Project Support Officer Ref. 3740

Job Description

Flexible working: Due to the sensitive nature of our work, this role is fully office-based. However, we actively support a range of working patterns, including full-time, part-time, compressed hours and flexible working arrangements, to help maintain a healthy work-life balance.

About us
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.

The role
As a Project Support Officer, you’ll be at the heart of our mission, contributing to multiple projects that help keep the country safe. Working within a collaborative team, you’ll help deliver transformational work by providing structure, maintaining governance arrangements, and applying effective planning, budgeting, and resource management skills.

Day to day, you'll own the documentation and knowledge that ensures nothing is lost as priorities shift and demands increase. You’ll analyse and interpret project data, turning it into clear, actionable insight for stakeholders. This includes leading reporting, assurance, and risk management, ensuring accurate, up-to-date information on status, finances, actions, and issues are accessible quickly and confidently.

The role offers variety and new challenges throughout each working day. Financial tracking and controls are supported to keep budgets visible and accountable, while providing a steady structured presence for teams without a dedicated Project Manager. This may involve supporting digital transformation or helping a delivery team identify and apply the most appropriate methodology to mitigate risk, maintain quality, and enable collaboration. Most importantly, it’s about creating a joined-up way of working that helps important work move forward. Effective relationships, open knowledge-sharing, and connecting people at the right moments all help reduce friction, maintain momentum, and support teams to deliver together.

If you’re successful in your application, you’ll be required to remain within the Project Capability for a minimum of five years.

About you
You're naturally curious and enjoy working through challenges, whether that means thinking at a strategic level or focusing on the detail that makes projects succeed. With a formal project management qualification such as APM Project Fundamentals (PFQ), PRINCE2 Foundation, or an equivalent, you bring practical experience supporting project delivery and governance across a range of methodologies, from Waterfall and Agile to iterative and hybrid approaches.

You're a confident communicator who can influence and engage others, working collaboratively with stakeholders to achieve shared goals. Equally comfortable contributing as part of a team or working independently, you have a keen eye for detail that underpins your approach to reporting, information management, and documentation. A sound awareness of financial management and assurance practices also forms an important part of the role.

As a driven and experienced professional, you’re eager to take on new challenges and make a lasting impact. With a passion for delivering exceptional project support, you’re committed to ongoing learning and professional development. You can effectively leverage your expertise to drive project success and make a meaningful contribution to organisational goals.

Training and development
We take professional development seriously, and you'll be joining a community that invests in building skills and capability. On joining, a full induction to MI6 is provided, alongside a team induction to offer a rounded understanding of the role. This is followed by on-the-job training and design to support settling in quickly and building confidence.

The role offers the opportunity to develop into a subject-matter expert in Project Support, with exposure across project delivery, change management, and knowledge management. Your work will involve contributing to complex initiatives, driving measurable outcomes, and supporting organisational transformation.

As part of the Organisational Change team, you’ll join a collaborative learning environment with access to mentoring, a Community of Practice, and external training and qualifications. We follow the Government Project Delivery Capability Framework (PDCF) and support professional development, including progression towards APM membership or Chartered Project Professional (ChPP) accreditation, with opportunities to work towards certification within 12 months, depending on experience.

As you develop, you’ll be encouraged to shape your own learning and, over time, mentor others, helping to build a strong, supportive team culture.

Rewards and benefits
You’ll receive a starting salary of £50,740, plus a non-pensionable skills payment of £4,198, payable from day one and reviewed annually.

• 25 days’ annual leave, automatically rising 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

Equal opportunities
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: 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 under-represented groups 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 websites.

Offer of interview
We are committed to providing equitable opportunities throughout the recruitment process to support candidates with disabilities. As part of this commitment, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants who best meet the essential minimum criteria for this position, are offered an interview, where 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’ll be required to reach the minimum pass mark for the Online Situational Judgement Test (SJT), which assesses your ability to problem-solve. If you meet these criteria, you’ll be directed to complete an application form
• Demonstrate an ability to communicate with stakeholders at all levels and adapt your approach to changing circumstances
• You’ll be required to meet the minimum pass mark in the questions about your motivation for the role and the organisation

There is a wide range of extra support available throughout the recruitment process to enable you to do your best. Please see our website 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. An initial online application form including pre-screening questions to ensure you meet our eligibility criteria
2. 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
3. Personal interview
4. Drug test
5. Vetting interview
6. Conditional offer of employment, if successful

Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take between 6 to 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 must be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. You can read our full eligibility criteria here.

This role requires the highest level of security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). This is 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 recommend setting up a separate email address for correspondence with us, to ensure your personal and application correspondence remain separate. Try to avoid including identifying information in your email address, such as your first or surname or date of birth. This is good practice and will help you to manage your application more securely.

This 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 via our benevolent fund 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 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 hardcopy receipts for reimbursement.

Please note, you should only submit your application from within the UK. If you are based overseas, you should wait until you are visiting the UK before applying. Applying from outside the UK will impact our ability to progress your application. You should not discuss your application with anyone other than 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 once a certain number of applications have been received. We therefore encourage you to submit your application at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment.