Safety and Fire Lead in Cheltenham

Flexible working: full time, with flexible working and compressed hours possible. There will be very limited home working opportunities, dependant on business needs, so this should not be expected on a regular/weekly basis. Please visit our work-life balance page to find out more.

About us

MI5, MI6 and GCHQ are 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.

The role

As Safety and Fire Lead, you’ll be responsible for managing and coordinating fire safety as well as general health and safety activities across our organisations. You’ll act as the primary safety and fire point of contact and the principal safety and fire subject matter expert, ensuring robust governance, consistent standards and effective assurance across the UK’s Intelligence Services.

You’ll manage risks while maintaining independence from the risk owner and decision–making process. In short, you’ll oversee risk assessments, maintain fire systems, and ensure all procedures and legal requirements are met. Day–to–day, you might be developing mitigation plans, implementing fire safety procedures or ensuring compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. With your technical expertise, you’ll provide expert guidance, conduct investigations and identify areas for improvement.

You’ll sit within the Safety, Fire and Wellbeing team and work with management, colleagues and partners to communicate fire and safety information across our organisations. Whether you’re developing and delivering training programmes, conducting regular audits or identifying areas for improvement, you’ll ensure peoples’ safety, health and wellbeing is at the very heart of our operations.

Please note, this role requires frequent national travel to all UK Intelligence Service locations.

About you

To apply, you’ll need a National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) diploma, National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Level 6 diploma or National Compliance and Risk Qualification (NCRQ) Level 6 diploma in Occupational Health and Safety Practice. This will be supported by either an Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) certification, or an International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM) certification – these need to be to the Certified or Chartered level of status.

You’ll have extensive experience overseeing safety and fire risk management in complex environments, as well as previous safety industry experience in an auditing, assurance or risk assessment role. With your background, you’ll have a working knowledge of legislation, regulatory frameworks and governance standards. And, you’ll have prior experience operating within a Three Lines of Defence model—as this role operates in the second line of defence.

Collaborative and communicative, you’ll have the confidence to deliver training programmes and challenge stakeholders where you identify room for improvement in our processes. You’ll take a proactive, analytical approach to your work as you ensure safety arrangements and controls are implemented, maintained and reviewed to remain effective.

To work at MI5, you need to be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). The role is based in London or Cheltenham, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. An interest‑free loan is available to assist with relocating into privately rented accommodation to take up the offer of employment.

Training and development

Upon joining, you’ll receive a full induction into our organisation and ways of working. You’ll also be assigned a "buddy" to help you settle into the role and answer any questions you might have.

We’ll support you in growing your career with us, tailored to your own development needs. You’ll be encouraged to undertake Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and train in other areas of Wellbeing, Safety and Fire. Plus, we’ll offer funding for you to pursue industry qualifications (subject to finance being agreed), such as IOSH or equivalent suitable professional memberships.

Rewards and benefits

You’ll receive a starting salary of £61,463 in London or £59,829 in Cheltenham, plus other benefits including:

• 25 days of annual leave automatically rising to 30 days after 5 years' service, and an additional 10.5 days of public and privilege holidays
• opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme
• an interest‑free season ticket loan
• a 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 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 neuro‑divergent 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 with low socio‑economic backgrounds.

We’re Disability Confident. MI5 is proud to have achieved Leader status within the Department for Work & Pensions’ Disability Confident scheme, encouraging the recruitment, retention and development of disabled people. We aim to ensure a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants who best meet the essential minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview, where appropriate.