Arabic Language Specialists Ref. 1384

Mind Achieving Impact AwardSocial Mobility Foundation AwardStonewall Top Employers 2020Stonewall Top Employers 2019The Times Top 100Disability confident leaderThe Prince's Responsible BusinessThe Times Top 100

Languages
London
up to £31, 981 plus a language allowance depending on agency

Your knowledge of Arabic could open up a fascinating career in intelligence. By joining one of the UK intelligence agencies you can play a key role in protecting the UK.

 

The roles

 

The UK’s intelligence agencies are looking for expert linguists but these roles go well beyond translation and transcription.

 

You’ll be using your language skills to provide intelligence insights and you’ll deliver clear analysis and presentations. Your insights will then feed directly into ongoing planning and decision-making. Playing an active role in directing projects and driving forward operations and investigations, you’ll get to work at the heart of intelligence operations. The challenge is to make material accessible and understandable to others as you seek out vital clues in Arabic language material. It’s genuinely interesting work which will test your judgement, people skills and linguistic ability every step of the way.

 

The agencies

There are openings for Arabic specialists at MI6, one of the UK’s intelligence agencies. MI6 works overseas to gather intelligence that helps protect the nation and its interests.

 

Grow and develop

 

You’ll be working alongside like-minded people from a variety of backgrounds. In a culture with a strong focus on learning and development, you’ll be supported to enhance your linguistic skills further; for example depending on agency ongoing language maintenance classes are offered. You will also receive training on non language aspects of the job.

 

Your language skills could come from growing up in a multilingual family or you may have studied Arabic to a high level. You certainly need a passion for the language and an ability to translate its nuances into clear, well drafted English.


Your linguistic skills need to be complemented by a good knowledge of Arab cultural affairs, history, politics, ideology and economy. You also need to combine an analytical, enquiring mind with strong powers of judgement and good people skills.

 

How to apply

 

We will ask you to complete our pre-screening questions to see if you meet our initial eligibility criteria. We will then ask you to begin an application for which you need to create an on line login. You need to provide your full name, email address and a memorable password. Once you have successfully created a personal account, you are ready to complete the on line application form. You will be asked to provide background about your education and employment history as well as details of your Arabic language skills and any other language(s) you have learned and your motivation for using Arabic in a role in intelligence.

Please note that if you have applied for an Arabic vacancy at MI5, MI6 or GCHQ in the last 12 months and have been unsuccessful at the language test stage, you will not be eligible to reapply for this role at this time.

Our recruitment team will complete an application sift to assess how far you meet the job specification. Successful applicants will be invited to attend an Arabic language test in London and this will assess your Arabic language ability across a range of tasks including listening, reading comprehension and translation. If you are successful, you will be asked to attend an assessment centre in London. This will include a face-to face interview and other exercises.

 

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

 

As part of our commitment to being a 'Disability Confident' employer we offer an interview to all candidates with a disability who meet our minimum criteria for the job vacancy for which they are applying. This is known as the Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS).

 

Along with the standard eligibility requirements for the post, your application will be assessed on how far you meet the job specification based on your application and your Arabic language ability. On successful completion of this stage, you will be invited to the Arabic language test, which is our guaranteed interview.

 

Please note that if you are unsuccessful at the language testing stage of your application, you will not be eligible to reapply for Arabic language vacancies at MI5, MI6 or GCHQ within a 12 month period.

 

Eligibility and discretion

To be able 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 to the UK for the majority of the last ten years prior to application. This is particularly important if you were born outside 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.

 

Due to vetting requirements you will need to be 18 years old, or above, to apply. You reapplication may take around nine months to process.

 

Discretion is vital. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member, providing that they are British. You should also make them aware of the importance of discretion. You should not post on social media sites about your application or discuss it with anyone else at this stage. You will receive further guidance during the recruitment process.

 

We are committed to reflecting both equal opportunities and the society we protect.

 

This Program / Vacancy is closed to applications.