hackajob is collaborating with National Physical Laboratory (NPL) to connect them with exceptional professionals for this role.

• At UKTL, your work directly strengthens the UK’s technological, cyber, and national resilience. You’ll collaborate with expert engineers, government partners, and industry specialists to detect, understand, and counter emerging threats.
  
  

If you’re looking for meaningful work in an inclusive environment that values curiosity, teamwork, and continuous learning, you’ll thrive here.

What This Role Means For You

As a Senior Software Engineer, you'll be at the heart of projects that matter. You’ll help design and shape the architecture of systems that support security testing and research that protects critical national infrastructure, influencing how we deliver secure and high‑quality software.

This is a hands‑on technical role where your expertise drives real outcomes. You will:

• Work across multiple languages, frameworks, and platforms to solve complex challenges
• Help define and improve engineering best practices, branching and deployment strategies
• Review pull requests, guide colleagues, and raise code quality across teams
• Champion innovation and bring new ideas that help us stay ahead of emerging threats
• Collaborate with both technical and non‑technical stakeholders to shape priorities and deliver meaningful solutions
  
  

You’ll join a wider technical community that shares knowledge, encourages experimentation, and supports your growth.

Successful Applicants must be able to commute to the UKTL offices in Birmingham at least twice a week

We strive to offer a great work life balance - if you are looking for full time, part time or flexible options, we will try to make this work where business possible. This will be dependent on the kind of role you do and part of the business you work in.

• About You
• You operate confidently at a deep technical level and enjoy working across a variety of technologies. You’re comfortable making informed architectural and engineering decisions, and you bring a forward‑looking mindset to how software is designed, built, and maintained.
  
  

You bring a genuine enthusiasm for discovering and applying new engineering techniques and assessing new technologies with a focus on good engineering practice—including maintainability, longevity, and available market resources.

You may already be leading or mentoring a team, or acting as a technical expert within a high‑performing group. You’re equally comfortable using COTS software to build solutions as you are building, or guiding others to build, bespoke software.

Importantly, you can communicate confidently with both technical and non‑technical stakeholders and make a positive contribution to the organisation.

You are technology‑agnostic, ideally a polyglot programmer, and already using Linux and open‑source technologies day to day.

You’re Someone Who

• Has experience working in Agile teams
• Understands and applies DevOps/DevSecOps practices
• Uses strong software testing techniques (e.g., TDD/BDD) and writes high‑quality tests
• Translates user or business needs into robust technical solutions
• Enjoys solving complex, often novel, engineering problems
• Communicates clearly and collaborates effectively
• Brings curiosity, adaptability, and a commitment to continuous learning
• Is comfortable with multiple programming languages and willing to learn new ones
• Produces high‑quality technical documentation
• Evaluates new technologies and creates compelling business cases for their adoption