MI5 safeguards the UK against threats to national security including terrorism, espionage, cyber attack and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Part of our work involves listening to legally intercepted audio material.  

Our Speech and Acoustics Analysis team uses forensic techniques, highly developed skills and sophisticated technology to determine the characteristics of languages and identities of individuals of interest in national security investigations.  Whether working at the forefront of speech technology or drawing on expert audio and linguistic knowledge, our work is continually evolving and always challenging.

The role

This is a rare opportunity to be involved in ground-breaking work that will stretch your skills and knowledge.

As a Speech Analyst, you will use speaker identification software to help audio analysts and intelligence officers to progress investigations, as well as providing manual forensic analysis of voice samples where technology cannot be used.  Working closely with customers you will triage requirements and determine appropriate solutions. You will use audio editing software to collect and edit voice samples and prints and help to develop our speaker and language identification tools. You will be verifying the identity of known speakers, accents or languages using both forensic techniques and specialist technology.  You will produce written reports on your findings and conclusions.

You will be verifying the voice print metadata and testing performance. You will monitor audio analysts’ feedback and work with other specialists in the team to ensure the highest levels of accuracy.  

You will have the opportunity to assist our speech technicians and scientists on longer term projects to further develop specialist speech technology tools, including speech to text, and machine translation.

The skills

You will be a recent graduate or have some relevant work experience.  You will have knowledge or experience in forensic linguistics, socio linguistics, corpus linguistics, accent profiling, voice comparison or speech therapy. You will also have knowledge of the acoustics of speech and hearing.  To succeed in this unique role you will be able to demonstrate a genuine interest in linguistics, language and speech processing technologies.

You may have a relevant degree, masters or PhD qualification in Linguistics, English or Foreign languages or Speech Therapy. You may also have degree level knowledge of phonetics, phonology or a masters in Forensic Speech Science.  

Whilst not essential, you will be at an advantage with knowledge of a foreign language, or experience of using audio editing software such as Avid Pro tools or Adobe Audition.

You will need to combine a talent for phonetics with knowledge of the acoustics of speech and hearing or the use of technology to support speaker verification.  

Knowledge of biometrics and forensics in relation to speech and linguistics would also be useful.

The person

You will enjoy building strong relationships with partners and customers and sharing ideas with others.  You will be able to think creatively to generate innovative solutions. Team working skills, attention to detail and a ‘can do’ attitude with a strong customer service ethos are also vital.

You will need to be able to apply theory and technical skills on a practical and pragmatic basis, and communicate complex technical information orally and in writing to a range of audiences.  

The Speech and Acoustics Analysis team often has to deliver work within operational deadlines, requiring flexibility and the willingness to adapt to changing priorities, including working out of hours and occasionally at short notice.  Some travel, including to Northern Ireland and overseas, may be required.

This is a rare opportunity to take your career to another level.  Join our team and we will support you in developing your personal, professional and technical skills at every opportunity, through both internal training and external courses, conferences or events.  

Recruitment process

The first thing we will ask you to do is to complete our pre-screening questions to find out if you meet our initial criteria.  If you do meet these criteria we will then ask you to begin an application.  The first step will require you to create a login.  You can do this by providing your full name, email address and a memorable password.

Once you have successfully created a personal account, you will be required to complete an application form capturing your technical skills and experience, as well as equal opportunities monitoring information.  Providing this technical information is an essential part of the application process and we will not be able to process your application without it.

Our recruitment team will complete an application sift to assess how far you meet the job specification.  Successful applicants will be invited to participate in a technical and competency based face-to-face interview.  Assuming you pass this, you will have a security interview with a vetting officer. You may be invited to attend a Final Selection Board which will further explore your suitability for the role. You will also need to take a hearing test.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

As part of our commitment to the “Positive About Disabled People" scheme we offer an interview to all candidates with a disability who meet our minimum criteria for the job vacancy that they are applying for.  This is known as the Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS).

Along with the standard eligibility requirements for this post, your application will be assessed on how far you meet the job specification based on the answers you provide in the ‘Skills and Additional Information’ section.  Your application must score on the minimum amount of points set.  On successful completion of this stage, you will be invited to interview.  This is our guaranteed interview.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible 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 in the UK for nine out of the last 10 years.  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.  Your application may take around six months to process.

Discretion is vital.  You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member.

The Security Service is committed to reflecting both equal opportunities and the society we protect.