Overview

Job Title: Software Architect

Location: Isle of Wight – Cowes or Portsmouth – BroadOak

Salary: Up to £85,700 depending on skills and experience plus bonus scheme. Part time & accruing hours available. Please let us know if you would like to discuss these options.

What you’ll be doing

Provide Software Subject Matter Expertise: Working across multiple projects with various programming languages, architectures, and lifecycle models, offering specialist technical advice and guidance to peers and projects.

Define and Develop Architectural Artefacts: Creating, assessing and reviewing software and data processing architectures to meet software and system requirements and support future re-use of software, ensuring alignment throughout the engineering lifecycle.

Establish and Maintain Design Processes: Enhancing transformational activities and tools used to develop and manage software design artefacts, ensuring robust, resilient, scalable and secure middleware and applications architectures on modern hardware.

Ensure Toolchain Compliance and Integration: Collaborating with DevOps to ensure tools are licensed, OSS-compliant, interoperable, and integrated into the build process.

Lead Technical Governance: Conduct peer reviews, leading technical design reviews, verify and sign off software designs, and uphold Maritime Services’ software processes.

Promote Continuous Improvement and Knowledge Sharing: Supporting skills development within the team, maintain awareness of industry trends, and ensure architectural awareness of Security, and Safety Integrity Levels (SILs).

Your skills and experiences

Extensive experience with at least one high-level programming and a high-level design methodology such as UML.

Deep understanding of the software development lifecycle and familiarity with various models, including Agile and Waterfall.

Proven experience in leading software development activities and mentoring engineering teams.

Solid knowledge of relevant software standards (for example ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207), including software safety and Safety Integrity Levels (SIL).

Comprehensive understanding of configuration management practices and tools.

Strong technical background, degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related numerate discipline, with Chartered Engineer (CEng) status or working towards it.

Benefits

As well as a competitive pension scheme, BAE Systems also offers employee share plans, an extensive range of flexible discounted health, wellbeing and lifestyle benefits, including a green car scheme, private health plans and shopping discounts – you may also be eligible for an annual incentive.

The Future Radar team

Join us in shaping the Future of Radar Technology.

About the role and environment

We are evolving our radar portfolio by enhancing our existing products and developing brand-new radar products to address emerging and future threats in the realm of Future Air Dominance. With strong collaboration from our customers and investment in talent, our strategy is to keep the UK at the forefront of defence innovation. As the Software Architect you will act as the technical focal point and design authority, developing and maintaining software architectures that meet challenging complex Radar requirements.

Using modern operating systems, tools, and design patterns, you will create robust, resilient, scalable and secure middleware and application layers for hardware. You’ll leverage both licensed and open-source tools, ensuring compliance with OSS guidance, and work with the wider team to ensure a smooth implementation, integration and test process. Our workplace in Cowes is an easily accessible commute from Southampton with a regular foot passenger ferry and BAE shuttle service from the ferry terminal to site.

Working arrangements

As the world has evolved, so has the way we work. Our working approach will enable you to have flexibility with your working hours, depending on your role and location. This could include accruing hours as well as flexibility around start and finish times, ensuring you can balance life at work, on site and life at home.

Why BAE Systems?

This is a place where you’ll be able to make a real difference. You’ll be part of an inclusive culture that values thought, rewards integrity, and merit, and where you’ll be empowered to fulfil your potential.

Equality and accommodation

We welcome people from all backgrounds and want to make sure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. If you have a health condition (for example dyslexia, autism, an anxiety disorder etc.) that may affect your performance in certain assessment types, please speak to your recruiter about potential reasonable adjustments. Please be aware that many roles at BAE Systems are subject to both security and export control restrictions.

These restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any previous nationalities you may have held, and your place of birth can restrict the roles you are eligible to perform within the organisation. All applicants must at a minimum achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard. Many roles also require higher levels of Security Vetting where applicants must typically have 5 to 10 years of continuous residence in the UK depending on the vetting level required for the role, to allow for meaningful security vetting checks.

Application

Closing Date: 26th September 2025. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.