Technical Risk Adviser

Salary: you’ll receive a salary of between £80,875 - £94,754 in London or £75,882 - £89,010 in Cheltenham, depending on skills and experience, under the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework (GDDPCF), formerly the DDaT Digital, Data and Technology Capability Framework.

Flexible working: we support a range of flexible working arrangements, including full-time, part-time (minimum 3 days per week) and adaptable working hours based on individual needs and business requirements. Due to the nature of the role home working will not be possible. Please note that there will be a requirement for some travel within the UK and occasional opportunities for overseas travel.

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.

As a Technical Risk Adviser, you’ll apply your technical expertise and business activities to help operational teams make informed decisions when using technology in complex and often time‑critical scenarios. You’ll assess whether proposed tools, techniques or approaches are secure, proportionate and aligned with mission needs, balancing potential risk against operational impact. You’ll also contribute to the requirements and designs for technical systems, providing expert advice on risks, and techniques and systems to manage these appropriately.

Working closely with mission teams in the UK and overseas, you’ll support activity where technology and cyber capabilities are central to delivery, helping teams understand cyber risks and opportunities and producing tailored plans. With specialist training, this is a role that will combine technical breadth with practical influence. You’ll assess solutions across areas such as cyber security, networking, hardware, cryptography and penetration testing, using a structured, analytical approach to identify risks.

You’ll provide decision makers and risk owners with advice on the technical aspects of incidents, including the impacts and appropriate responses. Additionally, you’ll work directly with engineers and stakeholders to develop pragmatic solutions that enable delivery while managing those risks effectively.

Incident response is also a key part of the role, including advising on impact, containment and remediation, and helping teams learn and adapt. You’ll research and learn about relevant technologies, business activities, and the context in which the organisation operates, to stay up-to-date and ensure that advice is relevant and coherent. Alongside this you’ll produce educational material, such as blogs or a presentation, to share knowledge and expertise about an issue with the organisation.

You’ll bring a strong technical background, with experience in cyber security or related disciplines such as network engineering, penetration testing, vulnerability research, systems architecture or technical capability development.

Crucially, this experience must have been gained within a national security or intelligence environment, giving you an understanding of the operational context and the importance of managing risk in sensitive scenarios.

You’re comfortable with analysing complex technical problems, identifying key risks and making balanced judgements, often with incomplete information. Just as importantly, you can communicate effectively and persuasively in speech and writing. You'll need to be able to persuade your audience, drawing out key points from complex technical scenarios and articulate your reasoning in terms that resonate with your audience, who often won't be technologists.

Curious and adaptable, you enjoy working across a broad range of challenges and can quickly apply your knowledge in new contexts. You collaborate…