Operational Software Engineer

Our Capability Development team develops bespoke software for our clients in the Cyber Security domain. We may be building assured software that prioritises engineering rigour and reliability, rapid cyber solutions that stitch together tooling for high‑impact results, or blended operational systems that address real-world challenges in the field. Common to all is commitment to technically led decisions, to meaningful technical challenge, and to engaging career paths where your work makes it off the shelf and into the hands of our customers.

All of our roles demand strong technical expertise, meticulous attention to detail, and a commitment to delivering robust, dependable solutions that our clients can rely on when it matters most.

Our Operational Technology (OpTech) projects are typically focused on novel communications and analytics, targeting a variety of platforms from bare‑metal through to large‑scale Android and Linux deployments. We’re looking for full‑stack developers who thrive on diverse requirements, capable of jumping from front‑end design to embedded platform development throughout their working week.

While much of our existing work uses Python, with a strong understanding of languages such as C, C++, Kotlin, JavaScript and Rust, you’ll fit right in. The OpTech team focuses on user‑driven applications, often involving bespoke hardware solutions. While not required, the best candidates are those with strong fundamentals in Radio Frequency (RF) communications and a desire to learn more.

We are led by engineers and empowered to optimise our (lightweight!) development processes with the knowledge gained from each project.

We are ideally looking for a candidate who holds an active Security Clearance to join our team, however, we will consider sponsoring new clearances for candidates that meet our technical requirements.

• Designing a new clean‑slate product with complete autonomy over its architecture.
• Adding new capabilities to, or replacing a core component of, an existing product.
• Throwing together a quick‑and‑dirty prototype to confirm the feasibility of a proposed technical approach; iterating until it meets requirements.

For this role you’ll be hands‑on in the day‑to‑day delivery of projects. Typically, this will see you working with one or two other colleagues at a time. In addition, you’ll take an active role in unlocking the potential of junior colleagues: encouraging idiomatic code, demonstrating engineering rigour, and sharing hard‑won knowledge with your peers. You’ll also help drive our engineering processes to maintain code quality while balancing realistic delivery timescales and client requirements.

• Experience leading a team of developers through a complete project lifecycle, engaging in requirements capture, design review, implementation, and assurance.
• Commitment to code correctness and quality assurance through static analysis, code review, automated testing, and continuous integration.
• Comfortable with operating under limited guidelines and requirements.
• Candidates with hands‑on experience targeting FPGA and Software‑Defined Radios and knowledge of traditional Telecommunications and Satellite communications systems.
• Demonstrable Android development (native or multiplatform).
• Design, development and maintenance of live micro‑service platforms.

This vacancy is for experienced software engineers and will require skills and experience in several of the areas listed as well as the ability to lead technical projects.

• Promotions are based on technical excellence and reviewed regularly.
• 25 days holiday per year (with bank holidays on top), option to buy up to 5 days per year.
• Level up with an extra day of holiday per year, up to an extra 5 days, starting from 2 years’ service.
• We offer financial support to cover HMRC allowable costs of relocating if you’re moving to the area.
• Training and development opportunities to support your career aspirations.
• O'Reilly books subscription which provides access to huge range of technical books.
• Regular events including internal technical conferences, company socials and pizza‑fuelled lunchtime seminars.
• Free…