MI5 seeking changeable techies

Psst! MI5 is on the hunt for techies with killer design skills.

The UK's security intelligence agency is looking to recruit enthusiastic IT architects to work in Central London with experience in "IT solutions design" for large-scale organisations - and who are keen to work on business change programmes.

Candidates must also boast strong comms and "influencing skills".

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A job ad published in The Sunday Times reads: "We require [IT] Architects with technology domain experience; you will be responsible for ensuring a coherent solution architecture for specific business change programmes, encompassing business, application and infrastructure architecture.

"Part technical lead and part strategic-shaper, you will work closely with the Security Service's front-line and Enterprise Architecture teams to set the overall technical direction for each programme and develop detailed solution designs."

As well as being able to demonstrate broad experience of IT solution design, candidates must have more in depth experience in at least two of the following areas: data centres; servers and storage; messaging; telephony; application design using Windows, IBM WebSphere, AIX, Oracle, Java and .net technologies; networking; desktop; mobile working; data warehousing; and security.

Candidates also need experience of "the full project and software lifecycle" - using "recognised design methods, modelling processes and tools" - including software selection, procurement processes and systems integration, the job ad states.

According to the ad, successful candidates can expect a competitive salary and excellent benefits. The closing date for applications is 17 July 2008.

Last year the security agency ramped up the number of tech staff it employs as part of a wider staff recruitment drive, describing IT as "absolutely central, not peripheral, to our business".