Software Engineer Ref. 3751 in London

This role will primarily be based in Central London, with some occasional wider UK travel. Salary: £63,823, with an opportunity to qualify for additional allowances and a skills-related payment under the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability (GDDPC) Framework - formerly known as DDaT.

Flexible working: We support full time, part-time, compressed, job share and other flexible working patterns. Due to the nature of our work this is an office-based role, therefore opportunities for remote working and/or working from home are not possible.

About us: We’re MI6, also known as the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). Our mission is to protect the security and economic wellbeing of the UK from overseas threats such as regional instability, terrorism, and cyber-attacks. Working across the globe and in close partnership with MI5 and GCHQ, we help the Government to counter these threats through the provision of secret intelligence. A role in MI6 will see you providing vital support to this work, within a supportive and encouraging environment that puts the emphasis on teamwork.

The role: Enhancing how we operate today will better prepare us for the challenges of tomorrow. That’s why we’re creating dedicated teams focused on bringing Artificial Intelligence (AI) into some of our most mission critical areas. As a Software Engineer, you’ll work right at the heart of this, contributing to how we harness today’s AI capability into meaningful, lasting impact. You’ll work closely with other engineers, supporting technical excellence and helping less-experienced colleagues grow their skills and confidence. Day to day, you'll contribute to technical decisions, take ownership of your work and key components, and support the transformation of existing software and engineering approaches toward AI-native ways of working. This means building and enabling AI platforms that other engineering teams can rely on, embedding within those teams where needed, and pairing with and supporting engineers adopting AI practices. Working closely with stakeholders across MI6 and beyond, you'll bring clarity to complex problems, build strong relationships, and help ensure technical direction is understood and delivered effectively. Being in a product-led environment you’ll work across a broad and evolving technology stack, including Typescript, Python, Helm, and Terraform, and you’ll deploy solutions across a range of environments, from standalone systems through to large-scale Kubernetes clusters in cloud platforms.

About you: You’re always looking for the best way to do things that means spotting opportunities to improve, simplify and strengthen how software is built and run. You bring solid experience as a Software Engineer, grounded in modern engineering practices, and you’ve made practical use of AI across the development lifecycle. You understand how to use it well, generating code where it adds value while applying the right level of scrutiny to ensure it is secure, reliable and fit for purpose. Reviewing both AI-generated and peer code is something you’ve done before and you always approach this with clarity and care. You’ll have a working knowledge of system design and integration, comfortable connecting services and thinking end to end. Experience with Model Context Protocol would be beneficial for this role, particularly if you have practical experience. Above all, you stay curious, keeping pace with new approaches and adapting when priorities shift.

Training and development: We take professional development seriously, and you'll be joining a community that invests in helping people grow their skills. You'll have access to a broad mix of learning opportunities, including in-house and online training, technical deep dives and development pathways shaped around your interests and the needs of the organisation. This includes support to strengthen your capability across modern AI techniques and wider security practices, with a variety of different courses on offer. You’ll also have opportunities to work with external professional bodies and training providers who offer routes to specialist accreditation, advanced AI training or broader professional recognition. Whether you choose to deepen your expertise in a specific technical area or broaden your capability across new domains, you’ll have the guidance and support you need to progress. Alongside formal training, you’ll benefit from mentoring, peer support and a collaborative community that shares knowledge openly. You’ll have opportunities to rotate across different teams, explore emerging technologies and contribute to shaping how MI6 evolves its AI and data science capability. As you develop, you’ll have the space to experiment, expand your expertise and play an active role in strengthening our AI practice across the organisation.

Rewards and benefits: You’ll receive a starting salary of £63,823 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; an excellent pension scheme; 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 MI6 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.

Offer Of Interview: We are committed to providing equitable opportunities throughout the recruitment process to support candidates with disabilities. As part of this, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants who best meet the essential minimum criteria for this position, will be offered an interview, if it is practical for us to do so.

What to expect: Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order: An initial online application form including pre-screening questions to ensure you meet our eligibility criteria; Online Situational Judgement Test (SJT) rating the appropriateness of your responses to a series of short scenarios; Application sift looking at your skills and motivation for the role and organisation; An online HR interview focusing on motivation and competencies important to the role; If successful at the HR interview, you will be invited to a face-to-face technical assessment; If successful, you’ll receive a conditional offer of employment.

Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 6 - 9 months to process including vetting, so we advise you continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer.

Before you apply: To work at MI6, you need to be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community undertakes. 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.

The role is based in Central London, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application. An interest-free loan is available to assist with relocating into privately rented accommodation to take up the offer of employment. We offer reasonable reimbursement of travel costs for candidates attending in-person appointments during the recruitment and vetting process.

Right to withdraw statement: Please be aware that we reserve 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.