Linux Engineer (Ubuntu Migration) – Contract, Outside IR35 £500 per day outside IR35, Farnborough 3-5 days per week
3 months initial contract, extendable
SC clearance required prior to start

This engagement is focused, delivery-driven and sits within a Defence / MOD-aligned environment. The platform is Ubuntu-based, and the immediate priority is a structured migration from an older Ubuntu version to a newer release within a compressed timeframe.

You’ll take a hands-on role in planning and executing the migration across a secure, protectively marked estate, ensuring stability, compliance and minimal operational disruption. This includes assessing the current environment, identifying dependencies and risks, completing upgrade testing, resolving technical issues and supporting cutover activities.

Strong enterprise Ubuntu administration experience is essential, alongside proven involvement in version-to-version migrations. Experience working within Defence, MOD or similarly regulated secure environments would be highly advantageous.

This role suits a Linux engineer who can hit the ground running, operate with minimal oversight and is comfortable focusing on migration delivery within a security-first setting where precision matters.

CNC Machinist

Bedford | Full Time | Permanent

£35,000 - £45,000

Talent Locker are pleased to be partnered with a specialist engineering organisation, recruiting for an experienced CNC programmer/ Operator to join their highly skilled manufacturing team in Bedford.

Our client is an established SME operating at the forefront of advanced engineering, product development and delivering complex, high precision components and research led solutions to a global customer based. Their work supports innovative engineering programmes and involved bespoke manufacturing processes with a strong focus on precision, collaboration, and technical excellence.

This is an opportunity to join a business where quality and craftsmanship are paramount. The work is varied and technically challenging, focussed on low volume, one off and bespoke components rather than high volume production.

The CNC Machinist/ Operator will play a key role in the manufacture of high quality, high value precision components. You will be responsible for setting, programming and operating CNC machinery to exact standards. Working closely with the engineering and production teams, the priority will be delivering complex parts efficiently and accurately.

Essential experience:

• HNC, HND, City & guilts qualification apprenticeship or equivalent practical experience
• Strong attention to detail and a quality focussed mindset
• Experience working with Heidenhain, Fanuc, Siemens or a similar control system
• Working experience of online programming and problem solving during set up and machining
• Experience of 3-axis or 5-axis machining
• Strong set up experience including tooling and fixture preparation

This position operates on a 38 hour working week, Monday – Friday (0700 -1500). Occasional shift work may be required, and overtime is paid at an enhanced rate.

Please note – It is an essential requirement for the successful applicant to obtain UK SC clearance prior to appointment.

To find out more information or to apply, please send your CV to Emma on emma@talentlocker.co.uk

Contract Network Engineer – Cisco ISE / Aruba ClearPass – Network Access Controls SME
Inside IR35, £525 per day – initial 6 month contract (extension for another 6 months)
Southampton 3 days per week + Travel (fully paid and abroad)

Fancy a great contract involving luxury travel included?! This is contract role for a network engineer with strong expertise in NAC (Network Access Controls) with experience of deploying Cisco ISE or Aruba ClearPass for a cruise company.

A major Network Access Control rollout is underway across ship and shore environments, and this is a chance to step in as the technical lead driving it forward. You’ll act as the SME for Cisco ISE and or Aruba ClearPass, owning the design, deployment on board cruise ships and operational performance of the NAC environment while delivering to tight timelines.

This is a hands on role. You’ll configure, integrate, test and troubleshoot complex solutions, act as the escalation point for NAC issues, and identify risks and improvement opportunities. You’ll also collaborate with internal teams and vendors, while mentoring engineers to raise overall capability.

Strong enterprise NAC delivery experience is essential, alongside deep knowledge of Cisco ISE and or Aruba ClearPass. You’ll understand 802.1X, MAB, RADIUS, EAP, certificate based authentication, guest and BYOD workflows, and integration across wired, wireless, firewall and identity platforms.

This would be Southampton to install knowledge to the team 3 days per week, and travel on board a cruise ship (fully paid for) likely 1 week or 2 weeks every 6-8 weeks.

