The Jobs and Markets BLUF
This is a full 7-day window at 59 roles and the story is the shape, not the leader. BAE holds the top at 16 in a steady Osborne and Edinburgh engineering continuation, well down on last edition's 26, and the news is Anduril jumping to 7 Sydney roles and Kinetic IT appearing at 6 Canberra ICT roles for the first time in these editions. Canberra is the clear centre of gravity this week across Leidos, Kinetic IT, KBR and BAE security, a cleared ICT and cyber stack rather than a shipyard one. Local sentiment split hard, with Codan up 27.9% on doubled profits and EOS up 5.1% against a soft week for every global prime on the board.
This Week's Roles 59 postings collected
Location | Role Category | Company | Raytheon Australia (RTX) | 5 |
|
Staffing Up
BAE Systems Australia
16 roles this full window, down from 26 last edition, still anchored at Osborne and Edinburgh across mechatronic, electronics and production engineering with a Melbourne mirror. Change leadership, finance and security round it out, with Williamtown aviation maintenance management holding.
So whatThe ramp continues at Osborne on submarine and shipbuilding production support rather than accelerating, with the Edinburgh electronics and software license lines pointing to combat systems and ICT sustainment.
Anduril Australia
7 Sydney roles swung back to hard engineering across electrical, maritime technical operations, sourcing and supplier engineering, up from 4 last edition. A senior technical program manager and a GNC intern bracket the pipeline from delivery to early talent.
So whatThe electrical and supplier engineering weight points to a maritime autonomy build filling out its supply chain, with the Perth mission analyst tying demand to west coast undersea operations.
Kinetic IT
6 Canberra roles across infrastructure, solutions architecture, major incident coordination and ITIL process management, the first time this employer has appeared in these editions. The mix is enterprise service management and database rather than build.
So whatThis reads as a cleared managed-services contract staffing up in Canberra, adding a new buyer to the same ICT and ITSM talent pool Leidos and KBR already draw from.
Leidos Australia
6 Canberra roles weighted to end user services, systems administration and cyber GRC, up from 4 last edition and consistent with prior windows. A senior GRC consultant and ITSM specialist sit above junior analyst and desk roles.
So whatSteady cleared enterprise ICT sustainment, with the GRC weight tracking accreditation and compliance load across a Canberra department rather than a new ramp.
Contract Watch the awards likely to drive hiring
DURATEC LIMITED
New award · $27m · Department of Home Affairs
The award funds Duratec to redevelop the Yongah Hill facility through to August 2028, work that carries site engineers, construction managers and a project delivery crew in regional WA. The pull is local and adds to a facilities demand line already competing for construction leadership against defence estate work in the west. In a thin WA talent market where Austal and Babcock draw naval labour to Henderson, a Home Affairs build site competes for the same project and site management capacity rather than shipyard trades.
AIR AFFAIRS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
New award · $23.1m · Department of Defence
The award books Air Affairs to deliver maritime aviation support services through to September 2031, aircraft maintenance and operations work that carries a standing technical and engineering crew. The five-year term and export-controlled flagging point to a classified or sensitive air support line rather than a one-off buy. Flow-down lands on aviation maintenance and technical operations staff, a pool BAE is also drawing from for Williamtown aviation maintenance management this same window.
Roles Worth Knowing
Senior Technical Program Manager
Anduril Australia · Sydney
Owns delivery across a maritime autonomy program moving from design into build, a rare prime-level program seat in Sydney.
Solutions Architect
Kinetic IT · Canberra
Anchors a new cleared ICT contract in Canberra, signalling where the next managed-services demand concentrates.
Senior Cyber Security GRC Consultant
Leidos Australia · Canberra
Senior accreditation and compliance work in a market where ASD alerts are driving fresh patching and governance load.
Combat Systems Sustainment Officer
Raytheon Australia (RTX) · Henderson
Ties combat systems sustainment demand to the west coast naval base as Henderson professional hiring thins.
