U.K. Gov't Website Posts Job Listing for 'Target Elimination Specialist' With 007 Code

Actor Daniel Craig plays 007 in the latest James Bond movie "Skyfall." (Image: Skyfall-movie.com)

If you had ever wished to be employed by Britain's MI6 as a James Bond-like special agent, your chance has come -- and gone. The U.K. government's official job posting site issued a listing for a "target elimination specialist."

The reference code for this listing? You've probably guessed it: 007.

The description calls for a candidate willing to travel internationally "where individuals need to be removed." The position is preferred for someone who takes their martini's "shaken and not stirred."

Here's a screenshot showing the job description. (Image via The Verge)

The listing, meant to be a joke, has been removed from the site after being discovered last week. Given that the most recent James Bond movie "Skyfall" has a cyberhacking villain, as The Verge pointed out, it is "a little worrying" that whoever posted this made it onto the official site. Here's more from The Verge:

Registered under mi6recruitment@hotmail.com, the prankster has had the job position live on the site, and accessible via government-run UK job centers since yesterday. The job site forms part of the recently-launched Gov.uk, a one-stop shop for residents and businesses to get information on all of the government's services. The site has been heavily criticized for costing too much and having basic errors, especially in its business section.

Here's a screenshot showing the specs for the job. (Image via The Verge)

The U.K.'s The Register reported a SIS/MI6 spokeswoman confirmed the listing was fake. The publication stated that such a prank could have been pulled because the private sector is able to post jobs on the site and this one (clearly) didn't receive a close enough prior review before going live. The Register reported that hacking doesn't seem to have played a role with this job advertisement.

(H/T: Gizmodo)