Administrative Officers Ref. 2276

Stonewall Top Employer AwardSocial Mobility Foundation AwardThe Times Top 100Disability confident leader

Admin
London
£25,596 rising to £27,670 after one year (pro rata)

Full-time and part-time opportunities (flexible working hours available)

THE ROLE

MI5’s mission is to keep the country and its people safe. It means we have really rewarding careers that rely on people with varied backgrounds, ages and skills – just like our Admin Officer role. Whether you’ve just finished school or are returning to work after a break, whether you choose to work full-time or part-time, you’ll have a hugely positive impact and be at the heart of what we do. It’s a chance to develop your skills and get plenty of support along the way.

You’ll do lots of different things as you’ll work across a variety of departments. Each one offers a range of roles, diverse challenges and interesting insights. Day-to-day, you’ll be organising meetings, managing information and records, booking travel, looking after visitors and providing essential support to our intelligence officers. It’s all about helping us to run smoothly.

WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR

We’re after lots of initiative and great organisational skills. You’ll also need to be comfortable talking to a range of people and paying close attention to detail. And if you’re keen to learn new skills, you’ll have all the makings of an excellent Admin officer. You’ll  need two GCSEs (or equivalent) in Maths and English, at grades A*-C / 9-4. Or, you’ll have relevant experience within an office and/or admin role.

We’re interested in all the things that make you, you. So there’s really no ‘type’ of person we’re after. And if you consider yourself to have a disability or long term condition, we offer adjustments in the recruitment process and support you throughout your career.

No matter your experience or background, you’ll get lots of dedicated support when you join. With an induction and your own mentor, you’ll quickly get to grips with everything and have a friendly face to help. As you begin to develop, you’ll go on training courses and take advantage of 'lunch and learn’ sessions. It’s a network group for Admin Officers, where you will get to chat to other people doing the same role.

REWARDS AND BENEFITS

You’ll receive a starting salary of £25,596 and other benefits including: a desirable pension scheme, generous parental leave and 25 days of annual leave. We also encourage flexible working, so we have a flexi-time scheme and offer part-time working and job sharing where possible. If you’re looking for part-time working opportunities, you’ll need to work a minimum of 3 days (totalling 21.6 hours) between Monday and Friday.

There are lots of facilities at our site, such as a gym, restaurant and coffee bars. And we also host lots of social events so that everyone can get together outside of ‘work’.

CULTURE, SUPPORT AND WORKING ENVIRONMENT   

We have a serious job, but that doesn’t mean we’re serious all the time. Everyone’s called by their first name and as we work in a collaborative environment, friendships develop – perhaps because we can talk about our work with each other, but mainly because we’re a welcoming bunch. It’s a very collaborative and supportive place to work and teamwork really is key.

It’s also really important that everyone has a great work-life balance. That’s why we offer part-time working, job sharing, compressed hours and flexible working.

We also work hard to ensure our people can bring their whole self to work. Aside from fostering a welcoming, supportive and open culture, we’ve got a range of growing affinity groups. These currently include:

My5 – our Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority (BAME) network
Genie – group working to achieve gender and non-binary equality
Ability Action – supporting staff with illnesses and disability
Faith/No Faith – an open forum for staff with a faith, or no faith, to come together
diMensIon5 – our network supporting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans staff

Find out more at our Diversity page.

You’ll also find a range of sports and social groups to help you settle in and connect with people with similar interests. In fact, we’ve won numerous awards for our inclusive working environment.

BEFORE YOU APPLY

To work at MI5, you need to be a British citizen and you’ll need a real passion for the role. 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. We unfortunately don’t cover relocation costs.

Due to the sensitive nature of our work, you’ll need to be discreet. But don’t worry - while you can’t tell your friends what you do, you can continue to use social media and lead a completely normal life.

DISABILITY CONFIDENT EMPLOYER

We’re a global organisation that represents and defends the UK’s interests. So, naturally, Diversity and Inclusion is at the top of our agenda. It’s essential that we have a diverse workforce and provide an inclusive environment. We aim for everyone’s differences to be celebrated, and to create a workplace where everyone feels encouraged and supported.

As well as supporting you throughout the recruitment process, including offering a range of adjustments, we’ll ensure you have the right support throughout your career. We have a dedicated disability network group, which aims to build awareness of disability through internal talks, activities and social events.  

We’re also proud to be a ‘Disability Confident’ organisation and have achieved ‘Leader’ status within the Department for Work and Pension’s scheme. We ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview, (this is known as Offer of an Interview). To secure an interview for this role, the minimum criteria (in order of application process) are:

•    Two GCSEs in Maths and English at grade A*-C (or equivalent).
•    Successfully passing a question about your motivation for applying for the role.
•    Successfully passing your Situational Judgement Test, assessed after telephone interview.

Our commitment demonstrates the importance we place on equal opportunities and it means that we also:

•    Do our best to accommodate adjustments
•    Allow extra time during selection ‘tests’
•    Ensure accessible formats are available
•    Offer alternative ways of carrying out different recruitment processes
•    Provide equipment where requested
•    Give candidates a telephone number or email address to contact us with any queries throughout the process.  

RECRUITMENT PROCESS

The recruitment process for this role is outlined below (in order):

Eligibility questions – you’ll answer a number of questions based on the requirements for the role.Initial form – you’ll create a personal account and complete our equal opportunities monitoring questions. If you do not feel comfortable completing equal opportunities monitoring, there is a ‘prefer not to say’ option for each question.

Application form – you’ll be asked to complete an application which will cover relevant experience, your motivation for applying and some situational judgement questions aligned to being an Admin Officer but which require no prior knowledge or experience of the role.
To process your application, it is essential that you provide all the information requested in the application form. Our recruitment team will complete an application sift and successful applicants will be invited to the next stage which is a telephone interview.

Telephone interview – this interview should last approximately 45 minutes and will check that you have the potential skills and motivation to work for MI5.

Online interview – this interview will take place online over a video conferencing system. You won’t be required to visit any of our premises. This interview will further explore that you have the potential skills and motivation to join MI5.

Security interview – this interview will take place in Central London and is an important part of the selection process. It’s an interview to explore your life and experiences, and it’s not a competency or capability-based interview. We have taken appropriate measures to ensure that our buildings are COVID secure and this interview will take place in line with current government guidance around social distancing and COVID procedures.

Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process in order to progress to the next and your application may take around 6 - 9 months to process.

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 seven out of the last ten years. This is particularly important if you were born outside of 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.  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 the UK will impact on our ability to progress your application. Further information on our eligibility criteria can be found on the How to Apply section.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

The UK Intelligence Agencies / MI5 / MI6 / GCHQ are Equal Opportunities employers, committed to reflecting the society we protect.  Our recruitment process is fair, transparent and based on merit.  We particularly welcome applications from diverse and under-represented groups.


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.

This Program / Vacancy is closed to applications.