Project Support Officer Ref. 3214

Flexible Working: We fully support full-time, part-time, compressed, and other flexible working patterns. However, opportunities for remote working and/or working from home are unlikely to be accommodated owing to the nature of the work required.  

About Us  

We’re SIS, also known as the Secret Intelligence Service. Our mission is to protect the security and economic wellbeing of the UK from overseas threats such as regional instability, terrorism, and cyber-attacks. Working across the globe and in close partnership with MI5 and GCHQ, we help the Government to counter these threats through the provision of secret intelligence. A role in SIS will see you providing vital support to this work, within a supportive and encouraging environment that puts the emphasis on teamwork. 

The Role  

As a Project Support Officer (PSO), you’ll be at the heart of our mission, supporting key activities that will keep the country safe. As part of a collaborative team, you’ll be responsible for bringing structure to the delivery of transformational projects, using your skills to plan, budget, and resource-manage.  

As a custodian of project information and resources, you will focus on analysing, interpreting, and providing insight on the progress of projects and programmes, reporting out to stakeholders across the three intelligence agencies. If anyone wants the latest status, figures, actions, or issues, you’ll be the person who makes it happen. Your contribution will keep critical projects on track, helping us to protect the UK and its interests. 

This role brings plenty of new opportunities and challenges every day, from supporting Project Managers on digital transformation, to providing guidance on risk management, finance, and planning. You’ll be reporting on project progress as you help to mitigate risk, ensure project quality, and support collaboration. Crucially, you and your team will help to drive forward a collaborative, joined up approach by actively promoting knowledge sharing between team members, partners, and stakeholders. 

About You 

You’ll have a minimum of 2 GCSEs at Grade 4/C in mathematics and English language, or an equivalent Level 2 qualification, plus experience of using Microsoft Office packages including Excel. Since you’ll be extracting and presenting data, you’ll be comfortable handling numbers too.  
Whatever your background, you’ll be adaptable, motivated, and collaborative. You’ll also be comfortable engaging with stakeholders at all levels and reaching out to appropriate experts who can support organisational change. Intellectually curious, attentive to detail, and at ease navigating complexity in an agile working environment, you’ll enjoy solving problems and embracing challenges to support our mission.  
 
Training and Development 

Upon joining SIS, you’ll receive a full induction to the organisation, which will help you get to grips with how we operate. You’ll then have a team induction to give you a rounded understanding of Project Support, followed by on-the-job training and a buddy to help you settle in. 

We’re committed to developing our staff and recognise this will look different for everyone. We have an exceptional skills community, dedicated to supporting you. There’ll be lots of tailored training, coaching, and mentoring, alongside opportunities to pursue career pathways and to specialise. Whatever your professional goals, we’ll work with you to build the skills you need to excel at your role and throughout your career. 
 
Rewards and Benefits 

You’ll receive a starting salary of £39,709 - £45,889 per annum, plus the opportunity to qualify for skills allowances of £3,532, and 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 (parking and travel)
• Excellent pension scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Facilities such as a gym and restaurant, and on-site coffee bars (at some locations)
• Paid parental and adoption leave. 

Equal Opportunities 

At SIS, 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 

SIS 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 offer a person-to-person interview to any candidate who self-identifies as disabled and meets the essential criteria for the role.  This is our ‘Offer of Interview’ (OOI). To secure an interview for this vacancy, the essential criteria (in order of application process) are:  

• A minimum of 2 GCSEs at Grade 4/C in mathematics and English Language (or equivalent O-Level, BTEC or Level 2 qualification).
• Working knowledge of MS Office, pulling data and reporting together, particularly in manipulating and extracting the right data, so that it can be easily digested and presented – assessed at application sift.
• Demonstrate a proactive approach, being self-starting and able to engage with a range of stakeholders – assessed at application sift.
• Demonstrate analytical and problem-solving skills, and an awareness of project management methodologies assessed at application sift. 

What to Expect 

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

• Paper sift – you are advised to make full use of the word allowance for each question
• Interview
• Vetting Interview 

Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 6 to 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 SIS, 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. 

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. A loan is available to support people relocating to London. 

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 discretely. 

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.