The Jobs and Markets BLUF
The market is running on sustainment and integration, not fresh steel. Babcock leads with 34 roles this window, a Henderson-heavy naval sustainment stack that displaces BAE Systems from the top of the tally for the first time in these editions, while BAE's 19 roles read as a shorter-window continuation of the Osborne submarine and shipbuilding ramp. Anduril's 10 Sydney roles have shifted from design to field operations, logistics and product support, the mark of a program moving into service. Sentiment across the defence book was broadly soft this week, with Thales off 5.4%, Saab down 6% and Rheinmetall down 6.2% on the ASX, while archTIS jumped 18.6% against the trend.
This Week's Roles 108 postings collected
Location | Role Category | Company | Northrop Grumman Australia | 6 |
| Raytheon Australia (RTX) | 6 |
|
Staffing Up
Babcock Australasia
34 roles led from Henderson, spanning project and production management, certification, system safety, commercial and field engineering, with a Woodville North cluster in quality, project management and infrastructure architecture. A named Hunter-class systems project manager and workshop lead sit alongside HF node maintenance technicians in WA and NT.
So whatThe Henderson weight ties the demand to west coast naval sustainment and the emerging continuous shipbuilding base, while the Woodville North Hunter roles feed the frigate combat systems line.
BAE Systems Australia
19 roles this shorter window, down from 34 last edition, still concentrated at Osborne across change, estimating, material control and combat systems training, with a Melbourne and Edinburgh cluster in Linux and ICT systems engineering. The ramp continues rather than accelerates.
So whatOsborne estimating, pricing and combat systems training roles point to the Hunter-class build moving deeper into systems integration and workforce readiness.
Anduril Australia
10 Sydney roles now weighted to field operations, logistics support, maintenance lead, product support and quality inspection rather than pure design. Systems security engineering and a robotics intern round out the pipeline.
So whatThe shift from engineering to field and sustainment roles signals an autonomy program crossing from build into deployed support, most plausibly Ghost Shark undersea work.
Leidos Australia
8 Canberra-centred roles across platform, middleware, database and directory engineering, including two 6-month fixed-term system administration and Unix contracts. Tightly focused on cleared enterprise ICT sustainment.
So whatThe OpenShift, DataPower and Active Directory mix reads as steady-state managed ICT delivery for federal and defence enterprise systems.
Contract Watch the awards likely to drive hiring
LOCKHEED MARTIN AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
New award · $29.3m · Department of Defence
The award books a two-year integration partner role for Lockheed Martin Australia in combat systems, needing a cleared integration and systems engineering team. It lands the same week Lockheed took the $1.32 billion bulk of AIR 6500 Tranche 2B, so the firm is now pulling scarce air battle management and combat systems integrators into two lines at once. Rivals chasing the same cleared integration talent in Canberra and the east now compete against a prime that can offer both a fielded program and a long integration pipeline.
L3HARRIS SPACE AND AIRBORNE SYSTEMS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
New award · $28.4m · Department of Defence
The award funds L3Harris to implement a system through to June 2028, work that carries engineering, integration and test headcount rather than a hardware buy. The military science and research category and statutory secrecy flags point to a classified airborne or space payload line. Flow-down lands on cleared systems and software engineers in a market where Lockheed and Babcock are already drawing from the same pool.
REEVES INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD
New award · $10.2m · Department of Defence
The award funds a base essential services upgrade running to October 2027, construction and facilities work that carries a site delivery and project management crew. At just over $10m the crew is modest, but it adds to a facilities demand line across defence estates already competing for site engineers and construction managers. The pull is local to the delivery site rather than national.
Roles Worth Knowing
Capability Integration Manager
Raytheon Australia (RTX) · Amberley
An integration leadership role at an air combat base, tying to guided weapons and air capability work.
Field Operations Manager
Anduril Australia · Sydney
The clearest marker that Anduril is standing up deployed support for a fielded autonomy program.
