Senior Defence Systems Specialist

London, United Kingdom

Darter is a strategic consultancy dedicated to strengthening the UK's national security, resilience and prosperity in the digital age. We partner with senior leaders across defence, government and technology to cut through complexity, shape strategy and accelerate real-world progress.

Our people sit at the highest level of decision-making — providing the clarity and influence that ensures choices are informed, impactful and future-ready. We work shoulder to shoulder with delivery teams to keep strategy and implementation aligned, so ambitious ideas translate into genuine impact.

Guided by our values — Deliver Excellence, Empathy and Integrity, Force for Good — we're building a team of sharp, mission-driven people who want their work to matter. If you want to help make the UK more secure, prosperous and agile, we'd like to hear from you.

Job Description

We'relooking for an experienced Defence Systems Technologist who can turn complex operational problems into coherent, integrated and deliverable capability.You'llwork with military users, programme teams, architects,engineersand senior stakeholders, connecting mission needs with the wider Defence technology ecosystem.

This is more than a conventional solution architecture role.You'llcombine mission understanding, systems thinking and sound technology judgement to clarify options, expose dependencies and help people make better decisions. Your architecture will not exist simply to create diagrams; it will help turn strategic intent into practical delivery.

Whatyou’lldo

• Work with military users and stakeholders to understand operational needs, constraints and measures of success.
  




• Apply systems thinking across people, processes, information,technologyand organisations , decomposing complex requirements into capabilities, functions, services,systemsand interfaces.
  




• Develop mission, system and solution architecture views that show how capabilities fit within the wider Defence ecosystem.
  




• Identifydependencies across networks, cloud, data, identity, security, gateways, infrastructure and related programmes , considering interoperability and information exchange from the outset.
  




• Develop and assess technical options, making risks, trade-offs,gapsand opportunities for reuse clear to decision-makers .
  




• Support governance, assurance,procurementand supplier discussions, while working with delivery teams to keep architectural intent achievable.
  




• Explain complex technical issues clearly to technical and non-technical audiences and challenge assumptions constructively.
  

Experience with Defence or NATO architecture frameworks, interoperability, coalition environments, secure information exchange, Cross-Domain Solutions, SysML , UML or ArchiMate would be useful, but it is not a checklist. We care most about how you think, how quickly you understand difficult problems and how effectively you connect operational needs with technical reality.

Requirements

We'reinterested in people who bring:

• Experience of military or defence systems gained through the Armed Forces, government,industryor a related environment.
  




• Experience in systems engineering, architecture, mission engineering, capability development or technical consultancy.
  




• Strong requirements capture, analysis and decomposition skills, with an understanding of system-of-systems environments.
  




• The ability to move confidently between strategic intent and technical detail , build trusted relationships and facilitate productive workshops.
  




• Strong technical judgement, intellectual curiosity and clear written and verbal communication.
  




• Eligibility to obtain and maintain Security Check (SC) clearance, with the potential to obtain Developed Vetting (DV).
  

Experience with Defence or NATO architecture frameworks, interoperability, coalition environments, secure information exchange, Cross-Domain Solutions, SysML , UML or ArchiMate would be useful, but it is not a checklist. We care most about how you think, how quickly you understand difficult problems and how effectively you connect operational needs with technical reality.

Broad technology awareness

You'll maintain practical awareness of developments across military and commercial technology, including AI, cloud and edge computing, mission systems, data, cyber, identity, communications, autonomy, sensing, space and digital engineering. You do not need to be a specialist in every area. You should be able to test relevance, recognise hype, ask informed questions and know when specialist expertise is needed.

This is a hybridroleand you should expect regular travel to client sites across the UK, typically most weeks. When notrequiredon site, we support flexible and remote working.

Whatyou’llget

• 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.