The French secret service DGSE is looking for a special profile: a “couturier in flexible fabrics”. The new employee is expected to be able to hide all kinds of spy material inconspicuously in clothing. It sounds a bit like an assistant to character ‘Q’, the technical genius who provides secret agent James Bond with useful, sometimes life-saving gadgets.
The Direction générale des renseignements extérieurs (DGSE), the French intelligence service, is constantly looking for new recruits for various positions – last year it made 800 hires – but now they are offering a very notable vacancy. They are looking for a “couturier (m/f) in flexible fabrics”, someone who can handle clothing flexibly, an original tailor who can sew and mend.
According to the official job description, the new employee will be “in a textile and leather production unit specialized in accessories” and will be “mainly responsible for carrying out specific changes and adjustments to existing designs, mainly unique pieces or clothing in very small production ”.
It’s all quite vague, but in the specific universe of the DGSE, according to a former French intelligence chief, this amounts to hiding spy equipment – such as microphones and cameras – in bags, satchels, suitcases or jackets. Secret agents must be able to transport that kind of material discreetly, it sounds.
What qualities should the candidates have? Among other things, “rigor, reliability, perseverance, team spirit and a sense of initiative and innovation” are put forward in the vacancy, as well as “a good command of industrial sewing machines and a good knowledge of the materials treated and their properties”. A candidate must also prepare for a security screening, a procedure that takes approximately six months to complete. Discretion is of course required of the person being recruited. For example, the employer may never be mentioned and the working day may not be discussed at home.
The DGSE promises a “unique job with variety in the context of operations”.
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Tags: Wanted French secret service tailor hide espionage equipment
