demonstrate aptitude in skills that are required for the role - to be assessed at CV sift
What to Expect:
Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:
• You’ll be invited to upload your CV and complete an online application form
• Undertake an on-line assessment test (Codility)
• CV sift
• If you pass, you’ll be invited to a competency-based interview, which will also include a technical assessment
• If successful, you will receive a conditional offer of employment
Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 6 - 9 months to process including vetting, so we advise you to continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer.
Before You Apply:
To work at MI5 you need to be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. You can read our full eligibility criteria here.
This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community undertakes. You can find out more about the vetting process here.
Please note we have a strict drugs policy, so once you start your application, you can’t take any recreational drugs and you’ll need to declare your previous drug usage at the relevant stage.
The role is based in Central London or Greater Manchester, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application. An interest-free loan via our benevolent fund is available to assist with relocating into privately rented accommodation to take up the offer of employment.
Please note, you should only launch your application from within the UK. If you are based overseas, you should wait until you visit the UK to launch an application. Applying from outside the UK will impact on our ability to progress your application. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member.
Right to Withdraw Statement:
Please be aware that we withhold the right to bring forward the closing date for this role from the original closing date once a certain number of applications have been received. Please be mindful of this and submit your application at your earliest convenience to avoid disappointment.