Skills Demand 12 month direction across the sector
| ▲ |
Naval sustainment and integration |
Henderson and Woodville North postings from Babcock, Austal and BAE point to west and east coast sustainment demand outrunning new-build hiring. |
| ▲ |
Combat systems integration |
The Lockheed and L3Harris awards plus BAE combat systems training roles are tightening an already thin cleared integration pool. |
| ▲ |
Cyber and cleared ICT |
Leidos, EY, Kinetic IT and Accenture postings show steady Canberra demand for platform, SOC and security architecture talent with clearances. |
| ▲ |
Field operations and product support |
Anduril's shift toward logistics, maintenance and product support marks autonomy programs moving from design into deployed service. |
| ▶ |
Trades and manufacturing |
Trades volume eased this window with hull and welding roles giving way to quality, planning and certification, a build maturing past steel. |
| ▶ |
Program and commercial management |
Project, cost and commercial roles hold steady across Babcock and the consultancies rather than surging. |
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12 Month Market Outlook| • | Lockheed Martin banks the AIR 6500 Tranche 2B win and the combat systems integration partner contract, cementing a decade of Australian air and missile defence work that competitors must now build around rather than contest. | | • | Thales fell 5.4% and Saab 6% on the week with no company-specific driver in the evidence, reading as a sector-wide risk-off move alongside Rheinmetall down 6.2% and BAE down 2.8%. | | • | Austal held up at plus 2.3% on the ASX as Wildcat Infrastructure's $1.9 billion bid tops Hanwha's offer, and control of the shipbuilder's US arm now shapes who anchors sovereign naval construction over the next 12 months. | | • | archTIS jumped 18.6% with no visible cause in the evidence, against a soft secure-information cohort where DroneShield remains down 47% over the year. | | • | Codan joining the S&P/ASX 100 marks a scale milestone for sovereign defence electronics and supports its plus 47.8% 12-month run, the standout among Australian names. | | • | The northern posture story, B-52s at Tindal and an expanded US footprint, points 12 months of demand toward base facilities, ISR sustainment and northern engineering, favouring primes with existing estate and sustainment lines. |
Key Stock Movement
ASX-listed
| Company | 1 wk |
12 mth |
|---|
| DRO DroneShield |
▲ 2.1% |
▼ 47.0% |
| EOS Electro Optic Systems |
▲ 1.9% |
▲ 29.6% |
| ASB Austal |
▲ 2.3% |
▼ 47.7% |
| CDA Codan |
▼ 1.5% |
▲ 47.8% |
| AR9 archTIS |
▲ 18.6% |
▼ 66.0% |
| AL3 AML3D |
▼ 3.4% |
▼ 40.4% |
| TTT Titomic |
▼ 3.8% |
▼ 50.0% |
| OEC Orbital UAV |
▼ 6.9% |
▼ 34.1% |
| ELS Elsight |
▲ 2.3% |
▲ 196.0% |
| AVA AVA Risk Group |
▼ 9.1% |
▼ 50.0% | |
Global primes in Australian programs
| Company | 1 wk |
12 mth |
|---|
| BA.L BAE Systems |
▼ 2.8% |
▲ 5.0% |
| LMT Lockheed Martin |
▼ 0.3% |
▲ 12.6% |
| RTX RTX |
▼ 1.3% |
▲ 25.7% |
| NOC Northrop Grumman |
▼ 0.9% |
▼ 11.0% |
| BA Boeing |
▼ 1.9% |
▼ 6.9% |
| HO.PA Thales |
▼ 5.4% |
▼ 4.0% |
| RHM.DE Rheinmetall |
▼ 6.2% |
▼ 44.9% |
| 012450.KS Hanwha Aerospace |
▲ 1.9% |
▲ 10.3% |
| SAAB-B.ST Saab |
▼ 6.0% |
▲ 10.4% |
| BAB.L Babcock |
▼ 2.4% |
▼ 11.9% | |
Five Eyes & Alliance Defence Indices
| Index | 1 wk |
1 mth | 12 mth |
|---|
| GlobalGlobal X Defense TechMarketVector Global Defense Industry |
▼ 2.1% |
▼ 11.0% |
▼ 5.4% |
| United StatesSPDR Aerospace & DefenseS&P Aerospace & Defense Select Industry |
▼ 2.2% |
▼ 16.3% |
▲ 10.8% |
| United KingdomUK Aerospace & DefenceEqual-weighted FTSE 350 A&D names · 6 names |
▼ 2.0% |
▼ 12.4% |
▲ 11.6% |
| CanadaCanadian DefenceEqual-weighted listed basket · 3 names |
▲ 1.2% |
▼ 13.1% |
▲ 55.7% |
| AustraliaGlobal X Defence TechASX: DTEC |
▼ 3.0% |
▼ 12.7% |
▼ 10.9% |
| NATOThemes Transatlantic DefenseNATO-aligned primes |
▼ 2.3% |
▼ 12.1% |
▲ 1.8% |
| EuropeSTOXX Europe Aerospace & DefenseSelect STOXX Europe A&D |
▼ 2.6% |
▼ 9.9% |
▼ 5.0% |
Kestrel reads the Australian defence market every weekday morning.
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