Defence is one of the UK's most active employers today, and the numbers are pointing up. More than 1,700 new jobs are being created across the UK defence sector following at least £1.4 billion in foreign direct investment committed since July 2024, according to GOV.UK's defence dividend announcement. That capital flows into programmes, and programmes need people to design, build and run them.
The wider picture backs that up. MOD expenditure with industry supported a total of 272,000 direct jobs in 2023/24, an increase of 11% compared to the previous financial year, as reported by the MOD's supported employment estimates for 2023/24. That builds on earlier growth, where the total number of MOD-supported UK jobs reached 239,000 in 2022/23, an increase of 6% on the previous financial year, per the 2022/23 estimates. Recruitment is moving in the same direction: surveyed recruitment in the defence sector grew by 17.8% in 2022, according to GOV.UK's analysis of the sector's economic contribution.
Satellite communications sits where engineering, software and secure systems meet. The people who make it work are RF and signal engineers, ground-segment and network specialists, systems engineers and the software developers who tie it all together. Demand for that technical depth is the problem, not the supply of job openings.
The skills squeeze is real across engineering. 76% of engineering employers struggle to recruit for key roles, with technical and specialist sustainability skills topping the list, according to the Institution of Engineering and Technology. For defence specifically, that talent is largely home-grown: for the engineering profession, the vast majority of new hires come from the resident labour force, indicating low reliance on international recruitment, per GOV.UK's review of professionals in IT and engineering. In other words, you're competing for a UK-based pool.
One shift worth watching is the entry-level gap. In engineering, entry-level hiring has fallen to -19% while senior hiring sits at -10%, a 9-percentage-point gap, according to GOV.UK's snapshot of entry-level hiring. If early-career routes keep narrowing, the experienced engineers military satcoms needs get harder to find each year. That's an argument for building talent now, not later.
Start with clearance and context. Many satcoms roles need security clearance, so plan timelines around it and keep strong candidates engaged while checks run. Be clear in the advert about which roles can start on clearance in progress and which cannot.
Then widen the lens on skills. With most engineering hires coming from the UK labour force, the people you want are often already employed and not actively searching. Reaching them means proactive outreach, not just posting and waiting. Write specs around capability (RF, ground segment, secure networks) rather than a single job title, so you don't miss adjacent talent from telecoms, aerospace or space.
Move quickly and treat people well. When 76% of engineering employers report trouble filling key roles Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), a slow or vague process loses you the shortlist. Set interview dates up front, feed back fast, and make the mission clear: engineers choose defence work for the problems, not just the pay.
This is where we can help. We search 15 million candidates to surface engineers who match your satcoms brief, including the experienced people who aren't actively looking. We manage recruitment end to end, from the first ranked shortlist through to a booked interview, so your team stays focused on the programme. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost, through Reed.ai. Tell us the role and the clearance level, and we'll start building your shortlist today.
