Arabic Language Specialist Ref. 3612
Posted 5 hours 16 minutes ago by MI5
Permanent
Full Time
Academic Jobs
England, United Kingdom
Job Description
In addition to a competitive salary, you might also be eligible for extra allowances depending on the organisation you join. These could include bonuses for particular skills or the chance to earn language-related allowances once you're in the role.
This is an office-based role, and while our work is primarily carried out on-site, we understand the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. That's why we offer a variety of flexible working options, including part-time working arrangements, compressed hours, and other supportive work patterns to help meet your needs.
To find out more about flexible working, please visit our websites: MI5 , MI6
About us MI5 and MI6 are part of the UK's Intelligence Services. We work together to safeguard Britain's people, interests, and businesses from various threats at home, overseas and online, including cyber-attacks, espionage, terrorism, and organised crime. Working across our vital missions, you'll make a real impact at the heart of national security, all within a supportive and inclusive environment where everyone can thrive.
The role As an Arabic Language Specialist at MI5 and MI6, you'll provide linguistic and cultural expertise that helps shape operations. In this role, you'll do more than translations and transcriptions. Working as part of a multidisciplinary team, you'll piece together Arabic language materials, produce reports, and unlock intelligence that drives real-world operations. In short, you'll have considerable influence as you listen to, read, or view materials in Arabic and provide context that we wouldn't otherwise understand.
You'll triage, process, and analyse foreign language content, using your cultural and linguistic expertise to provide vital context through briefings to teams, specialist personnel, and analysts. Alongside this, you may occasionally take on interpreting assignments outside of the office, where you'll be fully supported with all the information and guidance you need to feel confident and prepared. You'll also play a key role in developing our language capabilities, whether by supporting new initiatives or helping advance language technology tools and AI. As our needs evolve, you'll help ensure we're equipped to deliver effective, forward-thinking solutions.
Plus, you'll have the opportunity to explore a range of analytical tools and receive training to support and enhance your work. Within our welcoming and collaborative language community, you'll find plenty of opportunities to grow your skills. While you'll often work independently, you'll be surrounded by colleagues who are ready to support you, share insights, and explore new ways of working together.
Please note: There may be opportunities to travel within the UK or overseas as part of this role, depending on business requirements. We'll always take your responsibilities outside of work into account when considering deployments, and we'll work with you to ensure it's right for you.
About you You don't need any previous experience or a formal qualification in Arabic Language to apply to become an Arabic Language Specialist with us. However, you will need proficiency in Arabic to at least C1 level of the CEFR across all disciplines: reading, writing, speaking, and listening (see explanation below). This should be supported by solid cultural knowledge of the language, including the countries and regions where Arabic is spoken, covering aspects such as culture, history, religion, and politics. You'll also be able to write and translate Arabic language materials into grammatically correct English, supported by an English Language GCSE at C/4 or above (or an equivalent qualification). Your proficiency in Arabic may come from growing up in a multilingual family, studying Arabic to a high academic level, or through comparable experience.
At C1 level or higher, you're able to:
Training and development On joining either MI6 or MI5, you'll undertake structured initial training to understand the organisation, its mission, and the tools and systems you'll be using. You'll be assigned a mentor or development partner to support your transition. At MI5, this includes a dedicated partner for your first year, and at both organisations, you'll also receive guidance from your line manager.
You'll attend briefings and team meetings to understand your mission area and how your role contributes across either organisation. Both organisations offer a range of opportunities to develop your language skills including maintenance classes, immersion experiences and dialect training based on business need. You may also gain in-house or external language qualifications.
MI5 provides a clear pathway via the Language Capability Framework and opportunities to lead or contribute to projects. At MI6, your first three years will be spent in a dedicated role with mentoring support. You'll then have the opportunity to specialise further in the language profession or explore other roles that broaden your experience, while continuing to draw on your linguistic and foreign expertise in combination with other operational skillsets.
We also welcome training and development suggestions from colleagues and will endeavour to support them where relevant.
Rewards and benefits You'll receive a starting salary of £39,152 to £48,818 depending on the agency you join, with the potential to qualify for additional language allowances based on your proficiency level and how your language skills are applied in your work.
Other benefits include:
Find out more about our culture, working environment, and commitment to diversity on our websites:
MI5 and MI6 are proud to have achieved Leader status within the Department for Work and Pensions' Disability Confident scheme. This initiative encourages 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 if it is practical for us to do so. (This is known as the Offer of an Interview.) To be considered under this scheme, applicants must meet the following minimum criteria, with motivation and commitment assessed at application form sift. You must:
Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:
Please note that you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 9 to 12 months to process, including vetting, so we advise you to continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer. We regret that we are unable to reimburse travel expenses.
Please note that all our contracts include a mobility clause. This means you could be required to work away from your usual place of work for periods of detached duty or training.
. click apply for full job details
This is an office-based role, and while our work is primarily carried out on-site, we understand the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. That's why we offer a variety of flexible working options, including part-time working arrangements, compressed hours, and other supportive work patterns to help meet your needs.
