Software Engineering Lead - SC Cleared

Software Engineering Lead - Digital Engineering Location: Reading - Hybrid (minimum 50% onsite)<br />Rate: £70-£80 per hour, Inside IR35<br />Contract: 6-month rolling contract<br />Clearance: Active SC clearance mandatory; DV clearance highly desirable<br />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.<br />Track project execution against objectives, milestones and delivery plans.<br />Identify and manage technical risks, issues, assumptions and dependencies.<br />Support the development and maintenance of project plans and technical roadmaps.<br />Provide technical leadership and first-level technical decision-making.<br />Act as an escalation point for engineering and delivery issues.<br />Manage technical interfaces across customers, suppliers and internal engineering teams.<br />Support project reporting, forecasting and performance monitoring.<br />Facilitate technical reviews, governance activities and milestone assessments.<br />Ensure engineering deliverables meet agreed quality, process and compliance standards.<br />Contribute to effort estimation, resource planning and workload prioritisation.<br />Support configuration and change management.<br />Communicate project status, risks and mitigation plans to key stakeholders.<br />Work closely with architects, engineers and delivery teams to maintain technical alignment.

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

Desirable Experience Experience in Aerospace, Defence, Automotive or other highly regulated industries.<br />Familiarity with Model-Based Development environments.<br />Experience managing multidisciplinary engineering teams.<br />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 If you have the required clearance and technical delivery experience, we would be keen to hear from you