The Role

Surveillance is one of MI5’s key investigative resources in protecting against threats to national security from terrorism to espionage. Mobile Surveillance Officers follow subjects who have been identified by Intelligence Officers as potential threats to national security. It’s all about blending into the environment naturally wherever you are and being able to observe people and places, either by foot or by vehicle.

The Skills

Blending in: Being able to blend into the background safely is of paramount importance in our investigations. This is about always behaving naturally and putting your safety and those of your colleagues first. We provide intensive training to support this. 

Any distinguishing features such as tattoos on your face, neck or hands would make you more recognisable to someone who is under surveillance and would therefore make you unsuitable for this role. Likewise, if you are male you will need to be 6’2” or under and females must be 5’10” or under. 

The UK has a highly diverse population so it’s vital that we too have a diverse team who can operate in a wide range of environments without attracting attention. That’s why we’re particularly keen to recruit women and those from ethnic minority backgrounds, to ensure we have balanced Surveillance teams that reflect the society we protect. All applications, no matter your background will be considered on their own merits. 

Attention to Detail: You’ll need to be observant and be able to accurately remember the details of what you’ve seen and heard. You’ll also need to have good vision in both eyes, either naturally or corrected with glasses or contact lenses, including full colour and peripheral vision to DVLA group 2 sight. Good hearing, referred to as HSE category 1 without hearing aids, is essential on joining. Your eyesight and hearing will be tested during the recruitment process and you must pass these tests to continue with your application. 

Driving: You’ll need to enjoy driving and be a competent and confident driver, willing to learn to drive at an advanced standard. You must hold a full UK manual driving licence and have no more than three points on your licence. In the role, you’ll drive a manual car regularly, commuting and operating in the varied work locations and whilst working, you will need to be confident on all sorts of roads (city, urban, rural and motorway) at various times including rush hour and during the day and night. The training course you’ll undertake when you join us will help you to really hone your driving skills. If you are interested in finding out more about driving at an advanced standard, you could look at what’s involved in IAM and ROSPA courses. 

Fitness: You can be on the move all day, often following people who are under surveillance on foot, so you’ll need a reasonable level of health and fitness to allow you to do this. You should be comfortable both walking and sitting for substantial periods of time and you’ll need good manual dexterity in both hands to operate surveillance equipment. Candidates will be required to undertake and pass a Fitness for Role medical which includes having a body mass index of 30 or less and blood pressure within NICE guidelines of less than 140/90. 

Map Reading: You should be willing to learn to navigate yourself between two different points using an ‘A-Z’ or Philips navigator Britain style road map. Map reading potential will be tested during the recruitment process and developed on the intensive training course and we will give you some guidance prior to the assessment centres. 

Patience: You’ll need to be able to remain completely alert sometimes during long spells of inactivity but remain ready to step up several gears when it all starts happening. 

Thinking on your feet: Situations can happen fast in this role. You’ll need to be able to make sound judgements on the spur of the moment. The training will help hone your judgements and dynamic decision making in the role. 

Multi-tasking: You need to be able to do several things at once – watch, plan and think ahead, drive and communicate to your team – and make risk assessments and decisions whilst you’re doing so, we will help you build on these skills during training. 

Teamwork: Teamwork is a huge part of the role so you must enjoy working as part of a team. You’ll need to be able to work collaboratively with a variety of people, including other Mobile Surveillance Officers and staff across MI5 and our partner organisations. 

IT Skills: You should have basic IT skills and will be trained to use a arrange of communication equipment. 

Location: The role is based in central London, with much of the work being in Greater London. You’ll need to live or be prepared to relocate to within a commutable distance of the capital and within a 70-mile radius of the office to do the role. The nature of the work, however, can involve extensive travel around the UK and you may need to spend time away from home, sometimes at shorter notice than would normally be given. On rare occasions you may spend up to seven nights away. You should consider the financial implications and practicalities of relocating to Greater London prior to submitting an application. 

Shift Patterns: You’ll need to be flexible – working hours are organised on a five-week shift pattern, which includes working two weekends in five. This is structured so you’ll know well in advance exactly what shift you are working. Some people find that working shifts and having their days off during the week can be a real benefit to work-life balance. 

