Applied AI Scientist, British Intelligence Agencies
MI6
£80.9k
£74,624 and recruitment and retention allowance of £6,251, with an opportunity to qualify for additional allowances and a skills-related payment under the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability (GDDPC) Framework - formerly known as DDaT.
More information about location
4-5 days a week in office
UK's domestic and foreign intelligence services
Be an early applicant
UK's domestic and foreign intelligence services
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
£80.9k
£74,624 and recruitment and retention allowance of £6,251, with an opportunity to qualify for additional allowances and a skills-related payment under the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability (GDDPC) Framework - formerly known as DDaT.
More information about location
4-5 days a week in office
1001+ employees
Company mission
MI5, MI6 and GCHQ work together to protect the UK from a range of national security and overseas threats, keeping citizens safe.
Role
Who you are
- You’re an applied AI scientist with a strong technical foundation and a natural curiosity for how AI can solve meaningful, real world problems. You’ve developed, trained and deployed models before, and you’re confident working across the full lifecycle of modern AI techniques. You understand data, you understand systems, and you enjoy working close to users so you can see the impact of what you build
- Your experience means you can explore complex datasets, design prototypes and evaluate model behaviour with rigour. You’re comfortable working with natural language data, large language models and emerging agentic approaches, and you know how to test, benchmark and validate them effectively. You understand where AI adds value and where it doesn’t, and you’re thoughtful about how to introduce it into existing workflows in a safe, ethical and secure way
- You approach problems with a combination of analytical depth and practical judgement. You can explain technical ideas clearly to colleagues with different backgrounds, build positive relationships across mission, product and engineering teams, and translate operational needs into realistic AI opportunities. You’re comfortable navigating uncertainty, experimenting with new tools and assessing whether a technique is robust enough for its environments
- Always keeping up to date with emerging methods, you explore new technologies to understand their potential and are motivated to keep improving your craft. You care about building solutions that are reliable, responsible and genuinely useful, and you’re driven by the chance to contribute to work with real world mission impact across MI6
- To work at MI6, you need to be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. Read about our eligibility criteria
What the job involves
- We’re creating dedicated teams focused on bringing AI into some of our most mission critical areas, helping develop technologies that enhance how MI6 operates today and prepare us for the challenges of tomorrow
- As an Applied AI Scientist, you’ll play a central role in that effort, engaging directly with real world operational workflows
- You’ll understand the patterns AI needs to learn and identify where automation or augmentation can unlock new efficiencies and insights
- You’ll work closely with mission teams to understand their day to day tasks, data flows and analytical challenges, and to determine where AI can genuinely improve outcomes
- Much of your work will sit at the exploratory edge of technology: prototyping ideas, testing hypotheses, evaluating open source tools and experimenting with new approaches
- You’ll build proofs of concept, validate model behaviour and assess how different architectures can be deployed securely and ethically within our environment
- Once approaches are validated, engineering teams will productionise and scale the solutions you’ve helped design
- You have experience of writing software at a level sufficient to ensure that your AI work can deliver real operational impact
- Day to day, you’ll apply modern AI and data science techniques, from natural language processing and text classification to fine tuning and deploying large language models
- You’ll rigorously evaluate model performance, explore agentic and workflow oriented AI, and help teams understand how these capabilities can augment human judgement
- Ethical, secure and compliant use of AI is central to the role, and you’ll help shape how we steward these technologies responsibly across MI6
- You have also started to step into AI leadership, contributing to how AI is understood and applied
- We’re open to this meaning different things for different people, depending on your skills and interests
- For example, you might have a passion for being a role model and mentoring junior technologists as they grow as professionals
- Or you might look wider, working with people from other, non-technical backgrounds and influencing AI adoption strategy in the wider organisation
- Many people in this role do both
- Either way, you’ll be part of a growing community shaping MI6’s direction in AI
- As our capability evolves, you’ll contribute to decisions on tools, processes and best practice, helping us evaluate and adopt rapidly advancing technologies
- There will be opportunities to work with global mission partners, attend conferences and stay at the forefront of developments in the wider AI ecosystem
- This role offers significant scope to innovate, giving you the freedom to explore, experiment and make a tangible impact on how AI is used across MI6
Application process
- An initial online application form including pre-screening questions to ensure you meet our eligibility criteria
- 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
- Application sift reviewing your motivation, skills and a competency question
- A HR interview focusing on motivation and competencies important to the role
- If successful at the HR interview, you will be invited to a face-to-face technical assessment. (Please note the role maps to Principal AI Scientist on the aforementioned GDDPC framework. We will assess you against this framework by asking questions about your previous projects and experiences.)
