Occupational Health Advisor Secret Intelligence Service London

Salary: London: £40,629 – £48,928; Cheltenham/Manchester: £38,390 – £46,862

Location(s): London, Cheltenham and Manchester (primarily London, but there may be potential to be based in Cheltenham and/or Manchester)

Flexible working: Opportunities available include part-time, full-time, compressed hours, job-share and regional office working (with a commitment to travel to London once a month). There may also be the possibility of some ad-hoc home working, though this will be limited due to the nature of the role.

About Us

MI5 keeps the country safe from serious threats like terrorism and attempts by states to harm the UK, its people and way of life. We carry out investigations by obtaining, analysing and assessing intelligence, and then work with a range of partners, including MI6 and GCHQ to disrupt these threats. Through our protective security arm, we provide advice and guidance to government, businesses and other organisations about how to keep themselves safe. A role in MI5 means you’ll do unique and challenging work in a supportive and encouraging environment, making a real difference to UK national security.

The Role

In this challenging and exciting role, you will join our well-established, in-house Occupational Health team. Collaboration is at the heart of what of what we do, and you will work with our Wellbeing teams, Health and Safety, other healthcare professionals and our HR partners where necessary, to provide the best possible service. Whilst you will be employed by MI5, you could also be based at MI6 or GCHQ, working with staff from all three organisations.

Our Occupational Health team helps us to look after our most important assets – our people. On any given day, you could be managing casework, supporting staff with existing health conditions, or helping teams to build a workplace culture that prioritises physical and mental health. There is also the opportunity to shadow different teams around the organisation(s), to better understand how to support your colleagues.

It’s a unique chance to use your skills for the thing that matters most – protecting people.

About You

You could be either an experienced and qualified Occupational Health Advisor and registered with NMC Part 1, or a registered nurse in any field of nursing with a keen interest in Occupational Health and a willingness to undertake Occupational Health training.

If you’re not a qualified Occupational Health professional, you will have the opportunity to undertake a post-graduate qualification in Occupational Health, and we’ll support you through every step of your training with a funded part-time course and paid study leave. A post-graduate qualification will be an advantage, as you’ll need it for promotion.

Whatever your current role, you will need good knowledge of occupational health and employment legislation, and experience of complex case management. Using your sound organisational skills, you will manage a busy and interesting caseload to deliver a prompt and efficient service, getting the chance to focus on individual cases.

With excellent communication and interpersonal skills, you will support our people effectively with advice on how to manage their health conditions in the workplace, while providing travel clearances, risk assessments, health surveillance and fitness for work medicals.

Your advice will be relevant and timely, and your recommendations will be in line with medical standards and legislation. Your ability to analyse issues, make evidence-based decisions and provide solutions will also be key in this role.

Training and Development

Whatever your career path, you’ll benefit from dedicated training and development, and gain a variety of different professional skills throughout your time with us. From a wide range of courses in our internal training academy to the chance to build on your professional qualifications, we’re committed to making the most of your skills and potential. Our support includes funding for job-specific training such as audiology, spirometry, vision screening and HAVS (Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome).

In addition to training opportunities, you could get to shadow other roles within the organisation(s) and travel both nationally and overseas.

Rewards and Benefits

You’ll receive a starting salary, depending on experience and qualifications, of between £40,629 (trainees) to £48,928 (qualified OHAs) in London, or £38,390 (trainees) to £46,862 (qualified OHAs) outside London, 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
• Personal Learning Budget
• Interest-free season ticket loan
• Excellent pension scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Facilities such as a gym, restaurant and on-site coffee bars (at some locations)
• Paid parental and adoption leave
• Rented accommodation loan for new joiners relocating

Equal Opportunities

At MI5 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 here:

We’re Disability Confident

MI5 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 person-to-person interview 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:

• You will need to be a registered nurse either with an existing qualification or experience in Occupational Health, or a registered nurse in any field of nursing with a keen interest in Occupational Health and a willingness to undertake Occupational Health specific training.

What to Expect

Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:

• Eligibility questions – you’ll need to answer a series of questions relating to this vacancy.
• If you meet the eligibility criteria, and pass the essential criteria sift, you’ll be invited to an interview.
• Interview, including technical and competency-based questions.
• If successful, you will receive a conditional offer of employment and progress to the vetting stage of the process.

Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 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 MI5 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 discretely.

You’ll need to live within a commutable distance of your usual place of work. 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.