Principal Cyber Digital Signal Processing and Embedded Engineer

Apply before 11:55 pm on Sunday 25th October 2026

At Dstl, our vision is to have a modern way of working efficiently, accommodating and enabling our people to create, collaborate and deliver. To do this successfully in this job will require attendance at a Dstl location, Government Departments including wider MoD or Delivery and Mission Partner premises for at least 80% of your working time.

Job summary

Are you an experienced DSP or Embedded Systems engineer looking to influence the future of cyber capability at a national level?

We are seeking a Principal Cyber DSP and Embedded Engineer to provide technical leadership across a diverse portfolio of complex and mission-critical cyber programmes. Working within multidisciplinary teams of engineers, scientists and technical specialists, you will play a leading role in the development of advanced signal processing, embedded software and FPGA-based solutions that deliver real operational impact.

Why join us?

This role offers the opportunity to tackle challenging technical problems, shape the direction of future capabilities and influence the application of emerging technologies across cyber and national security domains. As a recognised technical authority, you will contribute to technical strategy and roadmaps, guide architectural decisions, and drive innovation across both software and hardware disciplines.

You will work closely with customers, stakeholders and delivery teams to ensure solutions are robust, high-performing and aligned to operational needs. Alongside your technical contribution, you will help develop engineering capability within the organisation by coaching colleagues, sharing knowledge and promoting engineering best practice.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone with deep technical expertise, strong leadership skills and a passion for solving complex problems in a collaborative environment. Whether your background is in signal processing, embedded software, FPGA development or systems engineering, you'll have the opportunity to shape innovative solutions that make a meaningful contribution to UK defence and security.

This role is eligible for an additional specialist allowance of £2758 annually subject to meeting extended onboarding requirements. The role may be eligible for additional skills allowances depending on the skills and experience of the applicant.

Job description

What you'll do;

• Lead the development and delivery of advanced digital signal processing, embedded software and FPGA-based solutions across complex cyber programmes.
• Act as a recognised technical authority, providing expert advice and technical leadership across projects, teams and stakeholders.
• Shape technical strategies, roadmaps and capability plans to ensure engineering activities align with future customer and organisational needs.
• Drive innovation across software and hardware domains, influencing system architectures and technology choices.
• Solve complex technical challenges by working collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams of engineers, scientists and specialists.
• Develop high-performance solutions using DSP, embedded software, FPGA and related technologies to improve operational effectiveness.
• Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to customers, stakeholders and senior decision-makers.
• Mentor and coach engineers, helping to develop future technical leaders and strengthen organisational capability.
• Champion engineering excellence through the adoption of improved tools, methods, standards and best practices.
• Identify opportunities to improve delivery performance, technical quality and organisational effectiveness.

Person specification

What we're looking for;

• Significant expertise in at least two of the following areas:
• • Digital Signal Processing (DSP)
  • Embedded systems development (MCUs, RTOS or Embedded Linux)
  • C/C++ software development
  • FPGA development using VHDL
  • Software and hardware integration and debugging
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and systems engineering skills.
• Experience delivering DSP and embedded solutions within a complex engineering, science or technology environment.
• Experience leading technical delivery, influencing technical direction and establishing engineering standards or approaches.
• Experience working on complex and non-routine technical challenges, bringing together information from multiple sources to develop effective solutions.
• Experience leading or contributing within multidisciplinary teams and supporting successful project delivery.
• Experience coaching, mentoring and developing less experienced engineers.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to engage and influence both technical and non-technical audiences.

Please review the job description for more detailed information by clicking apply.

Important Information:

Our work in defence, security and intelligence requires our employees to be UK Nationals who are able to gain a high level of security clearance to undertake the projects we are involved in to protect us from security threats.

For this reason, only UK Nationals will be able to apply for this role. If you are an international or dual-national candidate, and you think you have the skills we need, please consider applying to any of our government, security or defence partners.

This role will require Develop Vetting and you should have resided in the UK for the past 10 years.