Digital Specialist (Hiring Immediately)

Salary: The starting salary is £55,662, which includes allowances totalling £3,009. The salary is broken down as £52,653 basic salary, which will increase annually until you reach the top of the scale £57,417. Plus, a location allowance of £2,009 and a non-pensionable allowance of £1,000.

Location: West Brompton

Job Summary: NDES is hosted by Counter Terrorism Policing: London and brings together seven strands of digital investigative services. Our vision is to be a world leading service that delivers effective new capabilities for CT policing: to exploit digital technology and deny terrorists and other criminals investigated by the CT Network the ability to operate. The services within the NDES group include Communications Data Exploitation, Open-Source Exploitation, Digital Media Exploitation including Digital Media Solutions, Lawful Intercept, Technical Innovation and Development, Digital Biometric Exploitation, Digital Operations.

As a digital specialist, you will be involved in providing technical support and expertise to the National Digital Exploitation Service (NDES), designing and creating bespoke software and/or integrating external solutions and scripts to assist in operations and strategic work. Supporting and advising CTP London Investigation Teams and Counter Terrorism units from throughout the UK and Five Eyes.

This post requires access to the most sensitive intelligence material daily. Applicants must hold or be prepared to positively engage with the Developed Vetting (DV) process. Additionally, this material is of sensitivity to the UK and its distribution must be restricted to UK nationals. In approved circumstances dual nationals (of which one element is British) may also be granted access. However, if potential conflicts of interest cannot be managed the post holder will not be able to see the intelligence material and will not be able to perform their duties. For safeguarding national security and in line with Cabinet Office Policy, supported by Section 82(2) to (4) of the Police Reform Act (2002), applicants who do not hold or acquire Security Check (enhanced) (SC(e)) OR Developed Vetting (DV) clearance and meet the nationality requirements cannot be offered the post.

This post requires British nationality (some dual nationals may be ineligible) and an Enhanced Security Check (eSC)/Developed Vetting (DV) clearance. As the post holder will have access to very sensitive information, there are limitations on travelling to a small number of countries and we will undertake additional security checks as part of the recruitment process. Applications from candidates with close connections to certain countries may take considerably longer to process, or in some cases result in a withdrawal of an offer of employment. Further details will be provided at the conditional offer stage.

Applicants should also be aware of the need to sign a confidentiality agreement on taking up the post.

Our Colleague Commitments: Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) continues to prioritise an inclusive and supportive working environment and culture, where all of our people feel a strong sense of belonging and are empowered to reach their full potential. CTP keeps the nation and everyone in it safe from all manner of threats and as those threats evolve, so do we - that’s why Inclusion, Diversity and Equality (IDE) is the key to supporting our greatest asset, our people. Our people protect our national security across the UK. In order to continue to deliver against our organisational priorities, we collectively seek to ensure that all colleagues feel respected, supported and valued to fully participate in the delivery of our mission – “working to keep people safe from Terrorism”. IDE is at the heart of our approach to make the composition of Counter Terrorism Policing more representative of the communities we serve. As Counter Terrorism is rooted in Local Policing, to tackle today’s complex policing challenges, applications from across all backgrounds, cultures and experiences are therefore essential and encouraged. The CTP Network is committed to ensuring that candidates identifying as disabled are able to realise their fullest career aspirations and, as such, will endeavour to accommodate any reasonable adjustments that you may require during the recruitment process.

How to apply: To begin your career at the Met, please click the “apply button”. The application process requires a comprehensive CV, a Personal Statement, and an online application form. In your Personal Statement, you should explain your interest in the position and illustrate how your skills and experiences make you a suitable candidate. Please note that you should not submit two copies of your CV, and ensure that your documents are saved in either PDF or Word format, clearly labelled as CV and/or Personal Statement. Completed applications must be submitted by 23:55 on 7 August 2026.

Essential For The Role:

• Technical/Subject Matter knowledge/experience

Key Skills:

The post holder must have:

• Have or be expecting qualifications in SQL Server technologies.

Desirable:

• Degree in STEM subject
• Experience in one of software development, data science, cryptography and reverse engineering.

Essential:

Competence/knowledge in at least one of the following three groups:

• .NET (C#, .NET CORE), MVC Framework, Python, Bash scripting, JavaScript, Java, Powershell, VBA, CSS, PHP
• Cloud Service Platforms (AWS, Azure, Google)
• Database design, SQL scripting and SQL Server

Desirables:

• Knowledge of one or more of the below:
• Agile software development
• Test Driven Development (TDD)
• Continuous integration
• Griffeye software
• Data Centre Technologies
• Reverse engineering
• RETINA NextGen
• Vulnerability research
• Networking Technologies
• Statistical computing software
• Data visualisation technologies