Cheltenham
£30,831 (rising to £33,831 after successfully completing a 6 month probationary period)
Full-time or Part-time (3 days per week)
We’re GCHQ, the UK’s intelligence, security and cyber agency. We unlock the complex world of communications to make a real difference to the safety of the nation. Working closely with our partners in the intelligence community, we safeguard Britain’s people, interests, and businesses from threats such as serious organised crime, people and drugs trafficking, terrorism and cyber-attacks.
As a Somali Language Specialist, you’ll use your linguistic skills to identify key information and provide vital insights. This role is about far more than just translating and transcribing. Your challenge is to seek out and analyse important information from Somali language material and make it accessible and understandable to others. In addition to your language skills, You’ll draw on your knowledge of the culture, history and politics of Somalia to find, contextualise and deliver reportable intelligence, progress operations or shape and influence UK government policy.
Analytical, collaborative and with an enquiring mind, you’ll join a community of talented Language Specialists You’ll learn from the experts, and be encouraged to share your own findings as you help identify and counter threats to national security.
Upon joining, you’ll be allocated a development partner who’ll provide all the guidance you need as you settle in. We’re committed to helping you reach your full potential, and you’ll receive a structured comprehensive training and development package in language, which will include classroom-based learning and hands-on training. Upon developing your language proficiency, you’ll have the opportunity to join the language capability framework which offers additional allowances to reward your skills.
You might have grown up speaking Somali, or studied the language as part of your education or military training. To pass our language tests, you’ll need to comfortably read newspaper articles and news broadcasts in Somali, and translate the language into clear, well-drafted English.
In return for your expertise, we offer a range of benefits including 25 days’ annual leave (rising to 30 days after 5 years’ service), an excellent pension scheme, interest-free season ticket loan and access to our on-site facilities. We’re proud of our inclusive, welcoming and supportive culture. In addition to our sports and social societies, we have a growing number of affinity groups including gender, ethnic minority, faith, mental health, disability and LGBTQ+ networks – so you can feel confident bringing your whole self to work.
This is an exciting opportunity to make a real impact at the heart of British intelligence. To find out more and apply, visit our website.
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:
To be eligible to apply, you must be a British Citizen. If you hold dual nationality, of which one component is British, you will nonetheless be considered. Candidates must normally have been resident in the UK for seven out of the last ten years. This is particularly important if you were born outside the UK. You can apply at the age of 17 years, if successful you will not be offered a start date prior to your 18th birthday. Full eligibility details can be found on our website https://www.gchq-careers.co.uk/how-to-apply.html
