Software Engineering Lead - SC Cleared

Software Engineering Lead - Digital Engineering

Location: Reading - Hybrid (minimum 50% onsite)

Rate: £70-£80 per hour, Inside IR35

Contract: 6-month rolling contract

Clearance: Active SC clearance mandatory; DV clearance highly desirable

Eligibility: Sole UK Nationals only

The Opportunity

We are looking for an experienced Project Engineer - Digital Engineering / Software Engineering to support the technical delivery of complex Software Factory projects across sensitive MOD, Defence and aerospace programmes.

This is a hands‑on technical delivery role, acting as the key interface between engineering teams and Delivery Management. You will coordinate technical activities, manage risks and dependencies, support technical decision‑making and help ensure projects are delivered to agreed scope, schedule and quality standards.

The role is based in Reading, with a minimum of 50% onsite working required.

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinate technical activities across multidisciplinary engineering teams and stakeholders.
• Track project execution against objectives, milestones and delivery plans.
• Identify and manage technical risks, issues, assumptions and dependencies.
• Support the development and maintenance of project plans and technical roadmaps.
• Provide technical leadership and first‑level technical decision‑making.
• Act as an escalation point for engineering and delivery issues.
• Manage technical interfaces across customers, suppliers and internal engineering teams.
• Support project reporting, forecasting and performance monitoring.
• Facilitate technical reviews, governance activities and milestone assessments.
• Ensure engineering deliverables meet agreed quality, process and compliance standards.
• Contribute to effort estimation, resource planning and workload prioritisation.
• Support configuration and change management.
• Communicate project status, risks and mitigation plans to key stakeholders.
• Work closely with architects, engineers and delivery teams to maintain technical alignment.

Essential Experience & Qualifications

• Active SC clearance - mandatory.
• DV clearance highly desirable.
• Sole UK National - mandatory due to programme requirements.
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology or a related discipline.
• 8+ years' experience working on software, systems or platform engineering projects.
• Demonstrable experience delivering architecture or technical solutions within MOD, Defence Digital, UK aerospace or similarly regulated environments.
• Strong software engineering and/or systems development background.
• Experience working within software delivery environments.
• Good understanding of DevOps and CI/CD practices.
• Proven technical leadership and stakeholder management experience.
• Experience managing technical risks, issues and dependencies.
• Strong communication, planning and coordination skills.

Desirable Experience

• Experience in Aerospace, Defence, Automotive or other highly regulated industries.
• Familiarity with Model‑Based Development environments.
• Experience managing multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Microsoft Azure DevOps certification.

Why Apply?

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced Project Engineer / Technical Project Engineer / Software Engineering Lead to work on sensitive, high‑profile UK defence and aerospace programmes.

Key details at a glance:

£70-£80 per hour | Inside IR35 | 6-month rolling contract | Reading | 50%+ onsite | Active SC mandatory | DV preferred | Sole UK Nationals only

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