Skills Demand 12 month direction across the sector
| ▲ |
Cleared ICT and service management |
Canberra dominates the window across Kinetic IT, Leidos and KBR, with ITSM, infrastructure and architecture the clearest discipline cluster this week. |
| ▲ |
Cyber and GRC |
Senior GRC and security specialist demand persists at Leidos, BAE and Raytheon, reinforced by the ASD Citrix NetScaler and AI service alerts landing as patching work on primes holding controlled technical data. |
| ▲ |
Electrical and supplier engineering |
Anduril's Sydney electrical and supplier engineering cluster and Austal's Liverpool electrical design roles signal maritime autonomy and shipbuilding supply chains building out. |
| ▶ |
Program and project leadership |
Change leads, program managers and schedulers sit steady across BAE, Thales and Raytheon without the volume spike of the August completions surge. |
| ▼ |
Naval sustainment engineering |
Henderson professional demand has thinned to commercial, materials and outfit coordination at Austal and Babcock rather than the scheduling and configuration stack of two editions ago. |
| ▶ |
Guided weapons and munitions |
Thales holds a single Benalla QA role and summer missile-war warnings on ADF munitions depth have not yet converted to visible hiring in this window. |
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12 Month Market Outlook| • | Codan ran up 27.9% on the week and 46.1% on the month after profits doubled on conflict-driven drone demand and new US and European customers, a sovereign supplier scaling on exports rather than any single award. | | • | EOS gained 5.1% on the week and 19.4% on the month, consistent with listing its R400 remote weapon station on the US JIATF 401 Counter-UAS Marketplace, opening a fast-track allied order path. | | • | Every global prime on the board drifted down 2% to 7% on the week, with Boeing off 6.9% and Northrop off 6.0%, a broad soft patch with no single award visible in the evidence to explain it. | | • | Austal fell 5.3% on the week despite a Land Forces debut in Perth and Arafura homeporting at Cairns, suggesting the market is pricing execution risk ahead of the Landing Craft Medium and Heavy programs rather than the news flow. | | • | Additive manufacturing plays AML3D and Titomic fell 13% to 15% on both week and month, an AUKUS supply-chain pocket the market is derating while naval demand stays concentrated in sustainment not fresh steel. | | • | Over 12 months Canberra cleared ICT and cyber looks structurally tight, favouring incumbents like Leidos and new entrants like Kinetic IT that can field cleared teams, and squeezing anyone trying to unseat them in the same labour pool. |
Key Stock Movement
ASX-listed
| Company | 1 wk |
12 mth |
|---|
| DRO DroneShield |
▲ 5.9% |
▼ 70.1% |
| EOS Electro Optic Systems |
▲ 5.1% |
▲ 8.2% |
| ASB Austal |
▼ 5.3% |
▼ 47.4% |
| CDA Codan |
▲ 27.9% |
▲ 124.2% |
| AR9 archTIS |
▲ 0.0% |
▼ 53.1% |
| AL3 AML3D |
▼ 13.3% |
▼ 49.0% |
| TTT Titomic |
▼ 15.4% |
▼ 65.1% |
| OEC Orbital UAV |
▼ 4.2% |
▼ 58.9% |
| ELS Elsight |
▼ 8.7% |
▲ 118.1% |
| AVA AVA Risk Group |
▼ 2.4% |
▼ 48.7% | |
Global primes in Australian programs
| Company | 1 wk |
12 mth |
|---|
| BA.L BAE Systems |
▼ 2.3% |
▼ 5.4% |
| LMT Lockheed Martin |
▼ 2.9% |
▲ 2.1% |
| RTX RTX |
▼ 3.4% |
▲ 11.0% |
| NOC Northrop Grumman |
▼ 6.0% |
▼ 20.1% |
| BA Boeing |
▼ 6.9% |
▼ 13.5% |
| HO.PA Thales |
▼ 4.0% |
▼ 15.0% |
| RHM.DE Rheinmetall |
▼ 3.1% |
▼ 51.6% |
| 012450.KS Hanwha Aerospace |
▼ 2.2% |
▼ 5.9% |
| SAAB-B.ST Saab |
▲ 0.0% |
▲ 6.9% |
| BAB.L Babcock |
▲ 2.3% |
▼ 24.9% | |
Five Eyes & Alliance Defence Indices
| Index | 1 wk |
1 mth | 12 mth |
|---|
| GlobalGlobal X Defense TechMarketVector Global Defense Industry |
▼ 3.6% |
▼ 8.2% |
▼ 14.4% |
| United StatesSPDR Aerospace & DefenseS&P Aerospace & Defense Select Industry |
▼ 3.4% |
▼ 9.9% |
▼ 2.2% |
| United KingdomUK Aerospace & DefenceEqual-weighted FTSE 350 A&D names · 6 names |
▼ 0.1% |
▼ 3.2% |
▲ 3.9% |
| CanadaCanadian DefenceEqual-weighted listed basket · 3 names |
▼ 0.1% |
▲ 0.5% |
▲ 50.0% |
| AustraliaGlobal X Defence TechASX: DTEC |
▼ 2.4% |
▼ 3.7% |
▼ 20.6% |
| NATOThemes Transatlantic DefenseNATO-aligned primes |
▼ 3.1% |
▼ 7.9% |
▼ 5.9% |
| EuropeSTOXX Europe Aerospace & DefenseSelect STOXX Europe A&D |
▼ 2.5% |
▼ 5.6% |
▼ 10.1% |
Kestrel reads the Australian defence market every weekday morning.
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