Explore a Career in Languages

By MI5, MI6 & GCHQ

Could your language skills help keep the nation safe?

If you have a passion for languages, working as a Language Specialist for the UK Intelligence Agencies presents a truly unique opportunity. You’ll be working at the heart of our mission, undertaking core activities that identify and disrupt threats to the UK.

These are roles that go well beyond translation and transcription – your language skills, combined with your broader insight into the culture and history of other countries, will be a vital asset in helping to safeguard the UK from a variety of threats.

You’ll have plenty of opportunities to develop your own career path, focusing on the areas that interest you most. Whatever you’re doing, you’ll enjoy varied, unique work using language skills you might never have considered could have such an impact.

Not sure which language role is right for you?

Permanent Language roles

Your skills & experience: You’re a heritage or learned speaker of Mandarin, Russian, Arabic, Persian, Pashto, Somali and some European languages.

How you’ll help our mission: You’ll use your language skills to provide transcriptions and translations to help develop investigations. Your knowledge of your language and your in-depth understanding of its culture, society and history will also be significant in helping us to protect the UK.

You’ll bring:

Passion and knowledge of your language and its culture
Good attention to detail
A curious approach
Strong interpersonal skills
An analytical mind

Flexible Language roles

Your skills & experience: You’re an experienced language speaker, but you want to work on a flexible basis.

How you’ll help our mission: You’ll use your in-depth knowledge of specific languages to piece together snippets of information collected from a variety of sources. You’ll be responding to changing world events and using your cultural expertise to provide valuable insights and reports to colleagues and seniors.

You’ll bring:

Ability to work independently
A deep knowledge of your chosen language and culture

Flexibility and an aptitude for tackling challenging material

Language Talent Programme

Your skills & experience: You’re an undergraduate in our final year of university studying on of the most sort after languages. Or you’ll have graduated in the last three year from when you apply, with a 2:2 degree or higher.

How you’ll help our mission: You’ll develop your language skills working on real project alongside our language colleagues. You’ll analyse, transcribe and translate foreign language materials for operational and investigative teams, playing a key part in our mission.

You’ll bring: