Senior Behavioural Science Research Officer Ref. 3700

Job Description

Flexible working: Full time and part time hours are available. This is an office-based role, and you will be able to benefit from flexitime and compressed hours, subject to business need. Due to the sensitive nature of the role, remote, hybrid or home working are not possible.

About us
MI5 keeps the country safe from serious threats like terrorism and attempts by states to harm the UK, its people and 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.

The role
Behavioural science is a critical capability supporting colleagues across MI5 and the wider protective security community. In everything we do, we provide evidence based insights that strengthen the UK’s resilience to insider risk, sabotage, espionage, terrorism and hostile state threats. And as you work with partners across government, academia and specialist sectors, you will gain a unique insight into how behavioural science shapes protective security across MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.

Joining our behavioural science team means stepping into a role where every day brings something different. You might be identifying research needs, designing studies, analysing data, or working alongside subject matter experts to understand emerging risks. You will lead and contribute to research projects, translate findings into clear, accessible products such as briefings, training materials and guidance, and support colleagues in applying behavioural insights in their work. It’s all about delivering high quality, defensible research that has real world impact, while continually strengthening our research practice and evidence base.

Some roles may require line management of other behavioural science researchers, which can be discussed at interview stage. There may also be opportunities to travel to partner offices across the UK, and occasionally overseas, depending on business need.

About you
You have a strong foundation in behavioural science, supported by at least a master’s level qualification that includes a significant research component. You will have experience designing and delivering quantitative or qualitative research, and be confident applying behavioural science in applied or operational settings. You’ll also be comfortable working with data, conducting analysis and producing research that is both defensible and accessible.

As much of the role involves translating complex research into clear, practical advice, you will need to communicate specialist concepts in a way that people across the organisation can understand. High quality written and verbal communication skills will help you explain ideas simply, adapt your message to different audiences and support colleagues who rely on your insight.

You will be an adaptable and supportive team player, ready to collaborate across disciplines and work with colleagues from a range of scientific and non scientific backgrounds. Skills such as teamwork, problem solving and relationship building are essential, as is the ability to work sensitively and constructively with partners.

An interest in applied behavioural science – including areas such as insider risk, security culture and behaviour change – will help you thrive here. These are the areas where behavioural science has real world impact, and your curiosity and commitment to learning will support your growth as you take on increasingly complex and meaningful work.

Training and development
When you join the Behavioural Science team, you’ll begin with a full organisational induction and internal training to help you feel confident in your day to day responsibilities. You’ll also take part in a structured team induction, where you’ll meet colleagues, learn about current research programmes and understand how behavioural science supports the wider protective security mission.

Your development will involve a mix of hands on research experience, continuous learning and opportunities to deepen your expertise in behavioural science. You will have access to continual professional development days designed to help you build capability, strengthen your analytical and research skills, and stay up to date with emerging behavioural science approaches.

There may also be opportunities for further study, depending on business need. Throughout your time in the role, you will benefit from peer support and ongoing guidance from your line manager, ensuring you always have the support you need to grow, develop and contribute confidently to the team’s research priorities.

Rewards and benefits
You’ll receive a starting salary of £64,302 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
• dedicated development budget
• interest-free season ticket loan
• excellent pension scheme
• 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 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: 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: Diversity | MI5 - The Security Service

We’re Disability Confident
MI5 is proud to have achieved Leader status within the Department for Work and Pensions 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:

• Demonstrate a developed knowledge of quantitative or qualitative behavioural science research to be assessed at application form sift
• Demonstrable research leadership skills to be assessed at application form sift
• Demonstrate the ability to communicate specialist concepts to a range of stakeholders and audiences to be assessed at application form sift
• You will need to meet the minimum pass mark for the motivational fit questions on the application form
• You will need to meet the minimum pass mark in the Organisation Situational Judgement Test.

There is a wide range of extra support available throughout the recruitment process to enable you to do your best, visit our application process page 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:

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. Application sift, looking at your motivation and skills for the role and the organisation. There will also be a competency question.
4. A short telephone interview to discuss your motivation for the role and the organisation.
5. An assessment centre which will include an interview and a roleplay exercise.
6. If successful, you will 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 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 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 manage your application with us more discretely.

The role is based in London so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application, as we do not offer relocation costs.

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 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.