Platform Engineer (National Security) Location: Opportunities available across Gloucestershire, Manchester and London Hybrid: Secure-site working patterns vary by programme Salary: £40,000 – £80,000 plus bonus and benefits, depending on experience and SFIA grading Clearance: Active DV / eDV clearance preferred The Opportunity You will be joining a growing engineering consultancy delivering secure software and platform capability into highly classified National Security and Defence environments.The organisation has built a strong reputation for combining modern engineering practices with a genuinely collaborative and engineering-led culture. Teams remain intentionally small, giving engineers broader technical exposure, closer collaboration with leadership and far greater influence over delivery than is typical within larger defence primes.Many engineers join from larger organisations looking for less process-heavy delivery structures, broader project exposure and the opportunity to work more closely with both customers and engineering teams.The environment particularly appeals to engineers who enjoy working alongside smart, pragmatic people solving difficult problems collaboratively rather than operating inside narrow technical silos.As the organisation continues expanding capability across both West and North sites, there is a strong focus on maintaining engineering quality, community and reputation as the teams grow.There are also increasingly clear opportunities to progress into architecture and leadership roles as the business continues to scale. The Role As a Platform Engineer you will help design, build and operate the infrastructure and tooling that underpins secure software delivery across a range of National Security programmes.You will work closely with software engineers, architects and operational stakeholders to improve automation, scalability, operational resilience and secure delivery practices across cloud and containerised environments.Typical responsibilities include:• Building and maintaining secure infrastructure using Infrastructure as Code tools such as Terraform and Ansible • Deploying and operating containerised platforms using Docker and Kubernetes • Supporting cloud-native platform delivery across AWS and Azure environments • Designing and improving CI/CD pipelines and modern software delivery workflows • Implementing observability and monitoring using tooling such as Grafana, Elastic Stack and cloud-native monitoring platforms • Supporting platform reliability, operational resilience and secure delivery practices across engineering teams • Contributing to modernisation programmes involving secure data environments and legacy platform transformation • Collaborating directly with multidisciplinary teams and customers to evolve platform standards, tooling and automation approachesThe teams tend to value pragmatic engineers who can communicate well, work closely with stakeholders and balance technical quality with real-world operational constraints.The organisation places far more emphasis on engineering mindset, adaptability and collaborative delivery than on matching a rigid checklist of technologies.These roles are particularly well suited to engineers who enjoy broad technical exposure and operating across cloud infrastructure, automation and secure software delivery rather than specialising in a single narrow technology area. Security Requirements Due to the nature of the work, active UK*C DV clearance is preferred. Candidates should typically be sole UK nationals and willing to travel to secure customer sites where required. Benefits • 10% clearance bonus • 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays • Buy or sell up to 5 days leave per year • 8% employer pension contribution • Private healthcare • Life assurance • EV car scheme via salary sacrifice • EMI share scheme • Flexible working and flexi-time • Dedicated training allowance and individual development plansAs an industry leading, nationwide Marketing, Digital, Analytics, IT and Design recruitment agency, we are continually receiving new assignments to work on, so keep a close eye on our website, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter pages for a full list of current permanent and interim opportunities as well as marketplace news and fun stuff. Forward Role is operating as an employment agency.

Senior Embedded Software Engineer LocationGloucester or Romsey Hybrid: Flexible hybrid working across secure sites, client environments and home workingSalary: Competitive salary aligned to experience and SFIA levelClearance: SC eligible with willingness to undergo higher levels of UK vettingThe OpportunityThis 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 RoleYou'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 RequirementsCandidates 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. As an industry leading, nationwide Marketing, Digital, Analytics, IT and Design recruitment agency, we are continually receiving new assignments to work on, so keep a close eye on our website, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter pages for a full list of current permanent and interim opportunities as well as marketplace news and fun stuff. Forward Role is operating as an employment agency.

 Software EngineerThe OpportunityThis is the kind of environment that attracts engineers who want to stay close to meaningful technical work without disappearing into heavily layered delivery structures.The organisation operates across the UK National Security and Defence ecosystem, delivering operational capability within RF communications, sensing and secure technology programmes. The work combines long-term product engineering with R&D-style problem solving, often within high-side environments where technical quality and engineering judgement carry real weight.Teams are typically smaller and flatter than larger primes, giving engineers broader project exposure, more ownership and greater influence over technical direction. Software engineers work closely with systems specialists, DSP engineers and programme leadership rather than operating inside narrow delivery silos.The environment suits engineers who enjoy variety and multidisciplinary collaboration. Depending on the programme, the work can span embedded Linux, DSP implementation, modern UI engineering, DevOps tooling and wider software modernisation initiatives. The RoleYou'll be joining an agile software team responsible for developing and evolving software across RF communications and sensor-based products used within operational National Security and Defence environments.The role sits close to both product engineering and technical decision-making, with engineers contributing across design, implementation, testing and ongoing capability development. Depending on your background and interests, the work can flex toward embedded software, modern UI engineering or wider platform and tooling development. Teams work collaboratively with Product Owners, System Design Authorities and multidisciplinary engineering groups, so the role suits people who are comfortable contributing technically while also engaging in broader engineering discussions and trade-off decisions. Designing and implementing software components for sensing and communication systems using C++, C# and Python.Supporting product development across the full engineering lifecycle from early R&D concepts through to operational delivery and testing.Contributing to modern software architecture approaches within Agile delivery environments using Scrum and Kanban methodologies. Implementing scientific and DSP-focused functionality, including algorithm integration within operational systems.Developing embedded Linux software including cross-compilation, deployment activities and low-level system tooling.Building and improving CI/CD workflows using GitLab pipelines, Docker and modern DevOps engineering practices.Working collaboratively within Git-based engineering environments using GitLab, Git and VS Code tooling.Supporting modern UI development and user-facing operational software where programmes require frontend capability  This environment tends to suit engineers who enjoy breadth as much as depth. The team is less focused on finding somebody who perfectly matches a single stack, and more interested in people who are technically curious, adaptable and comfortable working across disciplines when needed.Strong communicators generally do well here because engineers are trusted to contribute beyond pure implementation. That could mean influencing technical direction, collaborating across multidisciplinary teams or helping shape how products evolve over time.It is also a strong fit for engineers who prefer engineering autonomy and collaborative technical cultures over highly siloed delivery environments.Security RequirementsActive SC clearance preferred. Candidates must be eligible and willing to undergo higher levels of UK National Security vetting where required.As an industry leading, nationwide Marketing, Digital, Analytics, IT and Design recruitment agency, we are continually receiving new assignments to work on, so keep a close eye on our website, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter pages for a full list of current permanent and interim opportunities as well as marketplace news and fun stuff. Forward Role is operating as an employment agency.