Working at MI5
Your career
A career at MI5 is like no other. Not only is it rewarding and unique, but the variety here is like nowhere else. Depending on your job, upon joining you will find yourself either classed as a specialist or a generalist and belong to a specific capability area. Staff are given significant autonomy to manage their own careers and typically move jobs every two to three years with the option to move across areas. Therefore it is not unusual for someone to have worked in counter-terrorism, recruitment, counter-espionage and corporate communications in the first few years of their career.
This variety means that most people stay at MI5 as they are able to fulfil all their career ambitions here and apply for promotion whilst doing so. Your career options can be further enhanced by opportunities to work in regional stations across the UK and secondment opportunities to our partner agencies, SIS and GCHQ.
Training and development
Whatever your career path, training and development are at the heart of what MI5 does, and you’ll have the opportunity to gain a wide range of skills. As well as making sure you’re able to do your job effectively, as an Investors in People accredited employer, we’re committed to providing you with access to training and the opportunity for continuous development throughout your career.
We encourage our staff to take responsibility for their careers and personal development, and you’ll work with your manager to make the most of your potential and the wide range of opportunities available.
Work-life balance
Due to the nature of what we do, a common misconception is that there is no work-life balance at MI5. It is true that there may occasionally be times when you need to work longer hours than usual, such as the busy points of an investigation. But it’s also true that you’re not able to take your work home with you, so when you leave the office you really are leaving your work behind you.
Where operations allow, we offer flexible working to help you balance your personal and family commitments with your professional life.
Diversity and inclusion
An in-depth knowledge and understanding of a variety of communities is crucial for our work. So it’s important our staff come from a breadth of backgrounds and cultures to reflect the people we work hard to protect.
Pay and benefits
We’re committed to rewarding the people who work for us and expressing our appreciation of their efforts. In fact, it is an important part of our success.
Want to hear more?
In October 2018 a number of MI5 officers, alongside colleagues in SIS and GCHQ, were interviewed by Radio 5 Live’s Nihal Arthanayake.
Listen to members of staff describe what it is like working for the intelligence services and the value of a diverse workforce, and understand why we are looking for people just like you.
I've applied for a job, how do I access my application?
If you’ve started an online application that you want to re-visit, see Access my application.
I'm having problems making an application for a job - who should I contact?
If you’re having problems with the careers part of our website, please contact our recruitment team.
If your enquiry is urgent then please ring the recruitment team.
How many people work for MI5?
We currently employ about 4,400 people. More than 43% of staff are women, the average age of our employees is 39, over 9% are from black or ethnic minority backgrounds and 4% have a disability.
Are MI5 staff prohibited from saying anything about the Service?
MI5 deals with very sensitive information. Lives may be put at risk if sensitive information is disclosed carelessly. This makes it vital to manage information properly and release it only when absolutely necessary.
Section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1989 prohibits our current and former staff from making unauthorised disclosures of information concerning security or intelligence that they acquired while working for MI5. We can only pass on information as is necessary for purposes of protecting national security.
The Official Secrets Act does not prohibit disclosures of unimportant matters. However, we advise our staff to be aware of the sensitivities and potential risks when discussing their involvement with or knowledge of MI5.
What type of person does MI5 recruit?
There’s no such thing as “a typical MI5 officer”.
We seek to recruit from all areas of the UK and all sections of society. Our staff members come from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures, reflecting the diversity of the communities in the UK that we serve.
MI5 is an equal opportunities employer. 43% of our staff are women and just over half of our staff are under the age of 40. An increasing number of staff members (currently around 9%) are from black or ethnic minority backgrounds, and 4% have a disability.
See Careers for more information about our current vacancies and working at MI5.
Why join MI5?
A career at MI5 is like no other. Not only is it rewarding and unique but the variety here is like no-where else. It is this variety that means most people stay at MI5 as they are able to fulfil all their career ambitions here without ever having to leave. We are also committed to rewarding the people who work for us and demonstrating our appreciation for their vital contribution by offering an excellent range of benefits.
Awards and Support
