Senior Project Manager

Job summary

MI5 keeps the country safe from serious threats like terrorism and attempts by states to harm the UK, its people, and its way of life. We carry out investigations by obtaining, analysing, and assessing intelligence, and then work with a range of partners, including MI6 and GCHQ, to disrupt these threats. Through our protective security arm, we provide advice and guidance to government, businesses, and other organisations about how to keep themselves safe. A role in MI5 means you’ll do unique and challenging work in a supportive and encouraging environment, making a real difference to UK national security.

Job description

As a Senior Project Manager at MI5, you’ll deliver some of the organisation’s highest strategic priorities, supporting our mission to keep the country safe. Playing a critical role in protecting against serious threats, the work sits at the forefront of technology and national security, offering a varied and impactful environment where no two days are the same. As part of a collaborative and dynamic team, there is the opportunity to work with other intelligence agencies and contribute to a mission that makes a real difference. You’ll also be part of a community that is passionate about delivering meaningful outcomes and making a positive impact.

Working in a mission-driven environment, you’ll take the lead on projects from initiation through to implementation, guiding multidisciplinary teams and collaborating closely with engineers, specialists and senior stakeholders. This includes shaping delivery plans, setting clear objectives and managing dependencies, while ensuring work is delivered on time, within budget and to a high standard.

Underpinning this is a robust focus on governance and controls. This role involves selecting appropriate delivery methodologies, ensuring progress through each phase, and confirming the right skills, resources and budgets are in place from the outset. Alongside this, project plans are developed and maintained, performance is monitored, and clear reporting supports effective decision-making at every level. Risks and interdependencies are identified early, with mitigations put in place and escalated where necessary to protect delivery across connected programmes.

Stakeholder engagement is central to how this role operates. Building trusted relationships across technical and non-technical communities sits at its core, alongside supporting assurance activity and leading through collaboration and coaching as much as through formal authority. This also includes helping teams navigate change, supporting projects through reviews and governance, and ensuring alignment with the broader strategic picture.

There is also a focus on tracking outcomes against original business cases, overseeing longer-term value delivery, and ensuring benefits are clearly defined, activity is measured, and value is sustained beyond implementation through an effective benefits realisation strategy.

Please note that occasional national travel may be required in this role; however, this will depend on the project.

Person specification

With demonstrable experience managing large, complex, high-responsibility projects, you’re comfortable navigating competing priorities and multiple workstreams to deliver successful outcomes. A project management certification such as PRINCE2, Agile Project Management Practitioner, APM Project Management Qualification, or PMI Project Management Professional is required. While a technical background isn’t necessary, confidence working in technology-driven environments and engaging with engineers and technical specialists is important.

You’re at your best when taking ownership of end-to-end delivery, keeping progress on track even as plans shift or the path forward isn’t fully clear. Comfortable working in uncertainty, you apply sound judgement to create the right level of structure for teams to move ahead with confidence. Priorities are managed effectively, delegation is thoughtful, and focus remains firmly on what matters most.

You lead through influence rather than hierarchy, building trusted relationships across a wide range of stakeholders. This helps you bring people together, manage expectations, surface concerns early, and navigate competing interests with confidence. Your communication is clear and trusted, cutting through complexity without oversimplifying it, and you’re just as comfortable having difficult conversations and resolving conflict as you are building consensus.

This is supported by the emotional intelligence you bring to your work, reading situations well, staying composed under pressure, and showing genuine empathy to those around you. You also take pride in supporting others, using coaching and mentoring to help less experienced colleagues to grow their skills and confidence and strengthening capability across delivery teams.

On the practical side, you'll have experience managing multiple workstreams, shaping delivery plans, and ensuring work is properly structured, resourced and progressing in a controlled way. You're comfortable managing substantial budgets, understanding the financial implications of decisions, and identifying and managing risks before they become blockers. Above all, you're focused on outcomes – not just activity – and motivated by seeing work translate into real impact.

Benefits

From the moment you join us, we’ll support you and help you thrive. Your first few days will include a two-day induction to MI5, alongside a team induction, giving you a well-rounded understanding of your role and how it fits into the bigger organisation. You'll also be paired with a mentor who shares your professional background, someone who can offer guidance, make introductions across the PM community, and help you navigate processes such as security clearance.

Beyond your onboarding, there’s access to a wide range of qualifications, including multiple APM qualifications, Managing Success Programmes (MSP), AI-Empowered SAFe, Leading SAFe, Management of Risk and Quality Assurance (QA) certificates. For those looking to broaden their horizons beyond project management, we offer learning opportunities in areas such as AI, cloud, and cybersecurity. Leadership development is supported through programmes designed to strengthen skills as your experience grows in the role.

Rewards and benefits
You’ll receive a starting salary of £72,793 plus other benefits, including:

• • 25 days’ annual leave, rising automatically to 30 days after 5 years' service, plus 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

Equal opportunities
At MI5, 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: people 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 underrepresented in our workforce, such as women, people from ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities, and those from low socio-economic backgrounds.

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

We’re Disability Confident
MI5 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. Being Disability Confident, we aim to offer a fair and proportionate number of person-to-person interviews to any candidate who self-identifies as disabled and meets the essential criteria for the role. This is our ‘Offer of Interview’ (OOI). To secure an interview for this vacancy, the essential criteria (in order of application process) are:

1. You’ll be required to reach the minimum pass mark for the online Situational Judgement Test (SJT), which assesses criteria important for all roles in our organisation
2. The following criteria will be assessed at application sift:

   a. Proven delivery of complex projects end-to-end: demonstrable experience leading large, multi-disciplinary projects (planning, governance, risk management and budget control), delivering outcomes on time, within scope, and to quality standards
   b. Effective stakeholder leadership and communication: the ability to build relationships across technical and non-technical stakeholders, influence without authority, manage conflict, and provide clear, effective reporting
   c. Robust project governance and methodology expertise: capability in structuring delivery, managing dependencies and risks, and applying appropriate methodologies in technology-driven environments

There is a wide range of extra support available throughout the recruitment process to enable you to perform at your best. Please visit our application page for information on the 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:

1. Online Situational Judgement Test (SJT) in which you rate the appropriateness of responses to a series of short scenarios
2. Application sift, assessing your motivation for the role and the organisation
3. Face-to- face interview, including HR competency and technical assessment
4. If successful, you will receive a conditional offer of employment

Please note that 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 receive your final job offer.

Before you apply
To work at MI5, you need to be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. You can read our full eligibility criteria here.

This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community undertakes. You can find out more about the vetting process here.

Please note we have a strict drugs policy. Once you start your application, you must not 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 remains separate. Try to avoid including 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 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. A loan is available to support people relocating to London.

We offer reasonable reimbursement of travel costs for candidates attending in person interviews or assessments 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 hard copy receipts for reimbursement.

Please note that applications must be submitted from within the UK. If you are currently based overseas, wait until you are in the UK before applying, as submissions made outside the UK cannot be progressed. For security reasons, you should not discuss your application with anyone other than your partner or close family member.

Right to withdraw statement:
Please be aware that we reserve the right to bring forward the closing date for this role once a certain number of applications have been received. To avoid disappointment, please submit your application at your earliest convenience.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.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 : The Recruitment Team
• Email : careers@recruitmentoffice.org.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : careers@recruitmentoffice.org.uk

Further information

https://www.mi5.gov.uk/careers