GCHQ
Senior Internal Auditor Ref. 3808
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Senior Internal Auditor Ref. 3808
Cheltenham, London
Closing Date - 23:00 on Tuesday 25th August 2026
Corporate Services
Cheltenham £60,998 / London £62,895
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Description
Flexible working: We offer flexible working arrangements, part-time opportunities and a range of working patterns such as compressed hours. Depending on the role and business needs, there may also be the opportunity to work from home for up to one day per week.
About Us
MI5 keeps the country safe from serious threats such as 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 departments, businesses and other organisations about how to keep themselves safe.
A role at MI5 means you’ll undertake unique and challenging work in a supportive and encouraging environment, making a real difference to UK national security.
The Role
We are seeking experienced Senior Internal Auditors to join our Internal Audit and Consultancy function. This is a high-impact role where you’ll have the opportunity to lead and deliver a diverse portfolio of work to provide customers with high-quality assurance and advisory services to enhance risk management, governance and internal control arrangements. You’ll also be involved in technology audit activity, reflecting its growing importance.
We’re a diverse team that works as a trusted business partner with the Intelligence Agencies, protecting value, delivering insight, and developing talent and future leaders. We have privileged exposure to the work of the community as a whole and take pride in delivering high quality and impactful services, while continuously seeking opportunities to innovate. It’s challenging, varied and meaningful work that you simply won’t find anywhere else.
Visit our internal audit page to find out more about the team.
Working at pace, you’ll manage and deliver internal audit assurance and advisory work to MI5, MI6 and GCHQ across a wide range of areas. This will include topics that are truly unique to the intelligence community, such as reviews of mission-focused capabilities and adherence to the legal framework underpinning our mission.
Your contribution will make a real difference. You’ll be working on a variety of complex audits and assignments, which could range from leading and overseeing a small team to deliver a project, to conducting independent reviews in line with quality, budget and agreed timescales. Your ability to build effective relationships with stakeholders to deliver impactful outcomes will ensure success in this role.
You will be based in London or Cheltenham. The ability to travel within the UK is essential, with the possibility of occasional overseas travel.
About You
We’re looking for experienced Senior Internal Auditors with a broad and demonstrable range of audit experience to support the Deputy Head of Internal Audit. Your experience will be underpinned by a relevant professional qualification, such as IIA, CCAB or equivalent. While specialist expertise in technology audit is not essential, you will have some technology audit experience and a keen interest in further growing your skills in this area further. To demonstrate your technology audit knowledge, a CISA qualification or equivalent is desirable but not essential.
Whatever your specialism, you’ll understand and evaluate business arrangements quickly, applying sound professional judgement to identify key risks and controls. You’ll be confident delivering complex, high- and medium-risk focussed internal audits in ambiguous and evolving environments. Utilising your experience, you’ll demonstrate knowledge of applying audit testing methodologies, data analysis, root cause analysis, and the ability to produce clear, high-quality audit reports. This includes reviewing the design of control processes and their operating effectiveness, with a focus on improving both efficiency and effectiveness. You’ll be a credible communicator, able to engage and influence stakeholders at all levels, including taking a lead role when working with senior stakeholders.
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As a senior member of the team, you may also manage a small number of newly qualified Internal Auditors or those undertaking the qualification. You’ll use your people management experience to lead a small team, supporting their development to deliver audit assignments at pace, manage competing priorities, and adhere to time and quality commitments.
You’ll have a diverse and broad internal audit background. You will have experience of auditing a range of corporate and operational areas and some experience of auditing against a range of IT general risks and controls. This may include access management, change management, disaster recovery and resilience, vulnerability and patch management, software development, and service management.
Broader depth of knowledge and experience in relation to areas such as cyber security, technology infrastructure, cloud computing, AI, and data governance are desirable but not essential. You will be keen to develop further your technical skills and keep up to date with emerging technologies to meet the desirable aspects of this role.
You may have experience of providing assurance over a transformation programme, but this is not essential. You will have proactive mindset and an ability to build relationships with internal and external stakeholders. You will be comfortable in successfully negotiating and communicating with customers at all levels to deliver difficult messages and influence change in a collaborative way.
Training and Development
In line with our focus on developing talent and future leaders, development opportunities will form an important part of this role. You will receive a structured induction into the organisation to build an understanding of what we do.
You will be supported in achieving the professional qualifications you need to progress your career with us in Internal Auditing. As a minimum, you will hold a recognised professional qualification (IIA, CCAB or equivalent), with CISA being desirable. Depending on your level of qualification and experience you will be expected, and supported, to undertake further training to deepen your technology auditing experience, e.g. completing CISA if not held.
Initial support will be provided by a buddy, alongside ongoing guidance from your line manager throughout your posting. Internal communities, support networks, and mentors will also be available to you.
Rewards And Benefits
You’ll receive a starting salary of £62,895 (London) or £60,998 (Cheltenham) plus other benefits including:
- 25 Days Annual Leave automatically rising to 30 days after 5 years' service, and an additional 10.5 public and privilege holidays
- opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme
- dedicated development 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
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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.
We’re Disability Confident
About
MI5 are proud to have achieved Leader status within the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) 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 fair and proportionate number of person-to-person interviews 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’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
- Demonstrable expertise in leading the delivery of complex, risk-based internal audits including applying audit methodologies and producing high-quality reports
- Stakeholder engagement skills with evidence of influencing and communicating effectively at senior levels
There is a wide range of extra support available throughout the recruitment process to enable you to perform at your best. Please visit our application page for information on the reasonable adjustments we can offer.
What To Expect
Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:
- Pre-screening questions, which will ensure you meet our initial eligibility to apply
- Online Situational Judgement Test (SJT) in which you rate the appropriateness of responses to a series of short scenarios
- Application sift, which will assess your motivation for the role, the organisation and your relevant experience
- Online interview, which will include motivational questions, technical questions and competency questions
- If successful, you will receive a conditional offer of employment, subject to vetting
Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take up to 12-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
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