Infrastructure Engineers (Mid–Senior) | Farnborough | £65,000–£80,000 | SC Cleared

Momentum. Investment. Big, complex projects landing and a pipeline that keeps building. If you’re an Infrastructure Engineer who wants to work in the defence industry who thrives when things are busy, evolving and technically stretching, this is the kind of environment where you’ll genuinely grow.

This organisation operates at the top end of National Security and Defence, delivering secure-by-design solutions across multi-classification environments. With new work being won and existing programmes expanding, they are hiring both mid-level and senior engineers to strengthen an experienced, high-performing team.

You’ll be maintaining, improving and securing virtualised, collaboration and development environments across public, private and hybrid cloud platforms. Expect hands-on involvement in Windows Server (2016+), Linux (CentOS/RedHat/Ubuntu), VMware, Azure and Microsoft 365, alongside patching, monitoring, automation and incident management within protectively marked environments.

Senior engineers will also bring experience across networking, automation (PowerShell/Ansible), OpenShift/Kubernetes and DevSecOps tooling, while contributing to technical direction and supporting business growth.

Desirable exposure includes Terraform, Vault, Elastic, Nessus, application packaging and Agile delivery environments.

You would need to be eligible for Security Clearance during onboarding.  This would be on site in Farnborough.

If you’re looking for a role where there’s real technical depth, visible impact and a steady stream of meaningful projects to get stuck into, this is a brilliant time to join and make your mark.

Android / Software Developer, Cheltenham – Hybrid, £450-475 per day Outside IR35

Contract role for an android / Kotlin developer for a MOD/Defence project near Cheltenham.

Key Skills required:

• Kotlin developer with experience writing state management and SQLite - preferably knowledge of MapLibre in Kotlin and Geo data structures
• Comfortable with programming in a limited containerised environment and developing on physical devices not emulators.
• Knowledge of Docker

This is a security cleared role and the successful candidate would need to be SC cleared prior to appointment.

If you are immediately available with Kotlin Development experience within a defence environment, please apply.

Manufacturing Support Engineering Shift Lead (Nights)
Southampton
up to £55k + 26% shift allowance (up to £69k total)
7pm–7am | 4 on, 4 off (nights)

This role sits at the sharp end of a highly automated manufacturing operation, leading a team of Manufacturing Support Engineers on the night shift within a 24/7 production environment where uptime, quality and pace genuinely matter. You’ll take full ownership of nights, balancing hands-on engineering support with people leadership, performance management and forward planning.

You’ll be accountable for leading an engineering team in a clean-room, high-volume environment, reacting to faults, overseeing planned preventative maintenance and resolving operational issues in real time during the night shift. Alongside this, the role requires strong analytical capability, using data from nights to identify trends, plan improvements and feed into wider engineering performance.

Strong people leadership is essential. This role requires proven experience of managing engineers through appraisals, coaching, development plans, disciplinaries and regular 1-to-1s, while maintaining engagement and standards on a permanent night pattern.

This environment suits candidates from highly automated sectors such as automotive, medical devices, pharmaceuticals or FMCG, and is also well aligned to experienced military engineers transitioning into manufacturing leadership roles.

What you’ll need
• Proven leadership experience managing technical teams
• Background in high-volume, highly automated manufacturing
• Confidence working hands-on with engineering faults, PPM and breakdowns
• Ability to balance shop-floor leadership with analysis, planning and reporting
• Experience operating in clean-room or tightly controlled environments

Salary and benefits
• Salary up to £55,000
• 26.09% night shift allowance
• Annual salary reviews
• 5% employer pension contribution
• Health Cash Plan
• Life Assurance and Income Protection
• Gym Flex, Cycle to Work and additional lifestyle benefits

If you’re looking for a night shift leadership role with real engineering ownership, clear accountability and a package that properly rewards working nights, this is a chance to run your shift like it’s your own operation.

