Job Description

Flexible Working:

We support full-time, part time, compressed, and flexible hours. We're committed to offering remote working across our organisation, however, our ability to do this is dependent on role requirements and business needs. Home working is not possible.

About Us

We're MI6, also known as the Secret Intelligence Service or 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.

The Role

Architecture and technology are core to MI6's successful operations and intelligence delivery. There is a constant need to develop and maintain capabilities that provide us with mission advantage in a rapidly changing, technology and data driven world. We use agile and lean methodologies to innovate, deliver and upgrade products. Whether you work on data analytics, knowledge systems, operational communications or technical operations capabilities, the nature of our work presents unique and fascinating architecture challenges, which you will likely have not seen before.


We develop products that provide capability across MI6. Our multi-disciplinary teams are made up of architects & engineers who work alongside product owners, business analysts and delivery colleagues to ensure MI6 gets what it needs by balancing tactical and strategic goals and objectives. As a Solution Architect, you'll lead the design and systems engineering approach for a specific area of our organisation, creating new products and working to continually improve the capabilities of our existing ones.


You'll be part of a community responsible for design authority. You'll collaborate with the Product Manager and Business Lead to deliver a balanced plan that considers User Experience, cost, risk, time and quality - considering product evolution and transformation. And you'll be delivering the architecture and systems engineering elements of the product plan throughout its whole life cycle.

This will include:

Understanding the problem and shaping the solution Tailoring the systems engineering and architecture processes to address product risks Developing, maintaining and communicating the vision, architecture and technology roadmap for the product Developing high-level designs, solution outlines, and key design decisions Managing the technology risk and design as the product evolves Supporting integration with other products and release to service.

About You

Ideally, you'll have led significant elements of product and system delivery and change; been a technical domain subject matter expert; worked as a Solution Architect or part of a solution architecture team for complicated solutions; have experience of the application of enterprise and domains architecture, influencing stakeholders and conducting trades across requirements and solution spaces; knowledge of multiple architecture and delivery frameworks and experience of embedding such tools and techniques.


You'll also have a range of soft skills to support communication and decision-making including curiosity, teamwork and problem solving. You'll be a strong communicator and influencer, having successfully negotiated trades across requirements and solution spaces. You'll line manage junior solution architects and contractors supporting delivery - so you'll be confident leading and working with multi-disciplinary teams. Plus, you will be committed to continual learning and development.

Training and Development

At MI6, we're proud to offer an inclusive and supportive working environment. As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we are committed to helping you fulfil your potential. We're committed to developing our staff and recognise this will look different for everyone, so we'll work with you to build your skills and help you plan your future career path within the architecture profession and across the organisation.


When you join, you'll have an induction so that you can settle in and get a full understanding of how your work will impact our mission. Then, there will be continuing opportunities to receive tailored training, coaching, and mentoring. Throughout your career with us, you will have access to a wide range of online and classroom learning, as well as external accredited training options. These include industry recognised qualifications such as CEng (Chartered Engineer), Professional certifications in Solution Architecture, as well as related disciplines such as CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) or similar.

Rewards and Benefits

You'll receive a starting salary of 59,551 to 86,137, dependent on skills and experience*

Most new starters can expect to start at the midpoint of our pay range (dependent on core competency and DDAT skills and experience assessment.) This assessment is conducted throughout the application and interview process as outlined below.

Candidates who both meet our higher requirements and can demonstrate evidence of our very specialised technical work can expect to receive a higher starting salary which will include pensionable and non-pensionable elements - The base salary offered is 59,551 and does not fall under the Government DDaT Framework. If candidates can demonstrate suitable evidence to meet the DDaT requirements, they may qualify for DDaT pay (this ranges from 77,991 to 86,137)

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 Interest-free season ticket loan Excellent pension scheme Cycle to work scheme Facilities such as a gym at some locations Paid parental and adoption leave.

Equal Opportunities

At 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: 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:

https://www.sis.gov.uk/explore-careers.html

We're Disability Confident

MI6 is proud to have achieved Leader status within the DWP's 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 first-stage telephone interviews to any candidate who self-identifies as disabled and meets the essential criteria for this role. This is our 'Offer of Interview' (OOI). To secure a telephone interview for this vacancy, the essential criteria (in order of application process) are:



Demonstrate experience working in architecture or systems engineering functions - measured at application sift. Motivation for applying to work at the organisation and the role - assessed at sift Demonstrate an applied level of experience developing technology portfolios and/or playing a major role in digital transformation programme delivery - measured at application sift.
There is a wide range of extra support available throughout the recruitment process to enable you to do your best, see our website for information on reasonable adjustments (link) 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:

Application sift- looking at motivation, technical aptitude, skills and experience for the role and the organisation If successful at Sift, you will be invited to a telephone interview to discuss your technical skills and knowledge If successful at telephone interview, you will be invited to a final Assessment Centre Day including which will look at HR competencies, the discussion of a Solution architecture scenario which you will be given in advance and a further discussion of your technical skills. 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 - 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 MI6 you need to be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. You can read our full eligibility criteria here.


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 here.


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 to manage your application with us more securely.


The role is based in Central London so you'll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application. A loan is available to support people relocating to London.


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 withhold 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.