Senior Software Engineer

Job Description:

Salary Range:

Engineer £38000 - £50000

Senior Engineer £45000 - £60000

Principal Engineer £54000 - £70000

Where this vacancy is being recruited across more than one grade, the successful candidate will be appointed to a specific assessed grade, and the applicable salary range will be that associated with the grade of appointment.

Leonardo UK operates a grade-based salary framework with broad bands. The salary range shown reflects the approved grade band for this role, or a narrower hiring range published within that band, and is benchmarked against the external market. Exceptions above the standard range are managed through governance controls to protect internal equity.

Your impact

The battlespace in which air forces will operate in the future continues to evolve. To counter the threats of the future, industry is creating a next generation air combat system which is agile, flexible, connected, and affordable.

That next generation is Tempest - the RAF's newest combat aircraft, coming into service from 2035 to replace the existing Eurofighter Typhoon.

Team Tempest is an industry partnership between several major UK companies. Leonardo, as a global leader in defence electronics, is a key partner, responsible for large parts of the aircraft avionics suite including sensors and non-kinetic effectors. (See https://www.raf.mod.uk/what-we-do/team-tempest/ for more details).

Based across our Edinburgh & Newcastle sites, we have many opportunities for software engineers with all levels of experience to join our enthusiastic and highly motivated engineering team. This is an incredible opportunity to get involved at the beginning of a cutting-edge product and secure the UK's position as a global leader in combat air.

What you’ll do:

• Develop, test, and maintain C++ software for the next generation combat aircraft.
• Collaborate within a cross-site team of software engineers, while working closely alongside systems, firmware, and hardware engineering
• Deliver new features and enhancements in an agile development environment
• Write software requirements and create effective software designs and solutions. Investigate, debug, and resolve software issues
• Contribute to software architecture and technical decision-making
• Take ownership of tasks from planning through to delivery
• Conduct peer reviews and uphold high standards of software quality
• Share knowledge and contribute to continuous team improvement

What you’ll bring

To succeed in this role, we really need you to have the following:

• Experience working within an agile team and familiarity with agile software development
• C++ programming skills, ideally in a highly regulated environment.
• The ability to collaborate and work with others across sites, and with co-located team members

If you have the above skills, the following will really help you stand out:

• Experience throughout the full software lifecycle including requirements definition, design, implementation, hardware integration and test
• Familiarity with tooling such as Git (or equivalent) and CMake
• Experience working on complex products in an embedded environment
• Experience using static analysis and code coverage tooling
• Knowledge of best practises for incremental development
  

Security clearance

This role is subject to pre-employment screening in line with the UK Government’s Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). An additional range of Personnel Security Controls referred to as National Security Vetting (NSV) may apply, this could include meeting the eligibility requirements for The Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV). For more information and guidance please visit: https://careers.uk.leonardo.com/gb/en/security-and-vetting

Why join us

At Leonardo, our people are at the heart of everything we do. We offer a comprehensive, company-funded benefits package that supports your wellbeing, career development, and work–life balance. Whether you're looking to grow professionally, care for your health, or plan for the future, we’re here to help you thrive.

• Time to Recharge: Enjoy generous leave with the opportunity to accrue up to 12 additional flexi-days each year.
• Secure your Future: Benefit from our award-winning pension scheme with up to 15% employer contribution.
• Your Wellbeing Matters: Free access to mental health support, financial advice, and employee-led networks championing inclusion and diversity (Enable, Pride, Equalise, Armed Forces, Carers, Wellbeing and Ethnicity).
• Rewarding Performance: All employees at management level and below are eligible for our bonus scheme.
• Never Stop Learning: Free access to 4,000+ online courses via Coursera and LinkedIn Learning.
• Refer a friend: Receive a financial reward through our referral programme.
• Tailored Perks: Spend up to £500 annually on flexible benefits including private healthcare, dental, family cover, tech & lifestyle discounts, gym memberships and more.
• Flexible working: Flexible hours are available.  Due to the nature of this role, full on-site working is a requirement. For part time opportunities, please talk to us about what might be possible for this role.

For a full list of our company benefits please visit our website.

Leonardo is a global leader in Aerospace, Defence, and Security. Headquartered in Italy, we employ over 53,000 people worldwide including 8,500 across 9 sites in the UK. Our employees are not just part of a team—they are key contributors to shaping innovation, advancing technology, and enhancing global safety.

At Leonardo we are committed to building an inclusive, accessible, and welcoming workplace. We believe that a diverse workforce sparks creativity, drives innovation, and leads to better outcomes for our people and our customers. If you have any accessibility requirements to support you during the recruitment process, just let us know.

Be part of something bigger - apply now!

Primary Location:

GB - Edinburgh

Additional Locations:

GB - Newcastle

Contract Type:

Permanent

Hybrid Working:

Onsite