CyberFirst Graduate

About the Job

Kick-start your cyber career at the forefront of defence science and technology. Join our Cyber Technologies and Solutions teams as Cyber Scientist/Engineer, Vulnerability researcher, or Data and Protocol specialist.

As a CyberFirst graduate joining our Cyber Technologies & Solutions team, you'll dive straight into the real challenges shaping the UK's digital security—from dissecting complex systems to uncover vulnerabilities, to developing innovative solutions that give the UK a strategic edge. You'll have opportunities to work with a wide variety of technologies, everything from advanced hardware and embedded systems to cutting-edge software and networks to conduct cyber research.

If you're driven, curious, and ready to turn your CyberFirst foundation into impact that truly matters, this is where your skills can grow—and where your work can make a national difference. Dstl recognises the importance of diversity and inclusion as people from diverse backgrounds bring fresh ideas. We are committed to building an inclusive working environment in which each employee fulfils their potential and maximises their contribution.

Job Description

We welcome CyberFirst graduates with technical experience and a strong interest in any of the areas below. You don’t need to be skilled in all of them to apply—curiosity, enthusiasm, and a willingness to learn are just as important. You’ll have access to tailored development, expert mentorship, and on-the-job training to help you grow your expertise.

For Cyber Engineers and Vulnerability researchers, we’re particularly interested in applicants with experience or knowledge in:

• Cyber vulnerability research across hardware, software, or embedded systems
• Static and dynamic software analysis, using tools such as Ghidra, IDA, radare2, or similar platforms to understand protocols, behaviours, and system capabilities
• Development in low-level languages such as C or Assembly (x86, ARM, or others)
• High-level programming experience—particularly C/C++, Go or Python—for system and tool development, automation, and debugging
• Developing, analysing, or reverse-engineering communication protocols or packed data structures
• Compression, obfuscation, or encryption techniques and their practical application
• Use of analysis tools including debuggers, disassemblers, hex editors, unpackers, and network traffic inspection
• Network or system penetration testing and security assessment methods
• Threat hunting and vulnerability remediation, including applying cyber threat intelligence, Machine Learning, or AI-based techniques

For the Data and Network Analysis specialism

You will be part of a team who provide deep technical expertise & experience in the static and dynamic analysis of communication data. You will:

• Use a range of tools and techniques, depending on the type of data and the data bearer, which might include high-level network captures (Ethernet, Wi-Fi), on-board data bearers (UART, I2C), or data at rest on a system (data logs, configuration files).
• Use industry standard tools for analysis. If required, you will also need to write your own tools for protocol and data analysis as well as extend existing tools.
• Need to be a persistent and inquisitive puzzle solver, able to pick apart the intricacies of communication components, while also maintaining a systems level understanding of the whole device.

Person Specification

You’ll need experience working on complex, non-routine problems where you’ve brought together information from different sources to form well-reasoned technical conclusions.

You should be able to demonstrate creativity and strong problem-solving skills—approaching challenges from multiple angles and developing innovative ways forward.

We’re looking for someone with the persistence to work through ambiguity and the ability to coordinate people, insights, and technical evidence to deliver high-quality, assured engineering or technology outcomes.

Important Information

Our work in defence, security, and intelligence requires our employees to be UK Nationals who are able to gain a high level of security clearance to undertake the projects we are involved in to protect us from security threats.

For this reason, only UK Nationals will be able to apply for this role. If you are an international or dual-national candidate, and you think you have the skills we need, please consider applying to any of our government, security, or defence partners.

This role will require full Developed Vetting which also requires that you have resided in the UK for the past 10 years.

Qualifications

Relevant STEM degree, sponsored through CyberFirst.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Changing and Improving