- If successful, you’ll receive a conditional offer of employment
Salary benchmarks
Our take
The British Intelligence Agencies - GCHQ, MI5 and MI6 play crucial roles in protecting the nation from a range of security threats. By focusing on counterterrorism, espionage, and cyber threats, the unified force works to safeguard the public and support law enforcement agencies. Its work, largely behind the scenes, is pivotal in ensuring national security.
With origins dating back to the 19th century, each of the British Intelligence Agencies plays a specific role within the security services. GCHQ focuses on signal intelligence gathering and information assurance, MI5 on counterterrorism and national security, whilst MI6 is focused on foreign intelligence and overseas security. This evolution into three specific organisations reflects the agency's ability to stay ahead of emerging security challenges, adjusting its strategy and operations as needed.
As technology and global threats change, the British Intelligence Agencies' approaches continue to evolve, ensuring the UK's security remains a top priority. With its deep expertise and ongoing adaptation, they are major key players in protecting national and international interests, whilst responding to complex security dynamics.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Company
Company benefits
- Merit awards – we have a merit award system to recognise exceptional contributions by individuals or team
- Flexible working – opportunities to work part-time, compressed hours or as a job share are available, dependent on the role and business needs
- Pension – we understand the importance of saving for retirement and offer a desirable pension scheme, which gives you a guaranteed pension based on career average earnings
- Annual leave – our employees are entitled to 25 days annual leave, rising to 30 days after five years’ service. In addition to this, employees are entitled to public and privilege holidays. Part-time employees receive the same entitlement calculated on a pro-rata basis
- Maternity and paternity leave – we offer maternity and paternity leave over and above the statutory entitlements
- Voluntary service leave – we offer special leave for our employees who wish to undertake voluntary work
- Rented accommodation loan – moving house to take up an offer of employment can be expensive. We offer new joiners the opportunity to take out an interest-free loan of up to £2,500, via our benevolent fund, to assist with the financial burden of relocating into privately rented accommodation. You will be sent an application for the loan at the point of receiving a final offer of employment
- Season ticket loan – we recognise that travel expenses from your home to the office can be significant, so we offer an interest-free season ticket loan which can be used for travel, car park costs or the purchase of a bicycle
- On-site facilities – there is a gym, restaurant, and coffee bar at some locations
- Clubs and societies – we offer a range of sports clubs, fitness classes, societies, and language training facilities
- Childcare Vouchers – we offer two childcare voucher schemes which provide a simple and cost-effective way for employees to receive help towards the cost of childcare
- Eye Voucher Scheme – we offer eye care vouchers and a financial contribution towards prescription glasses
- Physiotherapy – we offer subsidised in-house physiotherapy
- Personal learning – all our staff can undertake professional development to improve their skills and performance in the workplace
Company HQ
Manchester, UK
Articles
Leadership
Ken McCallum
(Director General)An MI5 Officer with over 25 years of experience in national security and intelligence. Their career has spanned roles in counterterrorism, cyber security, and leading MI5's strategic response to major incidents. They were appointed Director General in 2020 and previously served as Deputy Director General and Director General of Strategy.
Blaise Metreweli
(Chief)Blaise joined the Service in 1999 and has had a range of roles, most recently Director General Technology & Innovation (Q). She has spent most of her career operationally in the Middle East & Europe.
Anne Keast-Butler
(Director)Became the first female Director of GCHQ in May 2023. Previously served as Deputy Director General at MI5, where they led operational and investigative work, including responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. With over 30 years in national security, they have held key roles in MI5, GCHQ, and Whitehall, including launching the National Security Programme.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at British Intelligence Agencies
- At the Intelligence Agencies, 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 underrepresented in our workforce, such as women, those 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: https://www.gchq-careers.co.uk/life-at-gchq/diversity-inclusion.html
Share this job
View 8 more jobs at British Intelligence Agencies