Senior Embedded Software Engineer Location
Gloucester or Romsey Hybrid: Flexible hybrid working across secure sites, client environments and home working
Salary: Competitive salary aligned to experience and SFIA level
Clearance: SC eligible with willingness to undergo higher levels of UK vetting
The Opportunity
This is the kind of environment that tends to attract embedded engineers who want to stay close to meaningful technical work while avoiding heavily layered delivery structures and narrow project ownership.
The work sits across the UK National Security and Defence ecosystem, supporting operational systems within Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT), RF communications, sensing and wider EW capability. Projects range from low-TRL R&D and urgent operational requirements through to long-term product development inside high-side environments where engineering judgement and technical quality genuinely matter.
The Role
You'll be joining a team responsible for designing and developing embedded real-time software across advanced National Security and Defence platforms focused on RPNT, RF communications and operational sensing systems.
The role combines hands-on engineering with technical leadership responsibilities, making it well suited to experienced engineers who still enjoy low-level problem solving while helping shape wider engineering direction, delivery approaches and technical decision-making.
Teams work collaboratively across software, systems, FPGA and hardware disciplines, so the role suits engineers who are comfortable contributing across the wider engineering lifecycle rather than remaining inside narrowly defined ownership areas.
- Designing and developing embedded real-time software systems using C and C++ across RF, sensing and RPNT platforms.
- Supporting software delivery from early-stage R&D and rapid prototyping through to full operational deployment, integration and verification.
- Implementing bespoke signal processing and control functionality across secure communication and sensing systems.
- Working with DSP algorithms and modelling techniques using MATLAB and Python for simulation, analysis and algorithm development.
- Developing software for modern SoC devices, SDR platforms and open-source frameworks including OpenCPI.
- Collaborating closely with FPGA, hardware and systems engineering teams during integration, testing and customer acceptance activities.
- Supporting modern software engineering and DevOps practices across integration, deployment and collaborative development workflows.
- Contributing to technical leadership activities including design reviews, customer engagement and engineering decision-making across programmes.
The team is less interested in rigid checklist matching and more focused on adaptable engineers who are comfortable moving between technologies, engaging with multidisciplinary teams and contributing beyond pure implementation work.
Strong communicators tend to do well here because engineers are trusted with visibility, ownership and influence. It suits people who enjoy understanding how systems fit together operationally, contributing ideas early and working in environments where engineering autonomy is genuinely valued.
Security Requirements
Candidates must be eligible for SC clearance and willing to undergo higher levels of UK National Security vetting where required. Due to the nature of the work, applicants should typically be British citizens who have resided in the UK for the past 5 years.
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