FAQs

You’ll provide a visible security presence at Heathrow – helping to keep our passengers and colleagues safe while dealing decisively with any incidents that occur. This requires a good eye for detail, great people skills and a reasonable level of physical fitness as you will spend most of the day on your feet.

Much of your time will be spent effectively screening passengers through security, conducting searches, using x-ray machines to identify any dangerous items and patrolling the airport to identify any potentilal threats.

Due to the nature of the role, we can only hire candidates who are aged 18 or above.

It depends on whether you work for us part or full time. Generally, shifts at Heathrow last approximately 8.5 hours though. You could be assigned to work early morning shifts or a mixture of early, late and night shifts – but you’ll get plenty of advance notice about your shift patterns and there are opportunities to swap shift schedules if needed.

Either way, we’ll make sure you get set breaks during your shift where you can relax and recharge. You’ll work four days on and then enjoy two days off.

Security Officers at Heathrow earn £12.13 per hour, giving an annual full-time salary of £25,231, rising to £27,040 after two years. You’ll also enjoy a bonus and an excellent range of benefits, including a generous pension scheme, private medical insurance and life assurance.

What’s more, there’s plenty of scope for overtime, which pays time-and-a-half during the week, time-and-three-quarters at weekends and double time on bank holidays, meaning you could earn up to £24.26 an hour.

Yes. Whether you join us on a full-time or part-time basis, you will benefit from six weeks’ full-time training when you start. This training is mandatory and you must attend every day for the full six weeks. If you already have plans taking place during those six weeks then you may need to cancel or reschedule them as sadly our training programme isn’t flexible.

After your training programme is complete, you’ll complete the National X-Ray Competency Test (NXCT) before formally being signed off as a Security Officer. This will be followed by on-the-job training under the supervision and support of highly experienced colleagues to give you all the skills you need to succeed.

Preferably, you’ll have your HMRC letter before completing the online referencing and vetting form, but if you successfully get through to the later stages of your application process and you’re still waiting to receive the letter, you can complete the form anyway by accessing it here.

You can use an educational reference or a personal reference to cover the 5 years (as long as they are not a family member or partner). If you are self-employed you could alternatively use an accountant.

There are a number of travel options to get to your job at Heathrow. The airport is well served by the Tube, bus, and the new Elizabeth Line trains too.

We’re committed to sustainability so we always encourage our staff to use public transport where possible. However, we understand that some of our shift patterns don’t fit in with public transport schedules so we also have a staff parking lot for people who need to drive to work.

We have a dedicated cycle hub (offering free bike servicing, discounts on purchases and a cycle loan scheme) and offer discounts on the Heathrow Express and some buses and coaches. We also encourage car sharing, with a great scheme that will guarantee you a ride home if you have an emergency.

Plenty! If you have the talent, commitment and determination, we have the opportunities. A career with Heathrow could take you almost anywhere, both within security and beyond. Many of our Security Officers have progressed to more senior management and leadership roles in the operation, as well as to roles in other parts of the business such as IT, Communications and HR. We help more people get where they want to go than any other UK airport – and that applies just as much to our colleagues as our passengers.

Please contact our support team on 0203 9486 859 or email us at VacSupport@peoplescout.co.uk, immediately where we would welcome a discussion with you to talk through available options.

Security Officers have a vital role to play here at Heathrow, so it’s essential we recruit people with the right skills and approach, as well as the talent and personality we look for. There are also very strict rules on who can work in airport security, so we’ll need to make sure that you’re eligible and that we complete all the necessary checks to ensure that we keep our airport, colleagues and passengers safe. Referencing and vetting can be a long process, and can take up to 15 weeks. But you can help us speed it up by making sure we have all the information we need as soon as you apply. If we have asked for information, it’s because we need it so please do take time to undersand and provide everything that is requested. We’ll keep you informed and updated at every stage of the process. And thank you for your patience – this is an improtant process that all our Security Officers experience and we look forward to welcoming you to the team soon.