Project Manager – GIS / Esri
Glasgow (Hybrid: 3 days onsite with a major energy supplier, 2 days WFH)
Permanent | Full time

This is a consulting Project Manager role within a global technology consultancy, supporting a long-standing partnership with a major UK energy supplier that has been in place since 2018 and is entering a new phase of growth. While the role is currently embedded onsite with the client team in Glasgow, there is a clear ambition to establish a dedicated consultancy presence in the city to further strengthen delivery and collaboration.

The Project Manager will lead the delivery of complex GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and Esri-based programmes within the utilities environment, combining strong project governance with hands-on technical understanding. In true consultancy fashion, the role balances delivery excellence with commercial awareness, relationship-building and the ability to identify opportunities to expand and deepen the existing client engagement.

You will work closely with senior client stakeholders, internal consultancy teams, and international delivery teams in Spain, ensuring projects are delivered to a high standard while aligning with broader strategic objectives.

Key responsibilities

• Lead GIS and Esri technology projects from initiation through to successful delivery
• Act as a trusted consulting partner for senior client stakeholders
• Coordinate multi-disciplinary delivery teams across the UK and Spain
• Identify and support new business development opportunities within the client account
• Apply appropriate project governance and delivery methodologies
• Ensure quality, timelines and client satisfaction are consistently met

Essential experience

• Strong Project Management experience within consultancy or client-facing environments
• Hands-on experience with GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and Esri technologies (essential)
• Experience delivering projects within utilities and/or large-scale infrastructure
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills
• Commercial mindset with the ability to identify and shape growth opportunities

Additional information

• Hybrid working model: 3 days onsite, 2 days remote
• BPSS clearance required which will be done during onboarding (no existing clearance needed)
• Highly competitive salary packages available, dependent on experience

This is an opportunity to step into a high-trust consulting role, influence the growth of a strategic client partnership, and help shape the consultancy’s long-term footprint in Scotland.

Senior Financial Modelling Consultant – Defence Housing Strategy
£900–£1,000 per day | Inside IR35 | London Hybrid – Contract until end of Dec 26 initially

This role sits at the heart of one of the most ambitious public sector housing programmes in decades. The Defence Housing Strategy is a landmark initiative focused on renewing military family accommodation and unlocking the long-term value of Defence land, delivering thousands of homes while supporting economic growth and national infrastructure priorities.

You will play a critical role in developing and enhancing a sophisticated financial model that underpins the Strategy. The model must evolve from zonal-level plans into a consolidated, portfolio-wide view, capable of tracking delivery against original budgets, renewal plans and emerging strategic decisions. Portfolio strategies include refurbishment, demolition and rebuild, replacement with new build, and selective disposal of assets.

The work requires translating complex data into clear, credible insights for senior decision-makers. Outputs will be used at the highest levels to shape funding decisions, prioritisation and long-term investment planning across a nationally significant housing estate.

Essential experience

1. Advanced financial modelling expertise, including complex multi-scenario portfolio models
2. Strategic financial analysis to support investment and policy decisions
3. Senior-level presentation skills, with confidence engaging and challenging stakeholders

Typical day in the role
You will develop and refine complex financial models that support strategic decisions across the Defence housing portfolio, consolidating zonal plans into a flexible, portfolio-level view. The role involves testing multiple delivery strategies and assumptions, tracking performance against budgets, and translating detailed analysis into clear, decision-ready summaries for senior stakeholders. You will work closely with Defence, infrastructure and specialist advisory teams, contributing financial insight to ongoing strategy discussions. The role is London-based with hybrid working, occasional UK travel, and extended hours during key delivery phases.

Why this role stands out
This is a rare opportunity to work on a nationally significant programme with long-term social impact, improving living standards for military families. You will gain exposure to one of the UK’s most complex residential portfolios while influencing high-profile Defence infrastructure decisions.

Additional requirements
• Strong experience in property or real estate portfolio modelling / residential
• CAPEX and OPEX forecasting, scenario analysis and sensitivity testing
• Understanding of refurbishment, redevelopment, new build and disposal strategies
• Investment appraisal techniques including NPV and value-for-money assessments
• Exceptional attention to detail and comfort working with large financial datasets

Security vetting will be required