Intelligence Officers
A career as an Intelligence Officer
An IO career in MI6 offers a wide range of fascinating operational roles, both overseas and in the UK. We are looking for talented individuals to join us with the potential to become the IOs of the future. We do not expect you to have IO skills yet – we’ll train you in those – but we are looking for potential. You’ll need to bring great interpersonal skills, an interest in foreign cultures and technology, a keenness to learn and a desire to keep our country and allies safe, secure and prosperous.
You can create a job alert to be notified about new opportunities as soon as they are posted on our vacancy page.
It’s unlike any other job I’ve done. I’m working at the heart of government on issues critical to British national security and making a real impact on government policy. That’s very rewarding.
Our internship programme
A key objective of our Culture, Diversity and Inclusion strategy is to ensure we’re attracting and recruiting diverse talent. The Summer Internship Programme – run together with MI5 and GCHQ – is specifically designed to attract those from ethnic minorities and lower socio-economic groups who wouldn’t normally consider a career with MI6.
Summer Intelligence Internship
Operational Managers
Operational Managers plan and manage intelligence operations, drawing on available capabilities from within MI6 and intelligence partners, managing the risks and ensuring we act compliantly.
Targeters
Targeters use a range of desk-based tools to collect, analyse and interpret data to identify potential subjects for human intelligence operations and to validate the intelligence we collect.
Reports Officers
Reports Officers work with all Government departments to understand what intelligence they need. Reports Officers task agents to collect this information. They are responsible for assessing and validating the intelligence prior to releasing it to customers, and for finding impactful ways of sharing intelligence reports with customers, often senior policy makers in Government.
Case Officers
Case Officers build relationships with individuals to recruit them as agents and then ‘run’ them to provide secret intelligence.
Eligibility
Nationality
You need to be a British Citizen (if you hold dual nationality then one component will need to be British).
Skills and experience
To apply to become a IO you will need a minimum of a 2:2 degree or higher in any subject, and if you’re an undergraduate, you’ll be expecting your final degree result within 12 months of your application date.
Security vetting
You will need to be willing to undergo security clearance. For more info on this, please see our Vetting page.
Visit our Vetting page
