Defence-and-security hiring is growing, and that matters when you scope a specialist role like prime supplier liaison. 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 the MOD supported employment estimates 2023/24 on GOV.UK. That followed a year where the total number of MOD-supported UK jobs reached 239,000 in 2022/23, an increase of 6% on the previous financial year the MOD supported employment estimates 2022/23 on GOV.UK.
Fresh investment is adding to the pressure on talent. 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 a GOV.UK announcement on the defence dividend. The sector is also pulling in people: the defence sector continued to be an attractive employer, with surveyed recruitment growing by 17.8% in 2022 GOV.UK reporting on the defence sector's economic contribution.
When demand rises this fast, the roles that connect primes with their supply chains become harder to fill. So reading the live market before you write a single line of your job description is time well spent.
A prime supplier liaison sits between a prime contractor and the subcontractors feeding its programmes. Live postings are your clearest window into what the role actually does day to day, because employers describe the real work when they advertise it. Read ten to fifteen similar adverts and the patterns jump out.
Look for these recurring signals across the postings:
The growth figures above explain why these postings cluster. With MOD-supported jobs climbing year on year the MOD supported employment estimates 2023/24 on GOV.UK, primes are scaling their supply chains, and liaison roles grow alongside them. Note which duties appear in almost every advert and which show up occasionally. The common ones are your must-haves. The rare ones are your nice-to-haves.
Start by turning your reading into a tight job description. Write the four or five duties that appeared in nearly every posting as the core of the role, then set the clearance level as a clear, non-negotiable line. Being specific here saves you from a shortlist full of near-misses.
A few practical steps help:
Then move at the pace of the market. With more than 1,700 new defence jobs being created off recent investment a GOV.UK announcement on the defence dividend, the people you want are being approached by others. A slow process loses them. A clear scope, a short interview loop and quick feedback keep you ahead.
Once your scope is clear, we help you act on it fast. We search a database of 15 million candidates to match the exact duties and clearance level you've defined, rank a shortlist, and handle the process end to end 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. If you're scoping a prime supplier liaison role today, let us turn your live-market research into a shortlist you can interview this week.
