Copello are seeking an experienced Embedded Systems Engineer for a 3-6 month contract with a leading defence organisation based in Buckinghamshire. This is a technically challenging role within a highly regulated environment, supporting the development of advanced systems, ideally within an avionics or wider defence context.

The successful candidate will combine strong hands-on embedded development expertise with the ability to lead and coordinate a small engineering team. This role is inside IR35 and requires candidates to be eligible for SC clearance.

Key Responsibilities

* Lead and manage a small embedded systems engineering team, providing technical direction and oversight

* Design, develop and debug embedded software for ARM-based SoCs

* Develop and maintain secure boot chains and low-level board support packages

* Work across bare-metal and RTOS environments

* Support integration, verification and validation activities within a defence framework

* Perform hardware bring-up, debugging and fault analysis using JTAG/SWD tools

* Collaborate with systems, hardware and test engineers to ensure robust system performance

* Ensure compliance with relevant defence and safety standards

Essential Skills & Experience

* Proven experience within the defence sector (ideally avionics)

* Strong background in embedded systems development

* Experience with ARM-based SoCs

* In-depth knowledge of boot chains and secure boot processes

* Experience with ARM Cortex-M (including TrustZone)

* Hands-on experience with JTAG/SWD debugging

* Experience working with STM32MP1 and/or STM32MP2 platforms

* Development experience in bare-metal and RTOS (ROTS) environments

* Prior team leadership or technical management experience

* Strong problem-solving and debugging skills

Desirable Experience

* Avionics systems development

* Secure embedded design principles

* Familiarity with safety-critical development standards

Due to the nature of the project candidates will be required be able to work onsite 4 days a week and will require valid SC or eligibility for SC clearance.

Role is inside IR35 and is paying a flexible rate depending on experience