Senior Administrative Officer Ref. 3640

MI5 - The Security Service

London, UK

On-Site

Expires: Expiring in 5 days

Administration

Flexible

£35,417 per year

Job summary

As a Senior Admin Officer, you’ll provide vital administrative support across a range of business areas. You could be working in any number of departments such as HR, Finance, Records Management or Information Management.

There are a range of tasks and responsibilities you could be involved in. Day-to-day you will be responsible for collating information and managing databases as well as some research and project work. You may be required to write up reports on your findings, which will be used to support our decision making. Other responsibilities may include arranging meetings, diary management as well as arranging travel. You might also manage a small team of administrators, whilst working autonomously and having responsibility for your work.

Job description

To be successful in the role you will need excellent skills in administration, organisation, prioritisation, written and oral communication and team working. You’ll need to have attention to detail when collating information, good judgement and be happy to manage others. You’ll also have a flexible, self-motivated approach.

You’ll gain breadth of experience and a variety of new skills including in some of our IT systems. Whichever team you join, we’ll provide in depth training to ensure you’re equipped with all the skills you need to work to the best of your abilities.

Whether you’re at the beginning of your career, returning to work after a break, or are looking for a new challenge, this role has the potential to begin a career with the UK’s Intelligence Services where you’ll be key to maintaining the integrity of our most crucial processes.

Person specification

You’ll need two GCSEs (or equivalent) in Maths and English Language at grades A*-C/9-4 and 12 months’ continuous experience in an administrative role. You’ll be keen to learn, as this role includes an initial training period where you’ll be brought up to speed on our research and analysis techniques. You’ll have great attention to detail, even when working to tight deadlines and be organised and able to manage your workload. Plus, you will be comfortable using your initiative and be able to talk to a wide range of people.

We’re interested in what makes you, you. There’s no one ‘type’ of person that we’re after. Whether working full time or part time, you’ll feel part of a large, welcoming team where there’s plenty of support and training on offer. If you have a disability or long-term health condition, just let us know if you need any adjustments made during the recruitment process or if you have any questions about how we can support you once you’re in-role.

Benefits

You’ll receive a starting salary of £35,417 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
a dedicated development budget
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

Training and Development

We’re committed to helping our people develop their skills and career by ensuring everyone gets the training and support they need to succeed.

You’ll also get opportunities to attend a wide range of personal development and job specific courses. Whether through courses run by our own academy, or through knowledge sharing, you’ll never stop learning.

Rewards and Benefits

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

Eligibility questions – you’ll answer a number of questions based on the requirements for the role
Initial form – you’ll create a personal account and complete our equal opportunities monitoring questions. If you do not feel comfortable completing equal opportunities monitoring, there is a ‘prefer not to say’ option for each question
Online Situational Judgement Test (SJT) - You’ll be asked to complete the SJT online, rating the appropriateness of responses to a series of short scenarios. The SJT tests criteria which are important for all roles in our organisation. Successful candidates will be asked to complete the application form
Application form – you’ll be asked to complete an application form which will cover relevant experience and your motivation for applying. To process your application, it is essential that you provide all the information requested in the application form
Application sift – our recruitment team will complete an application sift and successful applicants will be invited to the next stage
Online interview which will take place over a video conferencing system. You won’t be required to visit any of our premises. In this interview we will cover your motivation for applying for the role and look at the competency areas which we consider to be important for the role

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 to continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer.

Before You Apply

To work at MI5, 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 London, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance of the location you choose. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application. A loan is available to support people relocating to London.

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 close applications once a certain number have been received. Please submit your application as soon as possible to avoid missing out. If you have a disability (as defined under the Equality Act 2010) and need additional time to complete your application, please submit your initial application. Then, contact us via the email provided as soon as possible, using the subject line "Reasonable adjustments extension" and briefly outline the support you require.

Please note, it is this organisation's policy not to provide feedback at any stage of the recruitment policy.

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

Salary range

£35,417 per year