Following the war, after a brief return to journalism, Young returned to the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) as head of its Vienna station, where he was involved in running agents in south east Europe. In 1949 he was made head of SIS's economic requirements section (R6), their point of contact with the Treasury, the Board of Trade and the Bank of England. In 1951 he was appointed controller of SIS operations in the 'Middle East Area' which stretched from Morocco to Afghanistan down to Ethiopia. Here he became involved in implementing the Anglo-American decision to remove the Iranian leader Mossadeq and reinstate the Shah. According to Cavendish the Shah later said of Young that "In times of crisis he is a man who can take decisions and throw caution to the winds. Young is a man who believes that friendship cuts both ways and that Britain should stand by her friends even at the risk of offending others." In 1953 Young was recalled to London to take over as SIS Director of Requirements and in 1956, during the Suez crisis, he was again put in charge of Middle East Operations. In 1959 he was appointed Vice Chief of the Secret Service. His dissatisfaction with the Macmillan government led him to resign as Deputy of MI6 in 1961 and enter merchant banking.