Software Developer, GCHQ

Contract Permanent Hours Full time Sector Technology & IT, Development (IT), Web developer

Job Title: Software Developer

Location: London

Closing Date: 23:00 on Tuesday 15th April 2025

Salary: £50,294 (includes non-concessionary payment of £2,658). You'll also have the opportunity to qualify for a skills payment (up to £9,812) following a successful skills assessment.

Flexible Working: This is a full-time role. You can expect to be predominantly office-based, with some home working (up to 2 days per week), subject to business need.

About Us

At GCHQ, we unlock the complex world of data and communications to keep the UK and its citizens safe, both in the real world and online. Working closely with our British Intelligence partners in MI5 and MI6, we protect the UK from threats including serious organised crime, terrorism, and cyber-attacks. A role in GCHQ means you'll have varied and fascinating work in a supportive and encouraging environment that puts the emphasis on teamwork.

The Role

As a Software Developer at GCHQ, you'll work on innovative ideas as part of a team that fosters continual experimentation. Using your technical skills, you'll provide insight into operational activity and develop pioneering software solutions to optimise and resolve specific challenges. You could be working on solo projects or in small teams solving specific challenges for missions, or as part of a larger group focused on bigger, more detailed problems. No matter what, experimentation is always encouraged. Working with cloud-based tools, such as Azure and AWS, you'll collaborate with colleagues across multiple technical teams and mission areas to develop capabilities, share ideas and contribute to operations. You may also work with partners from external industries and other security agencies.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities will include researching and analysing web and mobile technologies as well as designing, documenting, and implementing solutions for operational requirements. You'll support existing operations and software solutions throughout their lifecycle, all while helping to push innovative, cutting-edge ideas and technologies forward. There may also be some line management duties in the future, dependent on experience.

Selected at either recruitment or in-role assessment, you'll be allocated a specialism, dependent on preference and skills. The specialisms we are looking for include:

• Server and client-side technologies
• Dynamic and Runtime analysis techniques
• Software Principles and Design Patterns
• Object Oriented Programming
• Android App Development
• Agile/Lean Methodologies

About You

To apply, you'll require GCSEs at grade 4/C or above, or an equivalent Level 2 qualification in English Language and Maths. You'll also need some experience working within software development with exposure of end-to-end projects. This may include contributing to the design/architecture of a product; writing and testing code that delivers features to a product; experience of maintaining support of a running system - including fault diagnosis and resolution.

It's all about aptitude and attitude. We're looking for curious, analytical people with a keen interest in technology and finding creative solutions. You'll be able to demonstrate a desire to stay on top of the latest in tech, as well as an ability to develop new and existing skills.

You work collaboratively across multiple teams and thrive within an agile environment. Able to adapt to change and reprioritise your work in a changing environment, you'll always remain focused, no matter the circumstances. Plus, you're confident communicating with a range of customers, and sharing knowledge, insights and technical information clearly.

Training and Development

At GCHQ, we're committed to developing our staff and recognise this will look different for everyone. We have an exceptional skills community dedicated to helping you grow and from day one, you'll receive full support from your Line Manager. After a comprehensive induction into the organisation, you'll be allocated a buddy to help you settle in.

You'll receive initial training in-house from our team of experts. Then you'll have the chance to complete necessary external training courses to gain relevant qualifications or develop skills such as Linux and knowledge of new technologies. We aim to help you grow your skills and knowledge through exposure, so you'll get experience with a wide variety of technologies and programming languages.

You'll be surrounded by technical experts, all eager to support you and you'll also receive mentoring from more experienced members of the team. Once your skills and knowledge have developed, we'll support your application for specialist skills payments. And, as you build your future with us, you'll be empowered to set your own direction for your career and to explore progression opportunities within the team and the wider organisation.

Depending on the specialism, the skills that you'll be able to develop include:

• Compiled & interpreted programming languages (Go, Python)
• Containerisation (docker, Kubernetes, EKS)
• Agile development methodologies (kanban)
• Automation (+terraform, CloudFormation)
• Statistics generation & data aggregation (Elasticsearch, python-pandas)
• Security minded - (e.g. secure coding practices, common vulns)
• OWASP Top 10 - experience of implementing least privilege accesses
• Automation tooling (Ansible/Docker/ CI/CD pipelines)

Rewards and Benefits

You'll receive a starting salary of £50,294 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
• 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.
• You may qualify for Specialist Skills Payments starting from £4,513 which can be expected once you have completed your first year in post, depending on your progress and development in the role, and subject to assessment. Skills revalidation is periodically required to retain payment.

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:

Diversity and Inclusion

What to Expect

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

• Application Sift
• Interview - which will cover technical and competency-based questions
• 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. 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 London, 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.

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.

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