Shh, don’t tell anyone but Mi5 is currently recruiting for a number of roles in Manchester and it could be the perfect chance for a 2020 career change.
Are you looking for your next career opportunity? Fancy switching paths? Can you keep a secret?
Mi5 has recently published a number of job specifications for a varied range of roles online, which can be worked from either the central London or Manchester office, and are listed are within in the IT, Science & Technical department.
Salary is also reflected depending on the location of the role.
According to the gov.uk website, the UK’s domestic counter-intelligence and security agency – which also includes MI6 and GCHQ – is “responsible for protecting the UK from threats to our National Security” and is dedicated to “keeping our country safe”.
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It’s the responsibility of the Mi5 to “ensure the safety and prosperity of our country” by “countering threats from terrorism and espionage” and anyone who applies for a role within the service must hold these values in the highest regard.
Day in day out our people help to keep the country safe.
Our Director Jeremy Fleming outlines the role we play.
Want to play your part in our mission? Explore the wide range of careers available at GCHQ
Are you intrigued then? Here’s a few of the Manchester-applicable roles on offer.
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Software Engineer
Mi5 is looking for experienced Software Engineers who can take more of a senior role in their team.
The successful candidate will be providing technical direction to their products and mentoring more junior colleagues, as well as sharing collective responsibility to keep the country safe and striving to develop your team.
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The job description states that “it’s important that you’re able to communicate and share your knowledge”.
As a more senior engineer, the successful candidate will be expected to:
Take ownership of large problems, break them down and work with the team to deliver new features through the whole engineering lifecycle.
Support products owned by the team, providing on-call if necessary, working with users to identify and fix defects.
Build automated tests to maintain the assurance of our continuous integration pipelines.
Support and mentor junior colleagues, helping them to understand what great software engineering looks like.
Participate in guilds and cross-organisation initiatives to build our community of engineers.
The salary for this role is: Manchester – £48,932 – £54,232 or London – £53,140 – £58,314.
The closing date for applications is 31/12/2020 at 11pm, and you can find out more or to apply here.
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Senior Software Engineer
Similar to the above, successful applicants to the Senior Software Engineer role will need to “share our collective responsibility to keep the country safe and be keen to constantly improve yourself and your team”. The job description states that “our teams work closely with each other and with mission customers, so it’s important that you’re prepared to communicate and share your knowledge”.
As a Lead Engineer, you’ll be expected to:
Lead the development across a small number of teams or take responsibility for a particular technical specialism where you will act as a subject matter expert.
Support decision making and risk taking within teams using your experience and technical knowledge.
Coach and mentor junior colleagues to help develop their skills, bringing on their engineering thinking.
Promote best practice and help to set standards across the organisation.
Participate in guilds and cross-organisation initiatives to build our community of engineers.
As a technical role, Mi5 is looking for a software engineers who have experience of working with a broad range of technologies, leading engineering teams and taking responsibility for making technical decisions.
The salary for this role is: Manchester – £59,824 – £64,558 or London – £63,097 – £69,630.
The closing date for applications is 31/12/2020 at 11pm and you can find out more or apply here.
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Application Architect
If strategy is your thing, then how about the role of Application Architect? This role is about gathering and interpreting requirements from the business and technical teams.
The job description states that as an application architect, you’ll be expected to:
Work with Dev Ops teams and fellow architects to identify and design end to end architectural solutions, advising on and contributing to the implementation of application architecture and system/component interfaces.
Contribute to system roadmaps and future visions to help stakeholders understand where and how technology benefits them.
Use your experience, as well as industry best practice and emerging trends, to initiate new ideas and conduct options analysis to recommend optimum solutions.
Design interface specifications, writing high level design and detailed design for chosen solutions.
Be involved in the implementation of new technologies and methods.
Successful candidates for this role should be “passionate leaders in the technology world who are excited to take the initiative, be creative and drive engineering change across the intelligence agencies.” and you should also have experience of successful application design and integration in large scale enterprise organisations.
The salary for this role is: Manchester – £63,091 – £67,677 or London – £66,276 – £71,081.
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The closing date for applications is 31/08/2020 at 11pm, and you can apply or find out more here.
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Didn’t really find a path that suits you?
For alternative roles and more information, you can visit the Mi5 – The Security Service website here.
Trending
Manchester Basketball set to make history at first-ever Super League Cup finals in the city
Danny Jones
In case you missed the latest landmark for Manchester Basketball, both of our men’s and women’s teams have officially reached the 2026 Super League Cup Finals.
Aside from being a huge achievement for the fresh sporting franchise in itself, things are now all set up for a perfect weekend for local fans, with the conclusion of the Super League Cup taking place in our city for the very first time.
