Telephonist Ref. 3213

Location(s): Central London, with travel to our business continuity site as required.

Working Pattern: Shift pattern consisting of a 10-week revolving rota. Day shifts are 10-hour days while nights are either 13 or 14 hours, for an average of 41 hours per week. The team provides a 24/7 service, 365 days per year. Due to the nature of the role, part-time or flexible working isn’t possible.

About Us 

We’re MI6, also known as SIS. 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 MI6 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 Telephonist, you’ll join our friendly, dedicated team providing a vital 24/7 service, 365 days per year. You’ll be assigned on a ten-week revolving shift pattern planned one year in advance. Due to the nature of the role, part-time or flexible working isn’t possible.

As the first point of contact for MI6, you’ll provide a professional, friendly service as you gather and maintain staff information and contact details while liaising with internal and external customers. On an average day, you may be handling a large volume of calls from users based within the UK and overseas, from multiple organisations. 

This is primarily a switchboard answering service, though you may occasionally be asked to travel to other locations as part of the role. No overseas travel will be required. You’ll operate as part of a close-knit supportive team taking information from colleagues based overseas or working with UK and foreign partners. Together, you’ll contribute to the smooth delivery of our vital communications, while gaining a unique insight into various teams and the work we do to keep the UK safe.

About You

You might already have previous customer service, switchboard or telephony experience; however, this isn’t essential as we’ll provide six months’ training for you. Importantly, you will need a minimum of maths and English at GCSE (or equivalent), as well as a full driving licence with no more than 6 points. 

You’ll be comfortable working in a busy environment, which can sometimes be challenging. Your methodical approach and ability to work calmly at peak periods will be an asset to you in this role.
Customer service is key, so you’ll listen carefully to incoming information and demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills as well as responding in a clear, composed manner. Self-motivated and proactive, you’ll prioritise work and show flexibility in response to change. And of course, you’ll enjoy being part of a friendly team providing essential business support.

Training and Development

You’ll receive a full induction to MI6 as well as a six months’ training for this specific role. This is in addition to ongoing training opportunities throughout your time with us. You’ll also be assigned a mentor, who’ll provide advice and guidance to help you settle into life at MI6. We recognise exceptional work, and we’ll also provide performance reviews to ensure you’re getting the support you need to maximise your potential. 
You’ll be expected to spend a minimum of three years in this post. After this, you’ll have the opportunity to apply for promotion or progress to a different role within the department or organisation, should you wish. 

Rewards and Benefits 

You’ll receive a starting salary of £32,421 plus 43.83% Shift Disturbance Allowance of £14,210 and a £3,050 Recruitment Retention Allowance.
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 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, 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

MI6 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:

• Have the required minimum qualifications.
• Pass the initial sift.

What to Expect

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

• Application sift, looking at your motivation for the role and the organisation.
• Assessment Centre, including documents check and a HR interview.
• If successful, you will receive a conditional offer of employment.

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 MI6, 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 discretely. 

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.

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.