AT GCHQ, they pride themselves on prioritising diversity of thought and aptitude when looking for new staff. They want people who can lead and make decisions, people who can work in teams and support and celebrate the success of others, people who can be role models and mentors, people who have a passion for technology or languages and people who can spot patterns in complexity.

Here we learn a little more about GCHQ and their employees…

What is GCHQ?

GCHQ is the UK’s intelligence, security and cyber agency.

Their mission is to protect the UK and its citizens from those who wish to do us harm, including countering terrorists, hostile states and serious and organised criminal networks. We focus on communications: how to access, analyse and – occasionally – disrupt the communications of the UK’s adversaries. We also help to protect the nation’s cyber security.

Colleagues across their various sites in the UK do a range of jobs to do this, including analysts, engineers, linguists and many, many more. The one shared quality they ask for in everyone is a commitment to keeping the UK safe.

Black History Month and diversity

For Black History Month, meet some of the team with African and Afro-Caribbean heritage who work day-in, day-out, to protect us all.

Diversity is mission critical at GCHQ. They understand that they are stronger when the organisation is more representative and inclusive of the communities they serve. It leads to better decision making and delivery. And makes for a richer and more rewarding work environment that allows everyone to contribute their best. It’s not just the fair and right thing to do, being more diverse and inclusive makes GCHQ a more effective organisation.

There is still more to do to make GCHQ a truly diverse and inclusive place to work. They are working to be more transparent, and below they share the experiences of some of their staff and their contribution to national security, to inspire more black people into STEM education and careers. GCHQ understand the need to make sure they don’t miss out on brilliant talent in the black community.

Meet some of the team…

Jason is a senior analyst at GCHQ. He is first generation black British of West African origin, and has worked across several operational areas including counter terrorism.

Tarinda is a Tech Leadership Development Support Officer at GCHQ, which means she helps people in tech teams to develop their leadership skills and abilities. Tarinda was the driving force behind an incredibly successful Black History Month campaign run internally last year, and has Zimbabwean and Barbadian heritage.

Jeremiah is a Senior Software Tech Lead, based in GCHQ’s Manchester office and works to protect armed forces overseas. Jeremiah has been in the industry for over three decades, and wants to see more young black people being encouraged into STEM subjects. Both of Jeremiah’s parents are Jamaican.

So, how did you end up working for GCHQ?

Jason: I graduated from university with a degree in business, before working in finance for a while. I found the work interesting but not as satisfying as I originally thought it would be. Deep down I wanted a career that was international and where I could contribute to society. I researched the community as much as I could and applied as a generalist entry officer (back when that was a thing) – and the rest is history!

Tarinda: I started at GCHQ in 2015 as a Commercial Officer. I had worked in the public sector and private sector for many years in sales and marketing roles, having gained a degree in business marketing. I saw GCHQ advertised at a careers fair – I’d heard of MI6 (SIS) and MI5 before, but I’d never heard of GCHQ. I went home and looked them up, saw the job description and recognised I had transferable skills, so I applied and got the job.

Jeremiah: I always knew what I wanted to do from an early age – I wanted to make a robot to take over the world. I’ve always been interested in computers, and decided to study for a systems engineering degree course, and then a computer science degree. I worked in the industry for a long time, mostly on government contracts, before applying for GCHQ. I’ve been lucky enough to work on robotics in my career, mostly avionics, but thankfully I grew out of the desire to take over the world, I now focus on protecting it.

What do you enjoy about your job?

Jason: My role in analysis is intellectually challenging, and I really enjoy that aspect of work. I am constantly thinking, trying to think of new and innovative ways to perform analysis against all of the information we have while trying to put it all into a presentable body of work. There are a lot of benefits as well. I’ve been lucky enough to travel overseas for work and have been able to pursue post-graduate studies to enhance my ability to do my job and to educate others in the community.

Tarinda: I like the structure and the autonomy of my role, it gives me space to innovate and time to think, so I can come up with new ideas. I also really enjoy seeing people progress, supporting them to have lightbulb moments, where they find their voice and realise they can do it. I’m always encouraging people and empowering them to reach their potential – it’s important to do that.

Jeremiah: I have always seen myself as a bit of a designer, I’m quite an expressive and creative person. I like designing solutions no one else can think of, looking at different features, coming up with novel methods to overcome challenges we face. 

What’s it like, working for GCHQ?

Jason: The community is filled with some of the smartest people in the UK, I find it a pleasure working with the people here. Everyone’s authentic, hardworking and strives for inclusivity and as much professional synergy across all teams.

Tarinda: It’s such a huge place, and I love that we’re encouraged to move roles and really get to see the business. I’ve now moved from a role in commercial into a role supporting tech leadership development, which is a much more people-focussed role, where I support staff from across the business in development programmes. It suits me, because I’m a real people person.

