The challenge
The client was scaling the engineering team behind mission-critical counter-drone technology. Its requirements crossed embedded systems, radio frequency engineering and secure firmware—disciplines where genuinely relevant commercial experience is scarce and high-performing people are rarely active jobseekers.
Technical capability was only one part of the brief. Candidates also needed to meet, or be able to satisfy, government security requirements and be motivated by the pace and accountability of a product-led defence environment. A broad software search would not reach or properly assess this market.
The search
Change built the search around the underlying engineering problems rather than relying on job titles. We mapped specialist hardware and defence networks, approached passive engineers directly and tested the relevance of their embedded, RF, firmware and C/C++ experience against the product roadmap.
Every shortlist balanced technical depth, clearance eligibility and mission alignment. Close calibration with engineering leadership meant the search could adjust quickly as priorities evolved, while candidates received enough technical context to make an informed decision about joining.
The outcome
The campaign delivered multiple specialist engineering hires against a tightly constrained brief. Each appointment met the required technical bar and gave the client additional capability across the systems central to its counter-drone platform.
Retention across the placements reached 100%. That continuity protected hard-won domain knowledge, supported the product roadmap and reduced the operational cost of repeatedly reopening searches in one of the hardest engineering markets to access.
“Finding cleared engineers with our specific technical needs is nearly impossible. Change made it happen.”
VP Engineering