Software Design Engineer

The Opportunity

An innovative, award-winning engineering SME — part of a major FTSE 100 defence and aerospace group — is seeking a Software Design Engineer to join its multi-disciplinary engineering team. The company specialises in the design, manufacture and delivery of high-performance telecommunications infrastructure, RF over fibre systems, software-defined radio platforms, and bespoke antenna technologies for commercial, government and defence customers worldwide.

With approximately 80 employees, an engineering team of 30, and revenues approaching £19m, this is a business experiencing strong, sustained growth. Despite being backed by a global defence group, it retains full management autonomy and the agile, entrepreneurial culture of an SME. It holds Gold Investors in People accreditation, ISO 9001 certification, and Cyber Essentials Plus — and is known for reinvesting profits directly into its people and facilities.

Why This Role Matters

Software has become a critical differentiator in this company’s product strategy. Over the last 18–24 months, the business has transitioned from small, short-cycle software tasks to delivering larger, more complex subsystems with higher technical, architectural and quality expectations. Modern software capability is now fundamental to product performance, integration, usability, diagnostics and differentiation.

The software team sits at the intersection of the entire engineering organisation, working closely with RF, electronics, systems and hardware teams. Over the next 6–12 months, the team will continue extending existing platforms while planning a future new software platform to support upcoming product concepts. This role will directly shape the next generation of the company’s high-performance RF, fibre and sensing systems.

What You’ll Do

Working as part of a multi-disciplinary engineering team, you’ll span higher-level and full-stack software development — from embedded device interaction and networked sensor systems through to user-facing interfaces, web-based tools and internal automation. Your primary responsibilities will include:

• Designing, implementing and maintaining high-quality C++17 software across the stack
  
  
• Supporting system architects with requirements analysis and early project definition
  
  
• Contributing to the architecture and implementation of new software modules
  
  
• Extending and maintaining existing product platforms with new features
  
  
• Performing software–hardware integration testing on internally developed hardware
  
  
• Contributing to DevOps and CI/CD workflow improvements
  
  
• Improving internal tooling, automation and AI-assisted development practices
  
  
• Ensuring all software deliverables meet engineering, documentation and quality standards
  
  In your first 6–12 months, expect to work on firmware device control, user interfaces for system configuration, interface protocol implementation (e.g. SNMP), web interfaces built on NGINX/REST, application-layer algorithms, and extending existing software platforms.
  
  Skills & Experience
  
  Essential
  
  
• Strong C++ fundamentals (C++17 preferred) with object-oriented design principles
  
  
• Experience with Python or other high-level programming languages
  
  
• Git version control for software library management
  
  
• Linux development including bash and shell scripting
  
  Desirable
  
  
• AWS or Proxmox Virtual Environment deployment and administration
  
  
• TCP/IP networking including DNS routing, VPN and firewall configuration
  
  
• CI/CD tools such as Jenkins and GitLab
  
  
• SQL database configuration and management
  
  
• JavaScript and HTML web development
  
  
• Embedded Linux build systems (e.g. Yocto Project)
  
  
• Containerisation tools such as Docker
  
  
• Agile development methodologies and tools like Jira
  
  
• CMake, NGINX, REST interfaces
  
  
• Practical knowledge of antenna properties and signal propagation principles
  
  
• Chartered Engineer status (or working towards it)
  
  Who You Are
  
  This is higher-level application development rather than embedded firmware engineering, though close interaction with embedded systems is central to the role. Front-end or UI experience is beneficial but not essential — curiosity, analytical ability and willingness to learn new tools matter far more.
  
  The ideal candidate is proactive, communicative and comfortable working across disciplines. You’ll bring technical depth and creativity, take genuine ownership of solutions, and contribute to continuously improving software development processes. Success here is less about ticking every technical box and more about mindset — the team welcomes people with diverse backgrounds who bring strong core skills and a flexible, problem-solving approach.
  
  Please note that this role requires candidates with at least five years of continuous UK residency. UK Sole Nationals are preferred.
  
  This recruitment process is being managed exclusively by us, Banner Lane, as a retained recruitment partner. To express your interest or learn more about this opportunity, please get in touch. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence