Fire Safety Advisor Ref. 2750

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Building Support Services
Cheltenham, London
Full Time
London: £56,151 or Cheltenham: £54,644

About Us

MI5 and GCHQ are part of the UK’s Intelligence Services. We work together to safeguard Britain’s people, interests, and businesses from various threats at home, overseas and online, including cyber-attacks, espionage, terrorism, and organised crime. Working across our vital missions, you’ll deliver impact at the heart of national security, all within a supportive and inclusive environment that allows everyone to thrive. We currently have a vacancy for a Fire Safety Advisor within our team.


The Role

As a Fire Safety Advisor, you will be a key member of our Fire Safety team, with your main focus on fire safety strategy. You will be providing advice on fire safety preventative and protective measures across the Intelligence agencies. In this role you will be a subject matter expert for our UK and overseas global network sites. You will be providing a safe working platform to enable operations which keep the country safe. 

As such, this role will require you to visit sites across the UK as well as our sites overseas. The role requires a degree of pragmatism and an ability to think outside the box, as you’ll be taking a risk-based approach to fire safety across the UK and our overseas global network. For this role you will be expected to engage in the following key strategies: 

   Fire Safety Governance across OneCS (UKIC) - working towards a single fire safety policy with effective oversight of the individual governance mechanisms. 
   Assurance - delivery of risk assurance across the business’s producing MI on fire safety performance.
   Legal compliance - Ensuring compliance with the Fire Safety legislation, both current and the proposed changes in the Fire Safety Order and the introduction of the new Building Safety Bill. 
   Competent Advice - Front door for competent advice across OneCS, UK and our overseas platforms. This includes advising on potential fire risks, ways of working and where necessary, providing mitigation measures.
   Fire Safety Training - Developing and reviewing core fire safety training through a blended approach for deliver by the individual agencies.
   Engagement with Stakeholders and other host providers (landlords) to ensure fire safety compliance.
   Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) - provide oversight of UKIC FRA governance and methodology and where necessary undertake FRA’s.
   Advice on compliance - advising on statutory requirements for UK and Overseas on projects such as; advising on the benchmark UK standards and setting minimum standards.
   Emergency planning - provision of subject matter expert advice to business continuity and incident management functions, as well as liaison with internal and external stakeholders. 

Whatever your experience or background, you will receive dedicated and ongoing training and support, plus a great work-life balance. There are currently no line management responsibilities for this role, however this may be possible with future expansion. There will be regular travel across our UK sites and on occasion, you may be required to travel overseas. You will always be given plenty of notice if required to travel overseas. Due to the nature of the role, home working is not possible as you’ll need access to our in-office systems, but we can offer flexible working. 


About You

You’ll need to be proactive and motivated with the ability to manage your own workloads and priorities. As you’ll be working as part of a wider team, you’ll need to be a good team player and an effective communicator with people at all levels. We are looking for a natural problem solver with the ability to create innovative solutions to resolve fire safety issues. 

Experience in Fire Safety and Fire Safety management is essential.  Previous experience in Fire and Rescue service and/or Fire Safety Enforcement would be desirable. You will need to demonstrate an understanding in:

   Approved Document B 
   Fire Strategies 
   BS 9999

It is essential that you are a member of the Institute of Fire Engineers (MIFireE) or have equivalent knowledge of fire protection design or building regulations. You’ll need the ability to develop and apply alternative fire safety solutions in line with guidance, complex fire risk assessments and construction site fire risk assessments.

Above all, we are looking for people who share our core values of integrity, respect, creativity, and the desire to have a positive impact on the UK. If you're eligible, you'll need to choose the location that is right for you. 


Training and Development

We’ll provide full training as well as helping you design your own development pathway, so you’ll get all the support you need as you build your skills and a career with us. 

Upon joining, you’ll have an induction and be assigned your own development partner. You won’t be on your own; they’ll be on-hand to help you learn the role, give advice and provide guidance whenever you need it. After all, our community is dedicated to your development. 

There will also be focus towards continued personal development (CPD) as well as further development in Fire Safety, which will include various recognised Institute of Fire Engineers (IFE) courses.


Rewards and Benefits

You’ll receive a starting salary of £54,644 to £56,151 (depending on location) 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.
   Opportunities to work flexibly, 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 sport, 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 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.

Depending on your preference the role will be based in Central London or Cheltenham so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance of one of the locations. 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. 


Equal Opportunities

At MI5 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: https://www.mi5.gov.uk/careers/diversity


We’re Disability Confident

MI5 is 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 are 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: 

   Eligibility Questions – you’ll need pass our eligibility criteria sift
   Application form – You will be asked a series of questions relating to this vacancy and required to meet the minimum pass mark set.  

On successful completion of these stages, you will be invited to complete a virtual Interview.   


Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible to apply, you must be a British Citizen.

If you hold dual nationality, of which one component is British, you will nonetheless be considered. 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. 

First, we’ll ask you to complete some pre-screening questions to find out if you meet our initial criteria. If you do, you’ll then need to create a login and fill out a full application form. 

The recruitment team will review it, and if you’re successful you’ll be invited to an interview where you’ll demonstrate the key skills and behaviours relevant to the role.

If you pass that stage, we’ll begin the vetting process. This includes a Security Interview – but it’s nothing to worry about. It’s not a competency or capability-based interview, it’s an important part of the process where we build a full picture of your life and experiences. 

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 complete, so we advise you continue any current employment until you have received a final job offer. 


Our Vetting

To work in this role, you’ll 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’ll 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. 


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. 

This Program / Vacancy is closed to applications.