Mandarin Language Specialist - London, United Kingdom - Secret Intelligence Service

Secret Intelligence Service

Verified Company

London, United Kingdom

2 weeks ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

beBee Recruiter

Description

1

Your knowledge of Mandarin could open up a career in intelligence. By joining MI5, MI6, and GCHQ, you can play your part in protecting the UK.

About Us
MI5, MI6, and GCHQ are 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 deliver impact at the heart of national security, all within a supportive and inclusive environment that allows everyone to thrive.

About The Role

If you have a passion for languages, working as a Language Specialist for the UK intelligence agencies presents a truly unique opportunity.

You'll be working at the heart of our mission, supporting high-value activities that will keep the country safe. We're looking for Mandarin linguists for a role that is well beyond translation and transcription.

Your knowledge of the Mandarin language, as well as your in-depth understanding of Chinese culture, ideology, and politics will be a significant asset in helping to safeguard the UK.

With an adept knowledge of Mandarin language and Mandarin culture, you'll be able to identify nuances, and seek out key information from spoken and written materials, contextualise and, then make the information accessible and understandable to others.

And, every step of the way, you'll have plenty of opportunities to develop your own career path, focusing on the areas that interest you most.

Whatever you're doing, you'll enjoy varied, unique work using Language skills you would never have considered could create such impact.

At MI5 and MI6, you'll be part of a multi-disciplinary team and play an active role in directing projects and driving forward investigations.

It's rewarding work, which will draw on your judgement, people skills, as well as linguistic and cultural expertise.

Confident reading, writing, speaking, and listening to Mandarin, you'll do everything from translation and interpretation to operational work that includes planning, casework, and training.

About You

You don't need any experience or qualifications to be a Mandarin Language Specialist with us, just active and passive language skills, excellent written English, and a good knowledge of Chinese culture, history, religion, and politics.

Essentially, you'll be passionate about the language and a proficient user (at C1 level, see explanation below) of Mandarin language in all its forms.

Your proficiency could come from growing up in a multi-lingual family, undergoing language training in the military or studying Mandarin to a high level academically.

At C1 level or higher, you're able to:

Understand a wide range of longer and more demanding texts or conversations.
Express ideas without too much searching.
Effectively use the language for social, academic, or professional situations.
Create wellstructured and detailed texts on complex topics.

You can also access the CEFR self-assessment grid for more information on our requirements.

Having a keen interest in technology will support you at GCHQ.

But whichever organisation you join, we are looking for problems solvers with interpersonal skills and a high attention to detail.

You will also need:

An analytical, enquiring mind.
Good judgement and effective people skills.
A collaborative approach, as you will share your knowledge and contribute to professional standards of best practice.

During the interview process, you'll need to pass a language proficiency test by reading and translating newspaper articles and broadcasts.

The result will be considered alongside the role requirements on a case-by-case basis. Have a listen to a Mandarin audio clip here. If you can understand most of what's said, we strongly encourage you to apply

Training and Development

At MI5, MI6, and GCHQ, we have an inclusive and supportive working environment that's designed to encourage open minds and approaches.

We value and nurture talent and we're committed to ensuring you have the support and guidance to build a rewarding career at the heart of national security.

From language events and workshops, to acquiring professional qualifications, our strong learning culture will continuously develop you, your knowledge, and skills.

By joining MI5, MI6, or GCHQ, you'll be joining a network of colleagues across all three agencies. This widens our perspectives so we can engage through diversity of thought and approach.

As part of the selection process for MI5 and MI6, we'll identify specific areas for development and tailor a training plan to meet your needs.

When you join, you'll have an induction and be assigned a buddy from the same language area to help you settle in.

You'll also be paired up with a profession head to oversee your career interests. You'll receive training in applied skills such as interpretation and gain acce