MI5’s mission is to keep the country safe from threats to national security, including terrorism, espionage and sabotage. As a Senior Behavioural Scientist you could play a leading role in embedding best practice behavioural science in the working practices of our investigations and intelligence collection operations. Your work will give us a unique insight into the complex and evolving threats that we face today. It doesn’t get more rewarding than that does it?

The role

You will work at a strategic level to capture requirements, commission work and support innovation to build behavioural science insights into the UK intelligence community’s capabilities.

You’ll lead on the delivery of behavioural science advice and assessments to investigators within MI5, the police and other agencies. You will also ensure that case management recommendations are tailored to inform high quality decision making and appropriately address risk. You will also advise and guide our operational officers involved in intelligence collection operations to use behavioural science to maximise results.  

Innovation is important and part of your role will include developing methodologies and bespoke tools to improve our capabilities, through research and case validation.

You may be required to line manage a small, multidisciplinary team.  

Skills and experience

We’re looking for experienced behavioural scientists from a wide range of professions and backgrounds, with a passion for building research into practice. You will be educated to at least Masters level and ideally hold a doctorate in a behavioural science subject. You will also have significant post-qualification experience in an academic or practitioner setting. For example, you may be a post-doctoral researcher in risk assessment, forensic linguistics or cyber psychology. Alternatively, you may have experience of applying cutting edge research to operational problems in the private sector. Or, your background could be in anthropology, clinical, forensic or occupational psychology.

If you have experience of formulating complex casework and working with multi-disciplinary teams to manage risk and support optimal functioning under pressure, then we’re interested to hear from you. Whatever your background, you will be using your skills and experience to keep the country safe.

In addition to a fulfilling and rewarding career at the forefront of behavioural science in the UK, you will work in a structured environment that offers extensive support, and continuous professional development.

Candidates that have a proven record of setting strategy and leading behavioural science and research teams will be considered for a more senior role. To be successful for this you should also have demonstrable programme management experience in a behavioural research context, and be able to show impact in a research to practice context. You will provide direction and support across the behavioural science capability, be able to supervise the developing practice of others and drive innovation and change to ensure MI5 remains at the forefront of applied behavioural science.

Benefits

If you join us you’ll have access to a variety of benefits throughout your career. These include an excellent work life balance with flexible working hours and a good pension scheme. We will consider applications for part-time working, minimum of 2 full days per week (Monday to Friday) and where business need allows.  

Click here to find out more about the culture and benefits of working for MI5.

Before you apply

Honesty and integrity are crucial if you want to work at MI5. You should read about the vetting process and satisfy yourself that you meet the criteria outlined in the vetting pages of the Applying for Jobs section prior to submitting an application.

Giving misleading information or omitting or concealing information during the recruitment and vetting process is viewed very seriously. You should ensure that you follow our guidance form the when you apply.

Recruitment Process

The first thing we will ask you to do is complete our pre-screening questions to find out if you meet our initial criteria. If you 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 registration form, providing contact details and equal opportunities monitoring information.

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

This test is designed to assess the key skill of reasoning with verbal information, which is essential for the role with MI5. You will be given 25 minutes to complete the test and you will need to do this in one sitting.

Full instructions will be provided for the test before you sit them. We operate a strict re-testing policy and your skills will be tested again further through the process.

We encourage you to complete some practice questions for the Verbal Reasoning Test. The practice questions are untimed, are not a compulsory part of the assessment and will not affect the outcome of your application. If you wish to complete the practice questions for the Verbal Reasoning Test please click on the link below and you will be redirected:

http://www.cubiksonline.com/FPD/PracticeAssessment/GenericVerbal/VerbalInstructions.aspx

Should you require reasonable adjustments with regard to the online tests due to a disability or learning difficulty, please ensure you contact the recruitment team prior to attempting the tests by following the instructions provided at that stage.

If you pass this test, we will invite you to complete and submit our full application form where you will be asked to explain your motivation for applying to MI5, as well as competency and capability questions to explore your suitability for the role. You will also be requested to upload a copy of your current CV.

It is essential that your CV

• Covers the last 10 years of employment and/or education, clearly specifying job and/or course ‘from’ and ‘to’ dates in month and year details
• Clearly demonstrates the key activities and responsibilities you have performed in each role detailed
• States what academic and professional qualifications you possess

The selection process is competitive at all stages and involves a series of interviews and assessments, starting with an initial application sift of your application and CV to check you have the potential skills and motivation to work for MI5.

If you are successful at this stage you will be invited to a face-to face interview that will explore the motivation for your application as well as some of the key skills and competencies essential for effective performance in the role. Assuming you pass the interview you will then be invited to an Assessment Centre. This Assessment Centre will include a presentation, role-play and interview. This will then be followed by a security interview with a vetting officer. Please be aware that the recruitment and vetting process may take around 9 months.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

As part of our commitment to the “Positive About Disabled People” scheme we offer an interview to all candidates with a disability who meet our minimum criteria for the job vacancy that they are applying for. This is known as the Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS).

To secure an interview for this vacancy, the minimum criteria (in order of application process) is:

-       Vacancy Eligibility Questions

You will be asked a series of questions relating to this vacancy. If you meet the criteria here you will be directed to the initial application form.

-       Application Form Sift

Along with the standard eligibility requirements for this post, your application will be assessed on how far you meet the job specifications and the motivational fit/competency questions you answer. Each answer will be scored. Your application must score the minimum amount of points set.

On successful completion of these stages, you will be invited to an assessment centre.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible to apply you must be a British citizen (either born here or naturalised) and one of your parents must be a British citizen or have substantial ties to the UK. Due to vetting requirements you also need to be 18 years old or above.

Candidates must normally have been resident in the UK for nine out of the last 10 years. This is particularly important if you were born outside the UK. We will still consider you 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.

Discretion

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 close family member. You should not post on social media sites about your application or discuss it with anyone else at this stage. You will receive further guidance during the recruitment process.

You should not launch an application from outside of the UK as it will impact on our ability to progress your application

All applications will be considered on merit. MI5 is committed to reflecting both equal opportunities and the society we protect.

We particularly welcome applications from women and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates.