Security Officer

House of Commons; West End; On-site; GBP 23,000 - 29,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave 30–35 days

Civil Service pension 27%

Flexible working options

Job summary

The House of Commons is recruiting Security Officers to help keep the Parliamentary Estate safe, accessible and welcoming 24/7. Based at the iconic Parliament estate, you will protect colleagues, visitors and buildings while supporting Parliament's democratic work.

You will control access, conduct searches, monitor CCTV, respond to alarms, patrol the estate and respond to incidents. Experience in customer service and strong teamwork are valued, and a level of physical fitness is required for the

Qualifications

• Experience of working with diverse groups of people, with great customer service skills, and also working well within a team.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Good security awareness, with the ability to follow relevant policies and procedures.
• Ability to gather relevant information to fully understand incidents.

Responsibilities

• Control access, conduct searches and screen people, vehicles and premises.
• Monitor CCTV, respond to alarms and identify threats.
• Patrol the Estate and challenge unusual activity.
• Provide a professional, welcoming service to visitors.

Skills

Customer service

Communication skills

Security awareness

Information gathering

Teamwork

Job description

What You'll Be Doing

Join the UK Parliament as a Security Officer and play a vital role in keeping the House of Commons safe, secure and accessible, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Based at the iconic Parliamentary Estate, you'll work in a fast-paced and constantly changing environment, protecting colleagues, visitors and buildings while supporting the democratic work of Parliament.

You’ll be responsible for controlling access, conducting searches and screening people, vehicles and premises, monitoring CCTV, responding to alarms and identifying potential security threats. You’ll also patrol the Estate, challenge unusual or suspicious activity and provide a professional, welcoming service to the more than one million visitors who come to Parliament each year.

This is a unique opportunity to develop specialist security skills in one of the UK's most high-profile environments. Security experience is welcomed, but transferable skills, sound judgement, physical fitness and excellent customer service are equally valued.

Find out more about working at the House of Commons.

Why Join us?

In addition to your salary, we offer an attractive range of benefits including but not limited to:

• Generous annual leave starting at 30 days and increasing to 35 after one full working year.
• Enrolment in the excellent Civil Service pension scheme with an average employer contribution of 27%
• Flexible working options that help you find a balance including enhanced maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption leave, caring leave and alternative working patterns.

What We're Looking For

• Experience of working with diverse groups of people, with great customer service skills, and also working well within a team.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Good security awareness, with the ability to follow relevant policies and procedures.
• Ability to gather relevant information to fully understand incidents.

Provisional Dates

• Assessment Day including Observational and Fitness Tests, Week Beginning 28th September 2026.
• Four available days are 1st to 4th October 2026.
• Final Interviews will take place on the same day.

As part of the selection process as Security Officers, we require a reasonable level of physical fitness to effectively carry out the duties of the job. This includes walking and patrolling the Estate, long periods of standing, lifting bags/trays and walking up stairs.

To assess this, the Assessment Day will include a multi-stage fitness test (also known as bleep test) to level 5.4, which is our standard required for this role. In addition, you will need to pass a full range of movement, comprehension and colourblind tests in order to reach the interview stage.