Forward Deployed Engineer

Strativ Group; Greater London; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Travel opportunities

Job summary

Strativ Group is expanding its London presence with a Technical Operations Engineer role focused on Defence & Mission Systems. You will join a small team embedded with customers, merging hardware and software in real-world environments to ensure reliable operation.

You’ll work on sensors, RF devices, and mission-critical software across customer sites, combining debugging, scripting, and automation to keep systems up and running. Travel up to 50% is required.

Qualifications

• Degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or equivalent hands-on experience.
• Strong Linux environment skills (SSH, networking, debugging).
• Experience with Python, Bash, or similar scripting.
• Experience integrating or maintaining hardware or sensor systems.
• Self-driven with ability to work under pressure in the field.
• Willingness to travel for on-site deployments.

Responsibilities

• Integrate sensors, RF devices, and mission-critical software into customer environments.
• Diagnose issues spanning hardware, software, and networking.
• Develop scripts and automation to improve system reliability.
• Provide feedback to engineering for product improvements.
• Document configurations, fixes, and lessons learned.
• Travel to customer and test sites for deployment and support.

Skills

Engineering degree

Linux proficiency

Python/Bash scripting

Hardware integration

Independent / self-driven

Travel oriented

Education

Engineering/CS/Physics degree

Job description

Technical Operations Engineer — Defence & Mission Systems | London

Hybrid/Field-based | Up to 50% travel

We're working with a fast-scaling, VC-backed defense technology company building next-generation sensing and detection systems that protect critical infrastructure and military operations worldwide. Having recently opened their London office, they're now hiring a small team of Technical Operations Engineers to be the boots-on-the-ground link between cutting-edge hardware/software and the customers who depend on it in the field.

The Role

You’ll sit at the intersection of hardware and software — integrating sensors, RF devices, and mission-critical software into customer environments, diagnosing complex issues that span networking, hardware, and code, and building the tools and automation that keep systems reliable under real-world conditions. This isn't a desk job: you’ll be embedded on customer sites roughly half your time, solving problems live rather than from a support ticket queue.

What you’ll be doing

• Integrating sensor and RF systems with customer infrastructure — physically (networking, power, hardware bring-up) and via software (APIs, data pipelines)
• Debugging complex issues spanning hardware, software, and networking layers
• Developing scripts, diagnostics, and automation to improve system reliability
• Feeding operational insight back to engineering to directly shape product improvements
• Documenting configurations, fixes, and lessons learned for internal and customer use
• Traveling to customer and test sites for deployment, troubleshooting, and mission support

What we’re looking for

• Strong technical foundation — degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or equivalent hands-on experience
• Deep comfort in Linux environments — SSH, networking tools, system-level debugging
• Proficiency in Python, Bash, or similar scripting/programming
• Experience integrating or maintaining hardware or sensor systems
• A problem-solver who can operate independently and under pressure, in the field
• Genuine enthusiasm for travel and on-site technical work

Nice to have

• Background in defense, aerospace, or other mission-critical environments
• Experience with telemetry, IoT-style architectures, or distributed systems
• Exposure to cloud/edge environments (Docker, AWS, Azure)
• Strong documentation and communication skills — comfortable bridging technical and customer-facing conversations

This is a rare opportunity to join a team early, with genuine scope to grow into a technical lead or mentoring position as the London team scales. If you’ve spent time solving hard problems in demanding, real-world environments — whether that’s a military, aerospace, or complex commercial field engineering background — we want to hear from you.