Darter
Senior Defence Systems Technologist
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Role Overview
We’re looking for an experienced Defence Systems Technologist who can understand complex military problems, apply systems thinking to decompose them, and connect operational needs to the wider Defence technology ecosystem.
This goes beyond a conventional Solution Architecture role, combining mission understanding, systems thinking and technology judgement.
You’ll work across users, programmes, architects, engineers and specialists to understand mission needs, capture and decompose requirements, identify dependencies and shape coherent technical and architectural options.
You’ll be comfortable moving between the strategic and the technical: understanding an operational problem, exploring how systems and capabilities interlock, and helping senior stakeholders make informed technical decisions.
Your architecture should not exist simply to create diagrams. It should help people make better decisions.
What you’ll do
- Work with military users and stakeholders to understand operational needs, constraints and measures of success.
- Apply systems thinking across people, processes, information, technology and organisations.
- Decompose complex requirements into capabilities, functions, services, systems, interfaces and dependencies.
- Develop mission, system and solution architecture views that explain how capabilities fit into the wider Defence ecosystem.
- Identify dependencies across areas such as networks, cloud, data, identity, security, gateways, infrastructure and other programmes.
- Consider interoperability, integration and information exchange from the outset.
- Develop and assess technical options, identifying risks, trade-offs and opportunities for reuse.
- Apply technical judgement to challenge assumptions, identify gaps and recognise when specialist expertise is required.
- Support technical governance, assurance, procurement and supplier discussions.
- Work alongside delivery teams to ensure architectural intent can be turned into achievable capability.
- Communicate complex technical issues clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
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Requirements
Technology awareness
A key part of the role is maintaining broad awareness of developments across both military and commercial technology. This could include:
- cloud and edge computing;
- mission and combat systems (AIR);
- C4ISR systems
- data platforms and exploitation;
- cybersecurity;
- NATO interoperability technologies
- AI and machine learning;
- identity and zero-trust architectures;
- communications and connectivity;
- autonomous systems;
- Sensing/emerging IOT technologies;
- Space domain systems;
- digital engineering;
You are not expected to be a deep specialist in all of these areas. You are expected to understand technologies well enough to assess their relevance, ask informed questions, challenge assumptions and recognise when specialist expertise is required.
We value people who can distinguish genuine opportunity from technology hype and reduce emerging technology to a practical question: “What could this mean for the mission?”
What good looks like
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Your work should help clients answer some deceptively simple questions:
- What are we trying to achieve?
- What capabilities do we need?
- How do they fit together and what do they depend upon?
- What already exists that we can reuse or exploit?
- Where are the gaps?
- Could technology change the answer?
- What are the risks and trade-offs?
- What decisions do we need to make next?
Ultimately, your job is to help turn complex operational problems into coherent, integrated and deliverable capability.
This is a hybrid role and you should expect regular travel to client sites across the UK, typically most weeks. When not required on site, we support flexible and remote working. We are seeking applicants who are UK based, that are eligible to work and reside in the UK.
You must be eligible to obtain and maintain Security Check (SC) clearance and potentially Developed Vetted (DV).
Benefits
What you’ll get
- Meaningful work that contributes to the UK's security and resilience.
- A supportive, values-led culture built on excellence, empathy, and integrity.
- Competitive salary, performance and profit-share bonus, and share options plus;
- Pension matched up to 10%. Private health insurance. Dedicated learning and development budget. Flexible, remote-first working. Unlimited holiday. Volunteering leave and matched charitable donations.
Not ticked every box? We'd still love to hear from you. If you're excited by the opportunity to use technology to solve complex Defence challenges, please apply and start a conversation with us.
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