Exploitation Engineers

Salary: £41,714, made up of a base salary of £35,134, a concessionary payment of £2,758, and a skills payment of up to £3,822 from day one, reflecting the skills and experience you demonstrate during the selection process. Plus, a £2,000 recruitment bonus.

Flexible working:
We recognise the importance of a healthy work-life balance and offer a range of flexible working arrangements, including part-time and compressed hours. Where business needs allow, we can also offer flexibility around start and finish times. Due to the nature of the role, homeworking isn’t available.

GCHQ is an intelligence and cyber security agency with a mission to keep the UK safe. We use cutting-edge technology, ingenuity and partnerships to identify, analyse and disrupt threats. Working alongside our intelligence partners, MI5 and MI6, we protect the UK from terrorism, cyber-attacks and espionage. At GCHQ, you’ll take on varied and fascinating work in a supportive and inclusive environment where teamwork is at the heart of everything we do.

GCHQ is offering an exciting opportunity to join a growing operational area responsible for the interception and exploitation of global communications in support of the UK Government, the UK military and our allies.

You will initially join our Communications Exploitation development team, where you will be supported in developing the skills needed to exploit global communications. Through a combination of on-the-job-training, innovative experimentation and prototyping, you’ll help deliver real-world mission outcomes.

If you have a passion for technology and are keen to build a career using innovative engineering to support GCHQ’s mission, this role could be for you.

As a Exploitation Engineer, you’ll work as part of an Agile team to design, develop and deploy technical solutions that support mission requirements. Using a combination of software, firmware and hardware engineering, you’ll contribute across the full engineering lifecycle, from understanding user needs to development, testing and deployment.

Many of the challenges you’ll encounter will be complex, with no obvious solution. You’ll therefore undertake research, prototyping and experimentation to develop innovative approaches that meet operational needs. You’ll also work closely with operators to ensure technologies you develop can be deployed effectively across global networks and military platforms.

Typical work within the Communications Exploitation development team includes researching emerging communications technologies, developing software and signal-processing capabilities, applying AI to complex challenges, and designing bespoke hardware and RF solutions.

You’ll use a variety of modern programming languages, tools and frameworks, including JavaScript, Java, C++, Python, Rust, Go and .NET. Depending on the work you undertake, you may also use technologies such as Kubernetes, MATLAB, VHDL and FPGA-based platforms to develop and deploy operational capabilities.

You’ll work with a broad range of technologies while developing your expertise through practical experience and collaboration. As part of our Communications Exploitation development team, you’ll work alongside colleagues, the military and international partners to deliver solutions that support UK interests at home and overseas.

If you’re successful in securing a Exploitation Engineer role, please note that occasional travel to another GCHQ site may be required. Where overnight stays are necessary, GCHQ will fully cover travel and accommodation expenses.

We’re looking for people with a passion for technology and engineering. You’ll have studied a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics) subject, such as Physics,…