Overview

Flexible Working: we support full-time, part-time, compressed, and flexible hours. Remote and homeworking are not available, as the role is office-based.

Your knowledge of Persian could open the door to a career in intelligence. By joining MI5 and MI6, you’ll play a vital role in protecting the UK.

About Us

MI5 and MI6 are part of the UK’s Intelligence Services. We work together to safeguard Britain’s people, interests, and businesses from various threats at home, overseas and online, including cyber-attacks, espionage, terrorism, and organised crime. By working across our vital missions, you’ll make an impact at the heart of national security, all within a supportive and inclusive environment where everyone can thrive.

The Role

If you have a passion for languages, working as a language specialist for the UK intelligence agencies presents a truly unique opportunity. You’ll be at the heart of our mission, supporting high-value activities that help keep the country safe. We’re looking for Persian linguists for a role that goes far beyond translation and transcription. Your knowledge of the Persian language, along with your deep understanding of Iranian culture, ideology, and politics, will be a vital asset in helping to safeguard the UK.

With proficiency in the Persian language and a nuanced understanding of the surrounding culture, you’ll identify subtleties and extract key information from spoken and written materials, contextualise it, and make it accessible and understandable to others. Throughout your career, you’ll have opportunities to shape your own path, focusing on areas that interest you most. Whatever you’re working on, you’ll enjoy varied and meaningful work, using your language skills in ways you may never have imagined.

At MI5 and MI6, you’ll be part of a multi-disciplinary team and play an active role in directing projects and driving forward investigations. It’s rewarding work that draws on your judgement, people skills, and linguistic and cultural expertise. Confident in reading, writing, speaking, and listening to Persian, you’ll be involved in everything from translation and interpretation to operational work, including planning, casework, and training.

About You

You don’t need any experience or formal qualifications to become a Persian Language Specialist with us, just active and passive language skills, excellent written English, and a good knowledge of Iranian culture, history, religion, and politics. Essentially, you’ll be passionate about the language and a proficient user (at C1 level, see explanation below) of Persian in all its forms. Your proficiency might come from growing up in a multilingual family, undergoing language training in the military, or studying Persian to a high academic level.

At C1 level or higher, you’re able to:

• Understand a wide range of longer and more demanding texts or conversations
• Express ideas without too much searching for words
• Use the language effectively in social, academic, or professional situations
• Create well-structured and detailed texts on complex topics

You can also access the CEFR self-assessment grid for more information on our requirements.

We’re looking for problem solvers with strong interpersonal skills and a keen eye for detail. You’ll also need:

• An analytical, enquiring mind
• Good judgement and effective people skills
• A collaborative approach, as you’ll share your knowledge and contribute to professional standards of best practice

During the interview process, you’ll be required to pass a language proficiency test, which involves reading and translating newspaper articles and broadcasts. The results will be assessed alongside the role requirements on a case-by-case basis.

Training and Development

At MI5 and MI6, we foster an inclusive and supportive working environment designed to encourage open minds and diverse approaches. We value and nurture talent, and we’re committed to ensuring you have the support and guidance needed to build a rewarding career at the heart of national security. From language events and workshops to acquiring professional qualifications, our learning culture will continuously develop your knowledge, skills, and professional growth. By joining MI5 or MI6, you’ll be part of a network of colleagues across both agencies. This broadens our perspectives and enables us to engage through diversity of thought and approach.

As part of the selection process, we’ll identify specific areas for development and tailor a training plan to meet your needs. When you join, you’ll receive an induction and be assigned a buddy from the same language area to help you settle in. You’ll also be paired with a professional head who will oversee your career interests. You’ll receive training in applied skills such as interpretation and gain access to a range of language and non-language training opportunities, including our corporate academy.

Whatever your career path, you’ll be part of a community of passionate, dedicated, and talented linguists, working together on critical work you won’t find elsewhere.

Rewards and Benefits

You’ll receive a starting salary of £39,152 to £44,818, with the possibility to qualify for additional language allowances once in the role.

Other benefits include:

• 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
• Personal Learning Budget (MI5 only)
• Opportunities to work flexibly, subject to business needs
• Excellent pension scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Facilities such as a gym and restaurant, and on-site coffee bars
• Paid parental and adoption leave

Equal Opportunities

At MI5 and 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: individuals 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, individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities, and those from low socio-economic backgrounds.

Find out more about our culture, working environment, and commitment to diversity on our websites:

MI5

MI6

We’re Disability Confident

MI5 and MI6 are proud to have achieved Leader status within the DWP’s Disability Confident scheme. This scheme encourages employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain, and develop disabled people. As a Disability Confident leader, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants who best meet the essential minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview, if 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:

• Demonstrate a motivation and commitment to work for the UK intelligence agencies, assessed at the application form sift
• Achieve a pass in the Persian language tests

There is a wide range of extra support available throughout the recruitment process to enable you to do your best, see our websites for information on reasonable adjustments we can offer:

MI5

MI6

What to Expect

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

• Initial application and eligibility sift
• In-person language tests in London
• An in-person interview and assessment centre in London

You may also be required to undergo a hearing test for this role.

Please note you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 9 to 12 months to process, including vetting, so we advise you to continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer . We regret that we are unable to reimburse travel expenses.

Please note, all our contracts include a mobility clause. This means you could be required to serve away from your usual place of work for periods of detached duty or training.

In MI6, there are opportunities for overseas travel and postings. We’ll make every effort to ensure personal circumstances are taken into consideration when an opportunity arises.

Before You Apply

To work at MI5 or MI6, you’ll need to be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. You can read our full eligibility criteria on our websites:

MI5

MI6

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 on our websites:

MI5

MI6

Please note we have a strict drugs policy, 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 more securely.

The MI5 and MI6 roles are based in London, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. You’ll need to consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application. An interest-free loan via our benevolent fund is available at MI5 for those relocating into privately rented accommodation to take up the offer of employment.

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 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.