About the job

Job summary

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.

Job description

The Role  

As a Mechanical or Electrical Specialist, you will provide technical support to the Portfolio Project delivery team on aspects of design validation, M&E compliance, statutory legislation, standards validation, project snagging, equipment factory acceptance testing, and M&E site control. You will be responsible for maintaining and delivering industry standards and best practice, across Estates in supporting our mission delivery. The role is also responsible for the production and development of project ‘Statement of Requirements’ for wide ranging and diverse projects and contract deliverables. You will also assist in M&E plant and equipment failure investigation, in addition to conducting condition surveys of strategic and critical plant and equipment.

You will be responsible for providing daily support to our Estates management and project teams on a varied and wide-ranging aspects of M&E services. You will be the focal point for providing support on all aspects of associated M&E infrastructure and critical assets throughout the estate. You will have a close working relationship with the Total Facilities Management (TFM) provider on all aspects of M&E delivery, operation, and maintenance, providing M&E support during Client/TFM collaborative auditing of the TFM Integrated Management System. You will also provide support to the Estates Outage Manager on all aspect of outage delivery from outage planning through to outage site control and support. Sites could be located around the world, so some travel will be expected.

If you are keen to learn and mentor others, there is an exciting path ahead. With our support, you can open the door to new opportunities including professional qualifications and senior engineering roles. 

Person specification

About You

You will have a wide range of mechanical and electrical knowledge relevant to buildings infrastructure and services, applicable technical skills, and sound communication skills. You will be able to explain to us your solid M&E background and hold recognised technical qualifications. Demonstrating significant knowledge and experience with respect to HV/LV distribution, emergency standby systems, power generation, Data Centre power and cooling is something you will be able to show us. You’ll also be able to outline your considerable knowledge of mechanical and electrical planned maintenance systems and CAFM systems.
Good working knowledge of BS7671 and associated electrical installation, design, testing and inspection experience is important and you will be able to outline your experience of this to us.

You will be able to demonstrate an understanding of HV/LV electrical safe systems of work, associated electrical legislation, from experience in a safe systems of work environment. You will need to show a sound understanding of FM Hard Services delivery and experience in conducting FM and/or M&E service audits of FM service providers and sub-contractors.  

You will be adept in your interpersonal skills, able to contribute to the work of the Estates Team, developing and growing the partnership with our TFM provider. With solid organisational abilities, a positive attitude, and pragmatic approach to finding solutions to problems, you will be prepared to act on your own initiative and drive tasks through to a successful conclusion.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £41,935, GCHQ contributes £11,322 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

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

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. 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) is: 

•    We will aim to interview all candidates who meet the minimum requirement at CV sift and have an EngTech Qualification (or equivalent) under the UK-SPEC framework. Further details of UK-SPEC framework can be found here.

Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:
•    CV sift, looking at your motivation for the role and the organisation
•    Virtual interview – including 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 to 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 discretely.

The role is based in Manchester, 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. 

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.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK nationals only.

Working for the Civil Service

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.