Job Description:

Technical Lead - Secure Digital Platform (SDP) Data & Integration

📍 Reading (Hybrid - 3 days onsite per week)
💰 £80.00 - £84.82 per hour (Inside IR35)
📅 12-Month Contract
🔒 Active SC Clearance Required
🇬🇧 Sole UK Nationals Only

We're looking for an experienced Technical Lead to provide technical leadership across a high-profile Secure Digital Platform (SDP) programme supporting critical UK Defence and Aerospace initiatives.

This is a senior contract opportunity for someone who can lead multidisciplinary engineering teams, shape technical strategy, and ensure the successful delivery of secure, resilient and scalable digital platforms within a highly secure environment.

Essential Requirements

• Current Active SC Clearance (must already hold clearance).
• Sole UK National due to programme security requirements.
• Proven experience delivering technical leadership within MOD, Defence Digital, UK Aerospace, or other highly regulated Defence environments.
• Ability to work 3 days per week onsite in Reading.

The Opportunity

As the Technical Lead, you'll act as the senior technical authority across infrastructure, cloud, cyber security, DevSecOps, data engineering and enterprise platforms. You'll work closely with architects, programme leadership, security teams and engineering specialists to define technical direction, manage technical risk and drive engineering excellence across the organisation.

You'll play a key role in delivering modern digital capabilities while ensuring platforms remain secure, compliant and operationally resilient.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership across cloud, infrastructure, cyber security and enterprise platforms.
• Lead and mentor multidisciplinary engineering teams including Systems Engineers, Data Engineers, Data Analysts and DevSecOps Engineers.
• Define engineering standards, technical governance and best practices.
• Oversee architecture decisions and ensure alignment with enterprise strategy.
• Drive adoption of DevSecOps, Platform Engineering, Infrastructure as Code and automation.
• Lead Azure, Kubernetes and OpenShift platform strategy and technical delivery.
• Oversee cloud, hybrid and on-premise infrastructure environments.
• Ensure security, resilience, scalability and compliance across all technology platforms.
• Manage technical risks, dependencies and major incident escalations.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and support future technology roadmaps.
• Work closely with business stakeholders to align technical delivery with programme objectives.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Significant experience leading multidisciplinary engineering or infrastructure teams.
• Strong technical background across Microsoft Azure, enterprise infrastructure and cloud technologies.
• Extensive experience with hybrid cloud environments.
• Expertise in Kubernetes and OpenShift platforms.
• Strong understanding of DevOps, DevSecOps, Platform Engineering and Infrastructure as Code.
• Experience implementing cyber security controls and secure engineering practices.
• Knowledge of enterprise data platforms, data engineering and analytics ecosystems.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and automation technologies.
• Strong skills in Terraform, Ansible, PowerShell, Python or similar automation tools.
• Excellent understanding of enterprise networking, identity management and platform security.
• Outstanding stakeholder management, leadership and communication skills.
• Ability to make strategic technical decisions while balancing delivery, operational support and long-term platform evolution.

Desirable Experience

• Defence, Aerospace or other highly regulated industry experience.
• Enterprise Architecture certification or equivalent experience.
• Experience supporting classified or secure government environments.
• Knowledge of AI, Machine Learning and Digital Twin technologies.
• Experience with multi-cloud environments.
• FinOps and cloud cost optimisation.
• Supplier and strategic technology partner management.
• Experience delivering large-scale digital transformation programmes.
• Knowledge of Power BI, Apache Superset, Grafana and enterprise reporting platforms.

What's on Offer?

• 12-month contract
• £80.00 - £84.82 per hour (Inside IR35)
• Hybrid working with 3 days per week onsite in Reading
• Opportunity to provide technical leadership on cutting-edge Defence and Aerospace programmes
• Work with modern cloud, platform, cyber security and data technologies
• High-impact role influencing technical strategy across secure enterprise environments

If you hold active SC Clearance, are a sole UK national, and have a proven track record of leading technical teams within Defence or Aerospace, we'd be keen to hear from you. Apply today for a confidential discussion.

al discussion.