Technical Risk Adviser Ref. 3793

Salary: You’ll receive a salary of between £80,875 - £94,754 in London or £75,882 - £89,010 in Cheltenham, depending on skills and experience.

Flexible working: We support a range of flexible working arrangements, including full-time, part-time (minimum 3 days per week) and adaptable working hours based on individual needs and business requirements. Due to the nature of the role home working will not be possible. Please note that there will be a requirement for some travel within the UK and occasional opportunities for overseas travel.

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.

The role: As a Technical Risk Adviser, you’ll apply your technical expertise and business activities to help operational teams make informed decisions when using technology in complex and often time‑critical scenarios. You’ll assess whether proposed tools, techniques, or approaches are secure, proportionate and aligned with mission needs, balancing potential risk against operational impact. You’ll also contribute to the requirements and designs for technical systems, providing expert advice on risks, and techniques and systems to manage these appropriately. Working closely with mission teams in the UK and overseas, you’ll support activity where technology and cyber capabilities are central to delivery, helping teams understand cyber risks and opportunities and producing tailored plans. With specialist training, this is a role that will combine technical breadth with practical influence. You’ll assess solutions across areas such as cyber security, networking, hardware, cryptography and penetration testing, using a structured, analytical approach to identify risks. You’ll provide decision‑makers and risk owners with advice on the technical aspects of incidents, including the impacts and appropriate responses. Additionally, you’ll work directly with engineers and stakeholders to develop pragmatic solutions that enable delivery while managing those risks effectively. Incident response is also a key part of the role, including advising on impact, containment and remediation, and helping teams learn and adapt. You’ll research and learn about relevant technologies, business activities, and the context in which the organisation operates, to stay up‑to‑date and ensure that advice is relevant and coherent. Alongside this you’ll produce educational material, such as blogs or a presentation, to share knowledge and expertise about an issue with the organisation.

About you: You’ll bring a strong technical background, with experience in cyber security or related disciplines such as network engineering, penetration testing, vulnerability research, systems architecture or technical capability development. Crucially, this experience must have been gained within a national security or intelligence environment, giving you an understanding of the operational context and the importance of managing risk in sensitive scenarios. You’re comfortable with analysing complex technical problems, identifying key risks and making balanced judgements, often with incomplete information. Just as importantly, you can communicate effectively and persuasively in speech and writing. You'll need to be able to persuade your audience, drawing out key points from complex technical scenarios and articulate your reasoning in terms that resonate with your audience, who often won't be technologists. Curious and adaptable, you enjoy working across a broad range of challenges and can quickly apply your knowledge in new contexts. You collaborate effectively with others, build trust with stakeholders and take a pragmatic, proportionate approach to solving problems while keeping security, safety and operational outcomes in mind.

Training and development: At MI6, we’re proud to offer an inclusive and supportive working environment. We value and nurture talent, and we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential. No matter your experience or background, you’ll get lots of dedicated support. Upon joining, you’ll receive an initial induction to learn more about the organisation before joining your team. Once in your role, you’ll have access to a broad range of learning opportunities, including industry‑recognised certifications, internal courses and self‑directed study, with time set aside to support this. You’ll also learn through exposure to real operational challenges, gradually taking on more complex work as your experience grows. There’s a comprehensive training and development pathway on offer, which uses the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework (GDDPCF). It includes tailored training, coaching and mentoring, alongside opportunities to gain qualifications and pursue specialist Agile Delivery pathways, if this interests you. Support is embedded throughout, with input from your line manager, mentors and colleagues. As you progress, there are opportunities to deepen your expertise, broaden your technical knowledge or develop into more senior advisory roles.

Rewards and benefits: You’ll receive a starting salary of between £80,875 - £94,754 in London or £75,882 - £89,010 in Cheltenham 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
• 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) in which you rate the appropriateness of responses to a series of short scenarios.
• Application sift reviewing your motivation and skills.
• A 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 to 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 London or Cheltenham so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application, as we do not offer relocation costs. 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.