Hours: 

• The 12-hour rotating shift pattern consists of 2 days and 2 nights then 4 days off.
• Due to the nature of the role, flexible or remote working isn’t possible. Please be reassured that we’ll work with you to ensure you have a good work-life balance, taking into account any responsibilities outside of work as far as possible.

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 Security Officer at MI5, you’ll protect our people, places, and assets and enable our operations. Working alongside a close-knit team of friendly colleagues, you’ll provide a professional service that ensures the safety of our organisation. 

The majority of this role is about anticipation of, preparation for, and prevention of security risks. You’ll receive full training to ensure you’re well equipped with the knowledge and confidence to respond to any situation. Operating as part of our Security Control Room, you’ll oversee access to the building, conduct physical searches, and monitor CCTV to identify potential risks. You’ll also be the first point of contact for visitors; you could be meeting people from across government or our partner agencies, and you’ll be there to provide a reassuring and friendly welcome.

Whether responding to an alarm, administering first aid, or advising a visitor on our security processes, you’ll ensure our security policies are adhered to and maintain accurate written logs of incidents. Importantly, you won’t be on your own - you’ll be part of a team willing to provide help and support.

This is a unique entry point to a career in security. You’ll be expected to stay within the security team for 5 years, during which time you’ll have the opportunity to apply for promotion or pursue other roles within the Security Officer Team, subject to readiness and endorsement from your line manager. Once trained, you’ll also have the chance to work on some key security projects.

Upon joining, you’ll be assigned to a designated location but please note that you may be re-assigned to another site within the London area at short notice. 

About you

You don’t need any previous security experience or a Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence to apply, but you will have:

• Maths and English language GCSEs at grade C/4 or above.
• Basic IT and Microsoft Office skills.
• The ability to commute to your location for your assigned shift time.

Motivated and proactive in anticipating problems, you’ll demonstrate situational awareness and be confident reacting to changing situations. As you’ll be part of a team and relaying important information, you’ll also be able to communicate clearly and enjoy working with others. You might currently work in customer service, be starting your career, or simply looking for a new challenge. Either way, you’ll have interpersonal skills, a friendly attitude, and a real enthusiasm and desire to make an impact as part of our supportive, professional team.

All candidates for this role will attend a general fitness medical, which includes an eyesight test, hearing test, step test and advice on your Body Mass Index (BMI) – but don’t worry, you don’t need to be a high-performing athlete. We’re aware that people may have misconceptions around what a Security Officer ‘looks like’ at MI5. Please note, we’re not looking for a specific ‘type’ of person. We’re committed to ensuring all candidates, regardless of their backgrounds, identities, lived experiences, and perspectives are given the support and training they need to thrive in this role.

Training and development

You’ll receive dedicated training under the mentorship of our experienced professionals. This will include:

• Operational procedures
• Security systems
• Customer care
• Conflict management/resolution
• Fire safety
• Emergency first aid
• CCTV operation

You’ll do an initial 3-week training period before being inducted into your team, where you’ll continue to learn skills relevant to the role. There may also be the opportunity to take on additional project work within the team. In total, training usually takes a year to complete. You’ll be assigned a mentor to support you day-to-day within the role, as well as an induction guide.

We will provide you with training which will be equivalent to an SIA licence. We’re committed to ensuring you have the support you need to further grow your career with us. Should you be successful in achieving promotion in this role, you could also become a team leader with line management responsibilities. 

Rewards and Benefits 

You’ll receive a starting salary of £41,801, 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 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. 

We’re Disability Confident

MI5 is 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. As a Disability Confident Leader we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants who best meet the essential minimum criteria for this position, will be offered an interview, if it is practical for us to do so. (This is known as Offer of an Interview.) To secure an interview for this role, the minimum criteria (in order of application process) are:
 
•    Eligibility questions – You will be asked a series of questions. If you meet the eligibility criteria you will be directed to the initial application form.   
•    Application form – You will be asked a series of Situational Judgement Test (SJT) questions, as well as questions relating to this role. You will be required to meet the minimum pass mark set.   
•    On successful completion of these stages, you will be invited to complete a virtual interview.    
 
There is a wide range of extra support available throughout the recruitment process to enable you to do your best, see our website for information on reasonable adjustments we can offer.

What to Expect

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

•    Eligibility Sift & Situational Judgement Testing
•    Application Sift    
•    Virtual Interview   
•    Drugs Test   
•    Vetting    
   
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 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.

Before you apply, we advise you to consider setting up a separate email address for your contact with us, to ensure your personal and application correspondence remain separate. Try to avoid having identifying features in your email address, such as your first and/or surname and date of birth. This is good practice and will help you to manage your application with us more securely.

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. An interest-free loan 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.