Cyber Practitioner Development Programme

MI5; Samlesbury; On-site; GBP 27,000 - 37,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading intelligence agency in the UK is offering an 18-month Cyber Practitioner Development Programme in Samlesbury. This role combines classroom learning with practical experience to prepare candidates for a career in cyber security. Applicants should have an interest in technology and basic knowledge of operating systems. The programme provides an opportunity to work with cutting-edge technologies, with a supportive and collaborative work environment. Salary starts at £27,161 with promotions possible, and various benefits including annual leave and pension scheme.

Benefits

25 days' annual leave

Excellent pension scheme

Cycle to work scheme

Paid parental and adoption leave

Qualifications

• Interest in technology necessary; no previous tech experience required.
• GCSE Maths and English at Grade C/4 or equivalent required.
• Basic or working knowledge of Linux or Windows needed.

Responsibilities

• Participate in a development programme with classroom and on-the-job training.
• Complete rotations across different technical teams.
• Support cyber teams and gain practical experience.

Skills

Interest in technology

Basic knowledge of Linux

Basic knowledge of Windows

Organised

Collaborative

Confident communication

Education

GCSE Maths and English at Grade C/4 or above

Tools

Docker

Cloud services

Programming languages (TypeScript, Python, React, Go)

Job description

Location

Samlesbury, with college-based elements in Lancashire.

Salary

£27,161 (includes £2,658 concessionary payment). There is potential for promotion at the end of the 18‑month training period which will increase the salary to £36,408 (includes £2,658 concessionary payment). Additional skills payments are also possible after the initial 18 months’ training. These payments start at £4,513 and are subject to periodic review and renewal.

Flexible working

Full‑time attendance required for the first 18 months, after which opportunities for part‑time, job sharing, compressed hours and other flexible working patterns would be considered.

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.

Some of our roles are based in the National Cyber Force (NCF). This is a partnership between Defence and Intelligence. The NCF operates in and through cyberspace to counter, disrupt, degrade and contest those who would do harm to the UK and our Allies.

The role

This is an 18‑month development programme that combines dedicated classroom learning with on‑the‑job experience at our Samlesbury location, which leads to a role within the organisation. You’ll complete mandatory training modules (plus one of your choice) at a Lancashire academic institute, delivered in four‑week blocks. This will include lectures, seminars and self‑study, plus supervised lab sessions, real‑world simulations and group projects. With our support and your drive to learn, you’ll develop the skills required to support our cyber teams and gain practical experience that prepares you for a fascinating, impactful career with GCHQ.

When you’re not studying, you’ll immerse yourself in our friendly, collaborative work environment as you complete rotations across our different technical teams before you move into a dedicated team after 18 months. You’ll be surrounded by colleagues keen to share their knowledge and hear your contributions as you apply what you’ve learned to real projects.

You might be exploring our specialist tools and technologies, including Docker, cloud services, mobile applications and programming languages such as TypeScript, Python, React and Go. Or, you’ll be developing existing and future infrastructure solutions, undertaking security and vulnerability research, or conducting Computer Network Operations. In short, your work will be varied and have real operational impact; from disrupting an adversary’s ability to communicate with their contacts to preventing the internet from being used as a platform for crime, you’ll help develop pioneering end‑to‑end solutions that support our mission.

Training for the Cyber Practitioner Development Programme begins in January 2027.

About you

You’ll need to have an interest in technology although you don’t need a technical background or any previous experience working in tech or cyber to apply, as we’ll teach you everything you need to know.

You’ll need GCSE Maths and English Language at Grade C/4 or above (or equivalent). However, if you don’t, please don’t deselect yourself as we’ll still consider applications from those with higher qualifications (e.g. A Levels or a degree), provided you can demonstrate equivalent Maths and English skills as part of your studies.

You will also have a basic or working knowledge of Linux or Windows operating systems.

You might’ve had exposure to end‑to‑end products in a previous role or simply indulged your passion for IT in your spare time. It doesn’t matter what stage of your career you’re at, the important thing is that you’re curious, committed and motivated to develop new skills and knowledge. Organised and able to prioritise tasks, you’ll adapt to changing environments as you’ll be completing multiple rotations and different learning modules across 18 months.

You’ll also be collaborative and a confident communicator, as you’ll be working alongside colleagues across various teams. As your skills develop, you’ll relay technical information to others and might also work with partners from external industry or with other security agencies.

Training and development

Upon joining, your initial training will be mostly college‑based with job exposure via projects within your teams. Once you’ve entered the department, you’ll join a team and be given projects to continue developing your skills. You’ll also receive mentoring from more experienced staff and be assigned a ‘buddy’ who’ll be on‑hand to answer any questions you have as you settle into life at GCHQ.

Once you’ve completed the 18 months’ initial training, we’ll continue to support your learning with funding for relevant and required external training. Subject to periodic review and renewal, you’ll also have opportunities to apply for specialist skills payments that reflect your abilities.

Rewards and benefits

You’ll receive a starting salary of £27,161 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
• excellent pension scheme
• cycle to work scheme
• facilities such as a 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: https://www.gchq-careers.co.uk/life-at-gchq/diversity-inclusion.html

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. As a Disability Confident Leader, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants who best meet the essential minimum criteria for this position, will be offered an interview for this role, the minimum criteria (in order of application process) are:

• meet the minimum pass mark in our online assessments
• meet the minimum pass mark in all of our application questions 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 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:

• Initial application – you will be asked to provide your basic personal details.
• Online assessments.
• Application question sift looking at your motivation for the role and the organisation, and essential skills.
• Virtual interview.
• 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 GCHQ, you need to be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. Read about our eligibility criteria.

This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community undertakes. Find out more about the vetting process.

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 practise and will help you manage your application with us more securely.

The role is based in Samlesbury with a study location in Lancashire, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application, as we do not offer relocation costs.

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.