Intelligence Operations Manager

Job summary

As an Intelligence Operations Manager, you’ll work at the heart of our mission, coordinating people, information and resources to keep the UK safe. In this newly created position, you’ll have the freedom to make it your own and gain rare insight into how intelligence shapes real-world events.

Job description

Day to day, you’ll translate GCHQ’s priorities into clear delivery plans, make decisions based on credible information and weigh the risks and wider impact of those decisions. Working in an ever-changing environment, you’ll stay focused, adapt quickly, and spot challenges early, collaborating with specialists to find practical solutions when necessary.

While managing operations is critical, this role is also about supporting those who deliver them. You’ll foster collaboration between people, building strong relationships that make sharing information feel natural. You’ll also take the time to understand your team’s work, support them through challenges, and help them reach their full potential.

Person specification

We don’t expect you to be a technical expert but it’s important that you have an understanding and interest in technology. You’ll bring a mix of strategic awareness and practical leadership skills to this role. Having led or mentored others through complex work, you know how to build trust in a team while keeping delivery on track. Your proactive attitude, sound judgement and resilience help you stay focused when circumstances shift, and your ability to communicate clearly, both verbally and in writing, means people follow your lead naturally.

You’re skilled at taking information from multiple sources, making sense of it quickly, and turning it into a practical plan. You're comfortable analysing situations, designing solutions and getting support from others when it helps. You’ve got the knowledge and confidence to lead delivery end-to-end, from planning and monitoring progress through to managing risks and keeping stakeholders informed.

You don’t need any data analysis experience for this role, but a high-level understanding will help you guide your team and make informed decisions. Along with this, your curiosity about global politics, technology and how intelligence and security connect will help you thrive in your role.

Benefits

Training and development
From the moment you join GCHQ, we’ll support you. You'll start with a familiarisation visit to help you understand the wider operational landscape, and a buddy to help you settle in.

You’ll have full support from subject matter experts across a range of topics. You’ll be able to access our Operations Management development modules and progress with the assistance of a mentor. Throughout the role, you'll have access to ongoing training to help you grow and meet the demands of an ever-changing environment.

We're proud to offer an inclusive and supportive working environment, and as an organisation that values and nurtures our colleagues, both professionally and personally, we're dedicated to helping you fulfil your potential.

You’ll receive a starting salary of £45,841, 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
• interest-free season ticket loan
• excellent pension scheme
• cycle to work scheme
• facilities such as a gym, restaurant and on-site coffee bars (at some locations)
• paid parental and adoption leave.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Equal opportunities

At GCHQ 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.

Find out more about our culture, working environment and diversity on our website:

Diversity & Inclusion , GCHQ Careers

We’re Disability Confident

GCHQ is proud to have achieved Leader status within the DWP’s Disability Confident scheme. This is aimed at encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people. As a Disability Confident Leader 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. (This is known as Offer of an Interview.) To secure an interview for this role, the minimum criteria (in order of application process) are:

• you must meet the minimum pass mark for question 1 in our application form, which explores your motivation to work for the organisation and this particular role
• you must meet the minimum pass mark for question 2 in the application form, which explores your decision making and collaboration skills
• you must meet the minimum pass mark for question 3 in the application form, which explores your people development and leadership skills

There is a wide range of extra support available throughout the recruitment process to enable you to do your best, see our website for information on reasonable adjustments (link) we can offer.

What to expect

Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:

1. application sift, looking at your motivation for the role and the organisation.
2. online interview, including a range of technical and competency questions.
3. if successful, you will 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 GCHQ you need to be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. Read about our eligibility criteria. How to Apply , GCHQ Careers

This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community undertakes. Find out more about the vetting process. How to Apply , GCHQ Careers

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.

Before you apply, we advise you to consider setting up a separate email address for your contact with us, to ensure your personal and application correspondence remain separate. Try to avoid having identifying features in your email address, such as your first and/or surname and date of birth. This is good practice and will help you to manage your application with us more securely.

The role is based in Samlesbury, 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. Full details will be provided with your interview or assessment invitation.

Reimbursement is discretionary and will only be made in line with the Candidate Expenses Policy, as amended from time to time. Candidates must book their own travel, using the most economical option, and provide original hardcopy receipts for reimbursement.

Please note, you should only launch your application from within the UK. If you are based overseas, you should wait until you visit the UK to launch an application. Applying from outside the UK will impact on our ability to progress your application. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member.

Right to withdraw statement:

Please be aware that we withhold 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.

Please note, it is this organisation's policy not to provide feedback at any stage of the recruitment process. This may be contrary to the message below.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK nationals only.

Working for the Civil Service

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : careers@recruitmentteam.org.uk
• Email : careers@recruitmentteam.org.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : careers@recruitmentteam.org.uk