All that being said, it’s quite a watershed moment for this new and improved outfit – and pretty soon, too, so here’s hoping they can follow it up with a dream ending against the kings and queens of the capital.
Secure your Cup Finals tickets now 🏆 You don’t want to miss it 🎟️
— Super League Basketball (@SprLeagueBballM) March 8, 2026
It’s rare you get both the male and female members from the same side making it to the final of a major competition in the same year, not to mention having it hosted on their own turf.
Zak Irvin, Captain of the Men’s side, said in a statement: “Since I arrived here, the goal has been to bring championships home to the city.
“Our team has a great opportunity to do that in front of a Manchester crowd on the 22nd. It’s going to be an electric final, and having the backing of the Manchester crowd can be a real difference maker.”
With multiple Manc natives like Kaiyem Cleary, Demi Babalola and Irene Oboavwoduo in the squad – all of whom have come through the club’s junior pathways – they’ve got hometown pride on the line, too.
And better yet, they’ve already proved that they can make sure the weight of the occasion doesn’t get the better of them, having just won a major European knockout match as part of the MOBOs Fringe Festival earlier this week.
Facing off against KK Dubrava from Zagreb, they managed to pull off a narrow victory, beating the Croatians 94-92 to make it through to the quarter-finals of this year’s European North Basketball League (ENBL) knockout phase.
17-year-old Irene added, “It means a lot to me to play in a Cup final in my home city. Having my family and friends there, as well as all the support for Manchester, will be incredible.
“To play in a domestic final around the corner from where I’ve grown up is really unique. We’re all excited for the game; it will be a great occasion.”
With the stage set for what we have every faith will be an unforgettable conclusion at the AO Arena, it’s on us to make sure they’ve got the stands on their side.
Taking place on Sunday, 22 March, with seat prices starting from just £26 for adults (or £65 if you want to sit courtside), let’s help Manchester Basketball get over the line against London Lions.
Featured Images — Publicity pictures (supplied via MCR Basketball/AO Arena)
Trending
Country 2 Country music festival is coming to Manchester next year
Danny Jones
Hold on to your cowboy hats, country fans: the smash-hit Country 2 Country music festival is coming to Manchester.
The massive live music festival specialising in all things country, folk, bluegrass, Americana and more has slowly been expanding its presence across the UK and Ireland over the last decade or so.
Starting in London at the O2 Arena, before hitting the Emerald Isle in 2015 and debuting in Scotland just three years later, it has seen some of the biggest acts from the world of country music cross the Atlantic to show off the Stateside genre, plus plenty from around the globe already immersed in the culture.
We’ll confess, even prior to the official announcement, we had a feeling this was coming when we spotted these posters dotted about in town:
Like so many of those buzzing in the comments, we cannot wait for this to come around.
With this year’s respective events taking place simultaenously place over the coming weekend, Friday, 13 to Sunday, 15 March, it’s fair to say they’ve timed the news perfectly.
Everyone from established names such as Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw, Chris Stapleton, Kacey Musgraves, to up-and-coming bands as well as fast-rising artists working in and around the genre, like Nate Smith, Lainey Wilson and, of course, the now well and truly massive Luke Combs.
For instance, the likes of Keith Urban, Noah Rinker, Alana Springsteen – no relation – Zach Top and many, MANY more, are playing across London, the OVO Hydro in Glasgow and Belfast’s SSE Arena for the 12th edition of the now annual celebration.
Set to arrive in our city centre for the very first time, Country 2 Country (C2C) will be making its Manc debut at none other than the legendary AO Arena, where so many of the biggest names and current generation of stars alike have played.
You only have to look at recent examples like Darius Rucker last year and the ever-growing Tyler Childers, helping kick off this season of country gigs here in Manchester.
Meanwhile, as you can see for Country 2 Country music fest’s Manchester debut, it’s coming in March 2027, and they’ll be teaming up with other local gig venues and bars to turn 0161 into a little slice of Broadway – we just hope we get a bit of Austin weather to boot.
It’s fair to say that this particular part of the music industry is definitely enjoying a big boom right now, with lots of different acts dipping their toes into the bayou, if you will.
However, C2C have been flying the flag for country music over here for ages now, and with it being hailed as remaining “one of the UK’s most spectacular annual festivals” by the likes of The Express and countless, among countless other reviews, we think it’s time you give it a go.
Better still, let’s show everyone that we can do it even better up North, and here in what everyone knows is Britain’s real musical home: Greater Manchester.
Tickets will be available from 10am next Friday, 20 March, and you can sign up to get early bird pre-sale access right HERE.
Credit: Niko Moon/Luke Dyson Photography (supplied)