Systems Engineer – Defence & Aerospace (6‑month contract)

About the role

We are seeking a Systems Engineer for a 6‑month contract with a leading defence and aerospace client in Portsmouth. The role involves supporting the full systems lifecycle for military satellite communications (MilSatCom) projects and requires a high‑level MOD security clearance.

Key responsibilities

• Support the Systems Engineering process, culture and tools across the entire system lifecycle.
• Identify stakeholders, capture needs, and define solution boundaries.
• Elicit, validate and manage system requirements.
• Design and define system architectures in collaboration with IS/IT specialists.
• Lead modelling, performance analysis and trade‑off studies.
• Validate architectures, manage interface requirements and verify implementations.
• Conduct operational, in‑service evaluation and impact analysis of design changes.

Required profile

• Experience across the whole systems lifecycle, preferably in defence or aerospace.
• Familiarity with military satellite communications (MilSatCom) and related standards.
• Ability to obtain and maintain high‑level MOD security clearance.
• Understanding of export‑controlled data handling.

Required skills

• Systems Engineering
• System architecture design
• Requirements definition and management
• Performance analysis and trade‑off analysis
• Verification and validation
• Military standards compliance
• Satellite communications systems knowledge

What we offer

• £60 per hour (inside IR35)
• 6‑month fixed‑term contract
• Opportunity to work with a market‑leading defence and aerospace organisation