Frontier Resourcing
Principal Technology Innovation Engineer
Get notified of more jobs like this · No spam, ever
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Principal Technology Innovation Engineer – NatSec & Defence
The Opportunity:
What happens when you give an experienced engineer the freedom to explore new technology, solve difficult problems and turn ideas into working solutions? This is a role for someone who enjoys operating at the intersection of software engineering, emerging technology, research and solution design. You’ll have the opportunity to investigate new approaches, experiment with different technologies and develop prototypes and MVPs that can ultimately be applied to real-world NatSec and Defence environments. Rather than being tied to one technology stack, you’ll be encouraged to understand the problem first and then determine the most appropriate technical approach. Sometimes that will mean using established technologies in a new way. At other times, it could involve investigating a developing technology or building something that has never been attempted before.
About the Organisation:
Our client is an established technology organisation specialising in NatSec and Defence, with extensive experience delivering software engineering, research and digital infrastructure capabilities to customers operating in complex and highly secure environments. The organisation has been built around a strong engineering culture, with technical professionals encouraged to experiment, share knowledge and challenge conventional approaches. As the organisation enters an exciting period of growth and development, there is now an opportunity for an experienced technical professional to play an influential role in shaping its future technology capability.
The Role
This is a broad technical position with considerable variety. You’ll work across engineering and business development activities, helping the organisation understand emerging technologies, assess their practical applications and translate technical concepts into tangible solutions.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Your responsibilities could include:
- Investigating new technologies and assessing where they could provide genuine value.
- Designing and developing prototypes, proof-of-concepts and MVPs.
- Providing senior technical input into customer proposals and bids.
- Working alongside engineers to introduce new technologies, approaches and development practices.
- Exploring technical solutions to complex problems within NatSec and Defence environments.
- Supporting the development of new technical capabilities and service offerings.
- Researching emerging developments across software, infrastructure, AI and other specialist technology areas.
- Contributing to technical architecture and engineering decisions.
- Sharing knowledge and mentoring colleagues across areas of technical expertise.
- Working with the Business Development function to translate customer requirements into credible technical solutions.
You won't be expected to be an expert in every technology listed below. Curiosity, engineering judgement and the ability to learn quickly are more important than having a perfect checklist of skills.
Areas of Technical Interest:
The role could involve working across a broad range of technologies and engineering disciplines, including:
- Artificial Intelligence and machine learning
- AI systems engineering and integration
- Natural Language Processing
- Computer vision and image processing
- Quantum technologies
- C++ and Python development
- Modern web technologies
- Cloud engineering
- Distributed systems and architecture
- Network protocols and communications
- Observability and monitoring platforms
- Message brokers and event-driven architectures
- Database technologies
- Web authentication and security
- Version control and CI/CD
- Linux and wider systems engineering
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
You'll ideally bring:
- Strong software engineering experience in one or more languages such as C++, Python, Java, JavaScript, Rust or similar.
- Experience developing or evaluating technical solutions across multiple technology domains.
- An understanding of modern distributed systems and software architecture.
- Experience working with Linux-based environments.
- Exposure to one or more major cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure or GCP.
- The ability to understand unfamiliar technologies quickly and determine their practical application.
- Strong problem-solving and technical design skills.
- An interest in emerging technologies and how they can be applied to real-world problems.
- The communication skills required to explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Experience supporting pre-sales, bids, proposals or customer-facing technical engagements would also be valuable.
The Person:
This role will suit someone who gets bored doing the same thing every day. You're likely to be naturally curious, technically inquisitive and comfortable asking, "Is there a better way of doing this?" You don't necessarily need to be the deepest specialist in one particular technology. Instead, we're looking for someone who can move between disciplines, understand unfamiliar concepts, experiment with new approaches and work out how technology can be applied to solve a particular problem. You'll also be someone who enjoys working with other engineers and is happy sharing knowledge, challenging ideas and helping shape technical direction.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London