About Us
 
We are MI5, we protect the UK from threats to national security such as terrorism and espionage. We gather intelligence and work closely with the police and law enforcement to detect threats and work out ways to stop them. 
 
 The Role       

Finding needles in haystacks is what we do.
 
We work with all sections of MI5, and you’ll have the opportunity to collaborate with individuals from across the organisation and wider government, each with a unique problem to solve.

We work with data in a wide variety of formats and from a wealth of data sources and no two days are the same. You can become proficient in the breadth of what we do: computer vision, natural language processing, network analysis and much more besides, or choose to specialise in areas of interest.
 
 
Data Science forms a core part of MI5’s strategic approach to tackling the vast and complex data landscape. Machine Learning (ML) Engineers and Data Scientists in MI5 are responsible for developing new capabilities, to help analysts to handle the increasing volumes of data.
 
With senior sponsorship, our goal is to build a series of multi-disciplinary data science teams made up of ML Engineers and Data Scientists who are focussed on pushing science-based analytics and tools from concept and design through to build and production. This might take the form of strategic, longer-term R&D projects to create full-production, scalable and supported capabilities. In addition, there will be short-term, fast-paced tactical work in response to urgent investigations and operations.
 
Within these teams an ML Engineer is responsible for working closely with software, cloud and data engineers to apply ML models to large-scale data processing such as streaming systems. They will support the ML model lifecycle in an operational context and will collaborate with other data science roles to take newly trained models and integrate these into existing products and services and develop bespoke products to evaluate these models. When scaling models to support enterprise-scale API services ML engineers will be responsible for retraining and re-architecting models to achieve consistency and process optimisation.
 
As the DS capability grows, there are an increasing range of exciting opportunities to get involved with including:
•    Working closely with our partners and customers via embedded Data Science teams, for example within operational or product teams.
•    Working closely with partners across government.
•    Helping to shape the organisation’s approach to adoption of AI, for example by focussing on AI ethics, or Green AI Principles.
•    Ownership over designing and establishing new ways of working pipelines and practices.
 
Depending on your interests, the role may involve both national and international travel to build the team’s partnerships with other government organisations.

About You

As a member of a multi-disciplinary team, ML Engineers work closely with data scientists and other stakeholders to turn mission challenges into software solutions. Key responsibilities include:
 
•    Responsibility for delivering new processes for developing, testing, and deploying new data science-enabled capabilities for the organisation.
•    Acting as a software engineer SME within the data science community, assisting the development of others and providing guidance and specialist support.
•    Supporting products owned by the team, working with users to identify and fix defects.
•    Responsibility for delivering initiatives to establish and improve our continuous improvement practices to shape ways of working in the team and wider community.
•    Ensuring the team are developing and implementing best practices for ML product deployment
•    Supporting and mentoring less experienced colleagues
•    Optional line management responsibility for 1-2 staff members if this aligns to your development goals
•    
Essential Skills
•    Python programming
•    Containerisation including Docker
•    Experiences of agile working practices
•    Experience developing in a Linux environment
•    Team working and collaboration
 
Desirable Skills
•    Basic ML theory
•    DevOps
•    AWS Cloud experience
•    Openshift experience
•    Experience developing and supporting production systems

Training and Development
 
Learning and development is central to our engineering ethos and we invest heavily in our staff. As part of your MI5 career we will support you in broadening and deepening your technical and non-technical skills.  The Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) capability framework is our Software Engineering profession capability framework, we use it as a compass to provide guidance, tools and support to enable you to progress your career further whether this is growing as a leader or an individual with deep technical knowledge and ability.  We have access to a wide variety of classroom and online learning, as well as certifications and our own development programmes. We work with external bodies such as the Institute for Engineering and Technology and the British Computing Society to support and fund accreditation for our staff, which could be in a specific technical area or more broadly, such as becoming a Chartered Engineer.
 

You’ll receive a starting salary of £54,214 for London and £51,285 for Manchester 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 (pro rata for part time)
• Opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme
• Personal Learning Budget
• Opportunities to work flexibly or part time (minimum coverage of 3 days), 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 or Greater Manchester, 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 both MI5 and MI6 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, ages, 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.
 

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 (in order of application process) are: 

-    Passing a sift of your application and Codility submission

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:

• You will be invited to upload your CV and complete an online application form along with a codility test
• If you pass, you’ll be invited to an interview
• If you pass, you’ll start our vetting process

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.