Training and Support: We take training very seriously. It ensures our people remain safe and allows us to equip our staff to collect the intelligence we need. If you are successful in the recruitment and the vetting processes, you will be invited to take part in a non-residential full-time 20-week training course based in London that you will need to pass to become a Mobile Surveillance Officer. The course is comprehensive and at times demanding but this is necessary to give you the confidence and skills you need to perform in the role in a safe and secure manner. The course consists of briefings, intensive practical training, assessments and continual feedback. You’ll also learn to drive to an advanced standard. If you successfully complete the course, you will move into a Mobile Surveillance role and receive on-the-job mentoring to further develop your skills. 

Career Development: Surveillance is a specialist role, and we are looking to recruit Mobile Surveillance Officers who will be able to commit a minimum of five years to the role. However, as a Mobile Surveillance Officer you are also part of the wider family and there could be opportunities to move to other roles after five years. Promotion is on merit and where opportunities allow.

Rewards and Benefits

You’ll receive a starting salary of MI5 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
-    Opportunities to work flexibly, subject to business needs
-    Interest-free season ticket loan
-    Excellent pension scheme
-    Cycle to work scheme
-    Facilities such as a subsidised gym and restaurant, and on-site coffee bars
-    Paid parental and adoption leave

Culture and Working Environment

As part of our team, you’ll discover an inclusive workplace that’s welcoming, supportive and encouraging. You’ll be part of an organisation where people want to support one another and make a difference. Aside from fostering an open culture, we’ve got a range of growing affinity groups. For example:  
 
•    Ethnic Minority and gender equality networks
•    Groups supporting wellbeing, mental health, neurodiversity and disability
•    Faith/No Faith communities for staff to come together
•    LGBTQ+ support networks

You’ll also find a variety of sports, activity, interest and social groups to help you settle in and connect with people with similar interests.

Before you Apply

To work at MI5, you need to be a British citizen. We do 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.

Honesty and integrity are really important if you want to work at MI5. Take some time to read about the vetting process and make sure you meet the criteria in the vetting pages of the ‘How to Apply’ section. The process can take some time, but this is just because it’s thorough. Giving misleading information and omitting or concealing information during the recruitment and vetting process is viewed very seriously.

The role is based in London, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application.

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.
 

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, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, ways of thinking and those with disabilities or neurodiverse conditions. We therefore welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including those from groups that are under-represented in our workforce.

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 ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview where practicable; this is known as ‘Offer of an Interview’. To secure an interview for this vacancy, the minimum criteria must be met at all stages of the application process.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible to apply, you must be a British Citizen. One of your parents must be a British Citizen or must have the nationality or citizenship from our approved list of countries (for more info link to website/JD). If you hold dual nationality, of which one component is British, you will nonetheless be considered. (for more info link to website/JD). Candidates must normally have been resident in the UK for seven out of the last ten years. This is particularly important if you were born outside the UK. You can apply at the age of 17 years and 6 months, if successful you will not be offered a start date prior to your 18th birthday. Discretion is vital. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member. 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 of the UK will impact on our ability to progress your application. Further information on our eligibility criteria can be found on the Applying section.

What To Expect

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

•    Initial Application
•    Full Application and Situational Judgement Test
•    3 Assessment Centres held in Central London. Each one needs to be passed in order to be invited to the next Assessment Centre. Note, the duration of each Assessment Centre is approx. 6 to 8 hours and they are normally spread out across a number of weeks.  
•    Fitness for role medical – see ‘Attention to Detail’ and ‘Fitness’ sections above for more insight.
•    Developed Vetting

Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process in order 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.

Our Vetting

To work in this role you will need the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community has to go through and it can take some time. As part of the DV process you will be asked to fill in a detailed questionnaire and attend an interview with a vetting officer. In your interview the vetting officer will have a thorough, compassionate and honest discussion with you about you as a person and your life experiences, to ensure holding a DV clearance is right for you. You don’t need to do any preparation for your vetting interview, just be honest and be yourself. All applicants for DV are treated impartially and consistently, irrespective of gender, race, disability, religion, age, sexual orientation and other protected characteristics.

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.

The closing date for this role is 23:00 on Monday 12th September 2022