At a Glance
- Tasks: Create realistic simulations for defence training using cutting-edge technology.
- Company: Join a leading tech firm focused on innovative defence solutions.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, flexible work options, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Collaborative team environment with exciting projects and career advancement potential.
- Why this job: Make a real impact by shaping how simulations react to user decisions.
- Qualifications: 4+ years in software engineering with strong C++ skills and simulation experience.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.
As a Simulation Software Engineer, you will own substantial parts of the simulation capability that makes continent-scale defence training feel like the real world - the behaviour and interactions of pedestrians, traffic, shipping, aircraft, satellites and critical national infrastructure that populate a scenario. This is the difference between an exercise that feels like a map overlay and one that reacts to a trainee’s decisions with the emergent complexity of actual people, systems and infrastructure. You’ll shape how simulated actors decide and act, how the simulation stays coherent when partitioned across a compute cluster, and how new LLM-backed capabilities - natural language control, richer actor generation and simulated social media - are brought into the engine. Your work will ship into customer exercises, live demonstrators and integration hackathons, where the loop between building something and watching users bend it to a real problem is measured in weeks, not quarters.
You’ll work across a C++ simulation engine, a custom distribution framework, and a TypeScript/React front-end used by Simulation Operators, inside a cross-functional team of Software, QA and DevOps Engineers led by an Engineering Manager. The team is made up of experienced simulation engineers looking for a peer who can bring energy, technical leadership and a product engineering mindset. If you enjoy moving between specialisms, raising the bar for the people around you, and shipping real things for users who depend on them, this is a role where your voice will carry real weight.
Key Responsibilities- Design and implement behaviour and decision-making logic for simulated entities - pedestrians, vehicles, shipping and aircraft - in a C++ simulation engine.
- Integrate third-party simulation libraries and algorithms, maintaining enough technical intuition for their internals to combine them into a coherent system.
- Shape how simulation state and behaviour are partitioned across a distribution framework, designing for IPC, bandwidth and fidelity trade-offs up front rather than retrofitting them.
- Contribute across the web/simulation boundary, extending REST services and the TypeScript/React front-end where features reach into them.
- Write design documentation and run design reviews within your area, helping the team converge on technical direction quickly.
- Review peers’ designs and code with care, and collaborate with Product and defence stakeholders to turn customer problems into feature shapes.
- Mentor teammates through pairing, code review and knowledge sharing - raising the team’s capability in simulation craft, product engineering practice and defence domain understanding.
- Deploy and support simulation capability on-site at customer exercises, integration hackathons and industry events - working issues live alongside users and folding what you learn back into the product.
- 4+ years of software engineering experience.
- Experience working on behavioural or agent-based simulation of people, crowds or vehicles, such as game AI, VFX crowd simulation, industrial human behaviour simulation or defence CGF.
- Strong C++ experience for performance-sensitive, real-time systems.
- Working knowledge of spatial data structures, path planning, decision modelling and physical modelling of vehicle movement.
- Ability to reason about distributed simulation design - IPC, bandwidth and how to split a simulation domain across processes without breaking its behaviour.
- Ability to move comfortably between languages and layers of the stack.
- A communicative, proactive style - visible in discussions, willing to challenge and be challenged, and able to draw contributions out of teammates.
- A product engineering mindset: energised by understanding customer problems and shipping things that create real value.
- Comfortable multiplying yourself with AI-assisted development workflows.
- Able to obtain and maintain UK Security Vetted status to at least SC level.
- Prepared to attend an office in London at least once a week.
- Hands‑on experience exposing LLM-enabled product features, such as natural language interfaces, content generation or agent behaviour driven by language models.
- Rust experience, particularly for distributed or systems-level work.
- Knowledge of geospatial concepts and experience processing map data into representations suitable for simulation.
- Familiarity with the defence sector, military modelling and simulation, or wargaming.
- Exposure to Kubernetes for compute cluster orchestration.
- Prior experience as a tech lead or similar, with an interest in that pathway as the team grows.
- Interest in travelling to customer sites, hackathons and industry events.
Simulation Engineer employer: Frontier Resourcing
As a leading player in the defence simulation sector, we pride ourselves on fostering a collaborative and innovative work culture that empowers our employees to make a real impact. Our London-based team thrives on the excitement of developing cutting-edge simulation technologies, with ample opportunities for professional growth and mentorship from experienced peers. We offer a dynamic environment where your contributions are valued, and you can see the tangible results of your work in live exercises and industry events.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Simulation Engineer
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Get out there and connect with people in the defence and simulation sectors. Attend industry events, meetups, or hackathons where you can chat with potential employers and showcase your skills. Remember, it’s all about who you know!
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your projects! If you've worked on any simulation-related projects, make sure to have them ready to discuss. Whether it's a GitHub repo or a demo, having tangible examples of your work can really set you apart from the crowd.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for technical interviews by brushing up on your C++ skills and understanding distributed systems. Be ready to tackle real-world problems and demonstrate how you’d approach designing simulation behaviours. Practice makes perfect!
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! We love seeing candidates who are genuinely interested in joining our team. Tailor your application to highlight your passion for simulation engineering and how you can contribute to our projects.
We think you need these skills to ace Simulation Engineer
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Your Passion for Simulation:When writing your application, let your enthusiasm for simulation shine through! Talk about your experiences and projects that relate to behavioural or agent-based simulations. We want to see how you can bring that energy to our team.
Tailor Your CV and Cover Letter:Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter to highlight the skills and experiences that match the job description. We love seeing candidates who take the time to connect their background with what we’re looking for in a Simulation Engineer.
Be Clear and Concise:Keep your application clear and to the point. Use straightforward language to explain your technical skills and experiences. We appreciate when candidates can communicate complex ideas simply, as it reflects the collaborative spirit we value at StudySmarter.
Apply Through Our Website:Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you’re considered for the role. Plus, it shows you’re keen on joining our team directly!
How to prepare for a job interview at Frontier Resourcing
✨Know Your Simulation Stuff
Make sure you brush up on your knowledge of behavioural and agent-based simulations. Be ready to discuss your experience with C++ and how you've implemented decision-making logic in past projects. This role is all about making simulations feel real, so show them you understand the intricacies involved!
✨Show Off Your Problem-Solving Skills
Prepare to talk about specific challenges you've faced in simulation design, especially around distributed systems and performance-sensitive applications. Think of examples where you had to balance trade-offs between fidelity and bandwidth, and be ready to explain your thought process.
✨Get Technical with the Team
Since you'll be working closely with a cross-functional team, demonstrate your ability to communicate technical concepts clearly. Practice explaining complex ideas in simple terms, and be prepared to discuss how you've collaborated with others in the past to turn customer problems into effective solutions.
✨Bring Your Product Mindset
This role requires a product engineering mindset, so think about how you've previously shipped features that created real value for users. Be ready to share examples of how you've engaged with customers or stakeholders to understand their needs and how that influenced your work.
