Lead Software Engineer

MI6 - Secret Intelligence Service

Greater London, UK

On-Site

Expires: Expiring in less than 4 weeks

Full time

£74,624 per year

Job summary

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.

Job description

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 Lead Software Engineer, you’ll work right at the heart of this, shaping how we harness today’s AI capability into meaningful, lasting impact. You’ll lead a team of engineers with purpose, setting a clear direction, championing technical excellence and helping less-experienced colleagues grow their skills and confidence along the way.

Day to day, you'll make key technical decisions, take ownership of important areas, and lead 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 giving guidance to junior engineers. Working closely with stakeholders across MI6 and beyond, you'll bring clarity to complex problems, build strong relationships, and make sure technical direction is well understood and effectively delivered.

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.

Person specification

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 be confident setting direction and reviewing 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.

Finally, you’ll have experience leading a team of engineers, including setting a clear direction and providing guidance to junior engineers. And you’ll have experience building strong relationships with stakeholders.

Benefits

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.

We use the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework (formerly known as DDaT) as a compass to provide guidance and tools to support you. You can find out more about the framework here: Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework. 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 £74,624 and a recruitment and retention allowance of £6,251, 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

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

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.

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

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. (This is known as the Offer of an Interview.) To secure an interview for this role, the minimum criteria (in order of application process) are:

You will be required to reach the minimum pass mark for the Situational Judgement Test which looks at your ability to problem solve. If you meet this criterion, you will be directed to complete an application form.
Demonstrate developed working knowledge of software engineering, grounded in modern engineering practises and your ability to apply them in a product-led environment. To be assessed at application sift.
Show your ability to lead a team of engineers, including setting a clear direction and providing guidance to junior engineers. To be assessed at application sift.
Show you are capable to work closely with stakeholders, bringing clarity to complex problems and building strong relationships. To be assessed at application sift.

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 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:

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. The SJT tests criteria important for all roles in our organisation
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. Read about our eligibility criteria.

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.

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 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. 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 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.

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

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Salary range

£74,624 per year