Jeremiah: I enjoy the technical aspects of my job at GCHQ, working on the cutting edge of technology, and influencing the direction of our work to protect the country as a whole.

I think it’s important to work somewhere like GCHQ as a black person, to be that role model. We need to work in places like this to show this is achievable and help heal race division across the country.   

What does Black History Month mean to you?

Jason: I see it as a celebration of black culture and contribution to British society. Also, it raises awareness of black people in general in industry, within the community, and the positive contributions of black people and allies to society.

Tarinda: I have been helping in the community to organise Black History Month and other activities for a long time. But I have always been quite quiet at work. Last year was a real turning point, with the murder of George Floyd and the movement that followed – it was an opportunity for voices to be heard, a chance to change the narrative and own that narrative. I was really pleased to find I got a lot of backing at a senior level. This year, we’re collaborating across the UK intelligence community and there are a lot of people involved.

Jeremiah: I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, it is important to share and celebrate our rich cultural heritage. But black history does make up a large part of British and world history and should be covered more extensively in these subject areas as such. There also needs to be much more visibility of high achieving black people, to reach a point where history is fully inclusive.

What are you most proud of having achieved in your career?

Jason: I’m most proud of serving the nation overseas and being able to contribute individually to work that keeps the country safe and prosperous. Last month, we commemorated 9/11, and the whole community (including partners and allies) work so hard to stop terrible incidents like that from ever happening again.

Tarinda: Probably the Black History Month campaign last year. I’ve negotiated some important contracts in my career, which have been very beneficial to the team, and working in tech lead development I’ve been proud to see the progress I’ve helped support, but I think the Black History Month campaign last year has to be up there. Because I had to come way out of my comfort zone and talk about something very difficult and try to shine a light on something that is important and get the conversation going and keep the conversation going and we’re starting to see that now.

I have an aunt, who grew up in Zimbabwe, and when she was growing up, black people didn’t have birth certificates, they didn’t have the right to vote, they had no voice. But I’m laying the foundation for people to use their voice and encouraging others to come forward, and that’s how you get real change. I’m proud of that.

Jeremiah: I’ve been involved in a lot of influential projects – where I can say ‘my contribution has made me proud’ – like my work in avionics in industry before GCHQ.  People used to recognise me as a technologist, I was a bit of a role model.  I’m also proud of some of the influence I’ve had and watching younger staff members grow.

Who have you learned the most from?  

Jason: Two of my former line managers – they were old hands, from service and military backgrounds, they understood the career path from start to finish. They taught me how to keep a calm head in a crisis, and how to make the best of a career that we’re lucky to work in.

Tarinda: I had a line manager when I first started at GCHQ, and she used to say ‘nothing is written in stone – there’s nothing that can’t be fixed’. That was very liberating. My mum as well, she used to say ‘the only person that stops you from getting somewhere, is yourself, if you want it, go out there and do it’ and that resonated a lot. 

Jeremiah: When I was growing up, there was a real lack of visible role models, so I took on that role myself to shape my own destiny. I’m a self-starter and have always been driven to achieve. When I started out, there were not many people in code development – it was an exclusive club. I’ve had to fight to be part of that club in the face of doubters. It’s a struggle that inspired me to keep going.

My mum really inspired me when I was growing up as well, she provided support – she didn’t understand my strange dream of building a robot, but she dared to dream without understanding any of it, and you need that.

What advice would you give yourself or others thinking of a similar career?  

Jason: Work hard, be brave, be authentic, always be a team player and don’t forget to smile.

Tarinda: Don’t be on the outside. Be on the inside. Come in, find your voice, find your path, and make your contribution – there is real opportunity here. Change can’t happen on its own, you have to be in the conversation, you have to be here.

Jeremiah: I would recommend that young black people to go into STEM, and I’m hoping in my lifetime that I’ll see loads more black young people taking up STEM degrees. It’s paramount. As a young boy, I used to dream about this sort of stuff, and it wasn’t really a thing back then, but now, technology rules our lives, it’s really important black young people get involved in that. I’d love to play an influential role in trying to facilitate that.

What advice would you give to others about their concept of GCHQ?

Jason: A lot of the uncertainty is based on false preconceptions of the community regarding diversity and inclusivity. To people who are considering a career within the community, I would say: do your own research into the community agencies, think about the area that you wish to work in, and definitely try to get involved in the outreach events to find out more about what we do.

Jeremiah: GCHQ has got certain advantages as a place to work; the work we do, and tech we use. The encouragement within this organisation to look at tech advancement is the best I’ve been involved in, and we’ve got to do that to stay one step ahead of our adversaries. I would encourage people to look at GCHQ.

To find out more about careers at GCHQ, visit their careers website.