Department: Specialist Roles

Location(s): Cheltenham

Contract Type: Permanent

Salary: £48,104 - £53,637 salary dependent on skills and experience. Opportunity to qualify for specialist skills payment ranging from £4,420 - £18,720 three yearly validation required - assessed at interview

Flexible Working: Full-time and part-time opportunities (flexible working hours available) with a mix of office and remote working dependent on business needs.

About Us

GCHQ is an intelligence, cyber and security agency with a mission to keep the UK safe. We use cutting-edge technology, ingenuity and partnerships to identify, analyse and disrupt threats. Working with our intelligence partners MI5 and MI6, we protect the UK from terrorism, cyber-attacks and espionage. At GCHQ you’ll do varied and fascinating work in a supportive and inclusive environment that puts the emphasis on teamwork.

Job Description: Lead Data Engineer

As a Lead Data Engineer, you’ll pioneer work that leads the way for AI development at GCHQ.

You’ll lead Development Operations (DevOps) and data engineering in the AI Lab, ensuring our team has the best internal and external infrastructure capabilities. Using your technical expertise, you’ll advise across projects on tools such as OpenShift, Docker and Kubernetes.

You’ll also explore new tools, techniques and practices that will enhance our work, steering the team on software engineering best practice in a range of programming languages. And throughout the development lifecycle, you’ll interact closely with our engineering and customer teams to enable the smooth transition of products to operational use. Outside of our organisation, you’ll build working relationships with industry and partners, growing our technical capability.

For both Lead Data Scientist and Lead Data Engineer roles, there may be annual opportunities for overseas travel for collaboration, conferences, and training.

About You

Whether you join us a Lead Data Engineer, you’ll benefit from having a STEM or computer science related degree, or equivalent qualification.

If you don’t have a degree, don’t let that stop you from applying, but you’ll need to be able to demonstrate significant experience and expertise.

Ideally you’ll have operated as a subject matter expert, influencing the technical direction and design of products. Experience of managing teams will be an advantage. You also have an aptitude and passion for passing on knowledge, and developing and mentoring others. And you’re experienced in working with end users, and collaborating with internal and external partners.

To excel in the Lead Data Engineer role, you’ll need a data science or software engineering background. You’re also familiar with Python, R, Kubernetes, Docker, JavaScript, Java. And you’re knowledgeable about everything from machine learning training, deployment, and maintenance to exploratory data analysis and statistical reasoning. Crucially, you have the technical knowledge to take a prototype Machine Learning capability and build it into a functional system component.

To become our Lead Data Engineer, you’ll understand how machine learning can help make the best use of our data. You can communicate technical concepts to a non-technical audience. And you can spot opportunities, working across teams to make them happen. You’re comfortable with building relationships and leading engagements with external and international partners, as well as other skill communities. You’re also able to understand our Machine Learning Operations (ML Ops) ecosystem and data platforms, and assess emerging opportunities.

Training and Development

At GCHQ, we’re committed to giving you all the support and guidance you need to build a fulfilling career at the heart of national security. From day one, you’ll have a comprehensive introduction and a buddy to support you, as you settle in. And because everyone has different ways of learning, we’ll invest in your skills through reading materials, taught courses, conferences and more.

All our Data Scientists are given the opportunity to attend training, either as discrete courses, or as part of a programme, such as our Data Science Development Programme (DSDP) which runs over 12weeks and covers:

• Exploratory Data Analysis and Visualisation

• Mathematics and Statistics

• Machine Learning

• Algorithms and Graph Theory

• Big Data Technologies

Technical training is further complimented with personal and leadership training available to all staff.

Rewards and Benefits

You’ll receive a starting salary of £48,104 - £53,637 dependent 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

- 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 GCHQ 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:

https://www.gchq-careers.co.uk/life-at-gchq/diversity-inclusion.html

We’re Disability Confident

GCHQ 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. This is our ‘Offer of Interview’ (OOI).

What to Expect

Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:

• CV and Application question sift

• A competency based and technical interview – looking at your motivation for the role and your understanding of data science

• 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 continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer.

Before You Apply

To work at GCHQ 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 Cheltenham, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application, as we do not offer relocation costs.

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.

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