Intelligence Officer

Ref:RV GD5 Oct 12

Location:UK Based

Salary:£25,056 + benefits

Closing date:12 November 2012

As an Intelligence Officer at MI5, you could be assessing threats to national security, analysing digital intelligence, working in our vital legal, policy and corporate departments or supporting investigations. Wherever you begin your career you will play an important part in helping to safeguard our nation’s security.

This is one of the most demanding, stimulating roles you could take on and also one of the most rewarding. You will have your own areas of responsibility and be working as part of a team of people from a range of backgrounds.

Who are we looking for?
Decision making will be part of your daily life. You’ll need to be able to identify and solve problems with creative solutions in line with policies, guidance and legislation.

Incisive intellect and finely balanced judgement are essential, as are outstanding verbal and written communication skills. You must be able to demonstrate resilience and the ability to cope with setbacks, as well as the ability to work well in a team and quickly establish rapport with a wide range of people.

Analytical and highly organised, you will have a superb eye for detail, and the perfect balance of sensitivity and confidence. Teamwork is at the heart of everything we do and, whether you are working in London, one of our regional offices or in Northern Ireland, you will be working in a supportive environment.

We offer extensive training and development opportunities and a varied career path where you will move roles every two to three years. Your first posting is likely to be in one of the teams that supports investigations, such as digital intelligence, legal or policy. Later in your career you’ll have the opportunity to work as an investigator, piecing together complex intelligence pictures.

Having a wide range of skills and experience will allow you to do a greater variety of work during your career. Whilst we recognise that individuals have various aptitudes and personal preferences, we encourage all employees to develop the full range of their capabilities, increasing their personal job satisfaction and improving their prospects of promotion.

Discretion is an integral part of working for MI5, so before you consider applying, ask yourself this: would you be content for your own and your team's successes to remain unknown outside the intelligence community?

Candidates should have or be expecting at least a 2:1 degree or have substantial relevant permanent work experience to apply.

Recruitment process
First, you should try our investigative challenge to see if you have the skills we are looking for. You will then be required to complete our online self-selection questionnaire. We strongly encourage you to consider the feedback provided when deciding whether or not to continue with your application.

The next step is for you to complete our pre-screening questions to find out if you meet our initial criteria. If you do meet these criteria we will then ask you to begin an application. You will need to create a login and provide your full name, email address and a memorable password. Once you have successfully created a personal account, you will be required to complete an initial application form providing contact details and equal opportunities monitoring information.

After submitting this form you will be sent an e-mail asking you to take two online tests, which form part of the formal assessment process. On receipt of this invitation e-mail, you will have up to one week to take these tests. If you do not complete both of them within this timeframe we will assume that you no longer wish to proceed with your application.

The two tests
(i) Competency questionnaire
This questionnaire looks at the key competencies and behaviours that are required for the role of an Intelligence Officer working for the Security Service. It is not timed but should take you approximately 20 minutes to complete and you will need to do this in one sitting.

(ii) Verbal reasoning ability test
This test is designed to assess the key skill of reasoning with verbal information, which is essential for the role of the Intelligence Officer in the Security Service. You will be given 25 minutes to complete the test and you will need to do this in one sitting.

If you pass both of these tests, we will invite you to complete and submit our full application form. Our recruitment team will complete an application sift of your form. The next stage, if successful, is a half day testing session consisting of an assessment exercise and a written test.

Successful applicants will be invited to participate in a telephone interview. This will include competency based questions and will explore motivation to work for the Security Service.

Assuming you pass this interview, you will be invited to attend an assessment centre in London. This will be followed by a security interview with a vetting officer and a final selection interview.

The recruitment and vetting process can take six to nine months to complete. If you are in the final year of your studies we advise you to apply now. During the recruitment process our recruitment team will give you further information about when you would be able to join.

Eligibility criteria
To be eligible to apply, you must meet our residency criteria. You must be a born or naturalised British Citizen and one of your parents must be a British Citizen or have substantial ties to the UK. Candidates must normally have been resident in the UK for 9 out of the last 10 years. This is particularly important if you were born outside the UK. You will nonetheless be considered if you have, for example, served overseas with HM Forces or in some other official capacity as a representative of Her Majesty's Government, studied abroad, or lived overseas with your parents.

Due to vetting requirements you will need to be 18 years old, or above, to apply.

Owing to the sensitivity of our work, we do not publicly disclose the identities of our staff. Discretion is vital. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member.

The Security Service is committed to reflecting both equal opportunities and the society we protect.

Apply:https://www.mi5.gov.uk/careers/current-jobs/job.aspx?id=80