Flexible working: we support full-time, part-time, compressed and flexible hours, subject to business need. Due to the nature of this role, remote or homeworking is not possible.
About us
GCHQ is an intelligence, cyber and security agency with a mission to keep the UK safe. We use cutting-edge technology, ingenuity and partnerships to identify, analyse and disrupt threats. Working with our intelligence partners MI5 and MI6, we protect the UK from terrorism, cyber-attacks and espionage. At GCHQ you’ll do varied and fascinating work in a supportive and inclusive environment that puts the emphasis on teamwork.
The role
Working in an admin role at GCHQ means playing a key role in the service behind the UK’s Intelligence Services. By providing mission-critical business support, you’ll have a hugely positive impact at the heart of what we do. It’s a chance to develop your skills, gain new experiences, and get plenty of support along the way.
As an Administrative Officer, you’ll be assigned to a specific team depending on business needs, where you’ll be expected to stay for a minimum of 18 months. You could be posted to a wide range of teams/departments including IT, Strategy and Technology teams. Each business area offers diverse challenges and interesting insights. Day-to-day, you might be organising meetings, managing information and records, booking travel, or looking after visitors to our buildings.
And after a minimum of 18 months, you’ll be able to shape your career the way you want, either applying for promotion within an admin role or taking everything you’ve learned with you as you explore new opportunities within our organisation – or maybe with one of our partner agencies.
This is a great role for someone starting their career, or looking to change careers - to do work that’s influential, appreciated – and vital. You’ll work as part of a community of Administrative Officers who’ll encourage your contributions, alongside colleagues across GCHQ. Plus, with dedicated training and development opportunities available to you in addition to on-the-job learning, you’ll grow your skills and shape a truly rewarding career.
Please note, occasional travel across the UK will be part of the role, giving you the opportunity to support different sites and work with a wide range of colleagues.
About you
There’s no one ‘type’ of person who can become an Admin Officer. You might be an experienced administrator looking to apply your skills in an organisation with national impact. You might want to focus on doing excellent work and being recognised for it, without necessarily pursuing constant progression. Or you may be starting out or changing direction, looking to build a strong foundation for your future. Whatever your path, this is a role where conscientious, high-quality work is valued.
To apply, you’ll need a minimum of two GCSEs in Maths and English Language at grade C/4 or above, or equivalent. We’re looking for people with lots of initiative, good collaboration and organisational skills, alongside a desire to deliver great customer service. You’ll be comfortable working in a team but also able to take the initiative and proactively manage your workload. You’ll also need to be comfortable talking to a range of people and able to pay close attention to detail. A good understanding of Microsoft Office is also important.
Training and development
Upon joining, you’ll attend a short induction course to give you a broader understanding of our organisations and the way we work. We’re committed to ensuring our people are able to maximise their talent, so throughout your career with us you’ll also have the opportunity to attend a wide range of personal development and job specific courses.
Whether through internal training or knowledge sharing, you’ll never stop learning. Plus, our strong community of Admin Officers have created a peer support group, where you can learn from each other, share ideas, organise events and build connections that’ll last throughout your career.
Rewards and benefits
You’ll receive a starting salary of £28,758 plus other benefits including:
- 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
- an interest-free season ticket loan
- an excellent pension scheme
- a cycle to work scheme
- facilities such as a gym, restaurant and on-site coffee bars (at some locations)
- paid parental and adoption leave
Equal opportunities
At GCHQ 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.
We’re Disability Confident
GCHQ are 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 person-to-person interviews to any candidate who self-identifies as disabled and meets the essential criteria for the role. This is our ‘Offer of Interview’ (OOI). To secure an interview for this vacancy, the essential criteria (in order of application process) are:
1. You'll be required to reach the minimum pass mark for the online Situational Judgement Test (SJT), which assesses criteria important for all roles in our organisation
2. You will be required to reach the minimum pass mark in the motivation and skills-based application questions
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 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:
1. Online Situational Judgement Test (SJT) in which you rate the appropriateness of responses to a series of short scenarios
2. Online Application form
3. Online interview - this interview will explore your skills and motivation to join GCHQ
Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process in order to progress to the next. Your application may take around 6 - 9 months to process including vetting, so we advise you to continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer.
Before you apply
To work at GCHQ, 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 Cheltenham and Manchester, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance to your chosen location. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application as we do not offer relocation costs.
We offer reasonable reimbursement of travel costs for candidates attending in person interviews or assessments during the recruitment and vetting process. Full details will be provided with your interview or assessment invitation.
Reimbursement is discretionary and will only be made in line with the Candidate Expenses Policy, as amended from time to time. Candidates must book their own travel, use the most economical option, and provide original hardcopy receipts for reimbursement.
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 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.
