Training and Development

A structured induction will help you understand our mission, ways of working, and the delivery community you’ll be joining. From day one, you’ll be supported by your line manager and a dedicated buddy, helping you settle in, build confidence, and navigate the organisation.

Development continues through a blend of internal and external training, practical experience, and community support. As a corporate member of the Association for Project Management (APM), we encourage you to explore relevant courses, frameworks and accreditation pathways. Access to mentoring, coaching and project management forums will provide opportunities to share learning and strengthen your professional network.

You’ll be encouraged to dedicate time to your professional development, helping you build your expertise across planning, risk and issue management, reporting, financial tracking and benefits management. This will prepare you to take on broader responsibilities as you progress.

As you grow in the role, you’ll also have opportunities to support and mentor others. Throughout your journey, you’ll be part of a supportive project management community committed to shared learning and professional growth.

Rewards And Benefits

You’ll receive a starting salary of £43,083, plus other benefits including:

• 25 days’ annual leave, rising automatically to 30 days after 5 years' service, plus an additional 10.5 days of public and privilege holidays
• Opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme
• An interest-free season ticket loan
• An excellent pension scheme
• A cycle to work scheme
• Facilities such as a subsidised gym, restaurant, and on-site coffee bars (at some locations)
• Paid parental and adoption leave

Equal Opportunities

At GCHQ, diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission. To protect the UK, we need a workforce that truly reflects the society we serve. This includes diversity in every sense of the word: people of 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 individuals from groups that are currently under-represented in our workforce, such as women, people from ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities and those from low socio-economic backgrounds.

Visit our website to find out more about our culture, working environment and diversity.

We’re Disability Confident

GCHQ is proud to have achieved Leader status within the Department for Work and Pensions’ Disability Confident scheme. The scheme encourages employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people. As a Disability Confident organisation, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants who best meet the essential criteria for this position, assessed at sift, are offered an interview, if it is practical for us to do so. This is known as the Offer of Interview. To secure an interview for this role, the minimum criteria (in order of application process) are:

• You'll be required to reach the minimum pass mark for the online Situational Judgement Test (SJT), which assesses criteria important for all roles in our organisation
• Meet the minimum pass mark for your motivation and skills for the role and organisation - to be assessed at application sift

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

What to expect

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

• Online Situational Judgement Test (SJT) in which you rate the appropriateness of responses to a series of short scenarios.
• Application Sift, looking at your motivation and skills for the role and the organisation.
• Virtual Interview, including technical and competency-based questions.
• If successful, you’ll 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 to 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 must be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. Read about our eligibility criteria.

This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community undertakes. Find out more about the vetting process.

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 applying, we recommend setting up a separate email address for your contact with us to ensure your personal and application correspondence remain separate. Try to avoid including 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 manage your application with us more securely.

The role is based in Cheltenham, 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.

We offer reasonable reimbursement of travel costs for candidates attending in-person appointments during the recruitment and vetting process. Full details will be provided with your interview or assessment invitation. Reimbursement is discretionary and will only be made in line with the Candidate Expenses Policy, as amended from time to time. Candidates must book their own travel, using the most economical option, and provide original hard copy receipts for reimbursement.

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 begin your application. Applying from outside the UK will affect 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 reserve the right to close applications once a certain number have been received. To avoid missing out, we