Forward Deployed Engineer (Infrastructure/SRE)

Forward Deployed Engineer (Infrastructure/SRE)

£90k–£105k + RSUs | Hybrid, London | SC Clearance required (or eligible)

Equal IT are hiring an infrastructure-focused Forward Deployed Engineer to support our client with some of its most critical UK government deployments.

If you are early in your infrastructure or SRE career (roughly 1–5 years) and currently working at a defence contractor or government-adjacent organisation where everything feels slower than it should, this could be exactly the step you're looking for. The same applies if you are building and operating infrastructure at a big tech company and already hold (or have previously held) SC clearance.

As a Forward Deployed Engineer, you will build and operate the infrastructure that powers platforms across UK government environments. This isn't a role where you hand production over to another team, as you will be responsible for the systems you build.

You will also take part in an on-call rotation roughly every 5–6 weeks, respond to real production incidents, and own problems through to resolution. If you enjoy operating production systems as much as building them, you'll thrive here.

What matters most (in order):

• You are highly adaptable and learn quickly. Potential and pace matter more than years of experience.
• You genuinely enjoy infrastructure, operations and production ownership, not just writing code.
• You already hold SC clearance or are eligible to obtain it. This is a requirement due to the nature of the work.

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• Experience within defence, national security or government environments is a strong advantage and will help you ramp up faster.
• Kubernetes experience is beneficial but not essential.
• Strong programming ability in Java, Python, Go or JavaScript.
• A strong background in Computer Science or Computer Engineering is valued, but this isn't a box-ticking exercise.

They are looking for people who can solve difficult technical problems and continue learning quickly.

If you are based outside London, relocation support is available.

Because of the classified nature of the work, this role requires more time on-site than a typical hybrid engineering position, particularly during on-call rotations.

If you're looking for a role where you will own production infrastructure supporting some of the UK's most critical government systems, work alongside exceptional engineers, and be trusted with real responsibility from day one, we would love to hear from you.

Apply today, and we can have an honest conversation about what the role is really like before you decide whether it's the right next step.