To find out more about flexible working, please visit our websites: MI5 , MI6
About us MI5 and MI6 are part of the UK's Intelligence Services. We work together to safeguard Britain's people, interests, and businesses from various threats at home, overseas and online, including cyber-attacks, espionage, terrorism, and organised crime. Working across our vital missions, you'll make a real impact at the heart of national security, all within a supportive and inclusive environment where everyone can thrive.
The role As an Arabic Language Specialist at MI5 and MI6, you'll provide linguistic and cultural expertise that helps shape operations. In this role, you'll do more than translations and transcriptions. Working as part of a multidisciplinary team, you'll piece together Arabic language materials, produce reports, and unlock intelligence that drives real-world operations. In short, you'll have considerable influence as you listen to, read, or view materials in Arabic and provide context that we wouldn't otherwise understand.
You'll triage, process, and analyse foreign language content, using your cultural and linguistic expertise to provide vital context through briefings to teams, specialist personnel, and analysts. Alongside this, you may occasionally take on interpreting assignments outside of the office, where you'll be fully supported with all the information and guidance you need to feel confident and prepared. You'll also play a key role in developing our language capabilities, whether by supporting new initiatives or helping advance language technology tools and AI. As our needs evolve, you'll help ensure we're equipped to deliver effective, forward-thinking solutions.
Plus, you'll have the opportunity to explore a range of analytical tools and receive training to support and enhance your work. Within our welcoming and collaborative language community, you'll find plenty of opportunities to grow your skills. While you'll often work independently, you'll be surrounded by colleagues who are ready to support you, share insights, and explore new ways of working together.
Please note: There may be opportunities to travel within the UK or overseas as part of this role, depending on business requirements. We'll always take your responsibilities outside of work into account when considering deployments, and we'll work with you to ensure it's right for you.
About you You don't need any previous experience or a formal qualification in Arabic Language to apply to become an Arabic Language Specialist with us. However, you will need proficiency in Arabic to at least C1 level of the CEFR across all disciplines: reading, writing, speaking, and listening (see explanation below). This should be supported by solid cultural knowledge of the language, including the countries and regions where Arabic is spoken, covering aspects such as culture, history, religion, and politics. You'll also be able to write and translate Arabic language materials into grammatically correct English, supported by an English Language GCSE at C/4 or above (or an equivalent qualification). Your proficiency in Arabic may come from growing up in a multilingual family, studying Arabic to a high academic level, or through comparable experience.
At C1 level or higher, you're able to:
- Understand a wide range of longer and more demanding texts and conversations
- Express ideas fluently without excessive searching for words
- Use the language effectively in social, academic, or professional situations
- Produce well-structured, detailed texts on complex topics
Training and development On joining either MI6 or MI5, you'll undertake structured initial training to understand the organisation, its mission, and the tools and systems you'll be using. You'll be assigned a mentor or development partner to support your transition. At MI5, this includes a dedicated partner for your first year, and at both organisations, you'll also receive guidance from your line manager.
You'll attend briefings and team meetings to understand your mission area and how your role contributes across either organisation. Both organisations offer a range of opportunities to develop your language skills including maintenance classes, immersion experiences and dialect training based on business need. You may also gain in-house or external language qualifications.
MI5 provides a clear pathway via the Language Capability Framework and opportunities to lead or contribute to projects. At MI6, your first three years will be spent in a dedicated role with mentoring support. You'll then have the opportunity to specialise further in the language profession or explore other roles that broaden your experience, while continuing to draw on your linguistic and foreign expertise in combination with other operational skillsets.
We also welcome training and development suggestions from colleagues and will endeavour to support them where relevant.
Rewards and benefits You'll receive a starting salary of £39,152 to £48,818 depending on the agency you join, with the potential to qualify for additional language allowances based on your proficiency level and how your language skills are applied in your work.
Other benefits include:
- 25 days' annual leave, automatically rising to 30 days after 5 years' service, plus an additional 10.5 days' public and privilege holidays
- Opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme
- Personal learning budget (MI5 only)
- Opportunities to work flexibly, subject to business needs
- Cycle to work scheme
- Facilities such as a gym and restaurant, and on-site coffee bars
- Paid parental and adoption leave
Find out more about our culture, working environment, and commitment to diversity on our websites:
MI5 and MI6 are proud to have achieved Leader status within the Department for Work and Pensions' Disability Confident scheme. This initiative encourages 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 if it is practical for us to do so. (This is known as the Offer of an Interview.) To be considered under this scheme, applicants must meet the following minimum criteria, with motivation and commitment assessed at application form sift. You must:
- Demonstrate a motivation and commitment to work for the UK intelligence agencies, assessed at the application form sift
- Achieve a pass in the Arabic language tests
- Have English Language GCSE at grade C/4 or above (or an equivalent qualification) to support written translation work.
Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:
- Initial application and eligibility sift
- In-person language tests in London
- An in-person interview and assessment centre in London
Please note that you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 9 to 12 months to process, including vetting, so we advise you to continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer. We regret that we are unable to reimburse travel expenses.
Please note that all our contracts include a mobility clause. This means you could be required to work away from your usual place of work for periods of detached duty or training.
. click apply for full job details