Defence & aerospace

The defence and aerospace sector is evolving rapidly, shaped by technological innovation, geopolitical pressures and persistent skills shortages. LHH supports organisations operating in secure, highly regulated environments to attract, retain and transition critical talent.

Our security-cleared consultants recruit across engineering, cyber, manufacturing and supply chain, while our broader talent solutions help organisations develop leaders and support workforce change, all without compromising compliance or delivery.

Sourcing and engaging security-cleared professionals

Identifying candidates eligible and willing to undergo clearance

Clearance-aware workforce planning and realistic hiring timelines

Discreet, compliant search and selection for sensitive roles

Recruitment

We focus on senior and specialist recruitment, connecting organisations with the experienced professionals who strengthen teams across engineering, cyber, operations and supply chain.

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Executive Search

Our executive search practice helps organisations appoint board and senior leadership, identifying the people who set direction and lead with confidence in demanding, regulated environments.

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Interim Management

We place experienced interim leaders who step in at short notice to deliver change, steady a programme or lead through transition, bringing senior expertise for as long as it is needed.

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Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)

Scale hiring with an embedded team aligned to your EVP, compliance requirements and candidate experience.

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Recruitment Marketing

Our in-house marketing and employer brand specialists work alongside recruiters to reach passive, hard-to-find talent, ideal for security-cleared, site-based and specialist roles where standard adverts fall short.

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Career Development

Our career development and mobility offering builds bespoke career plans, lifelong learning and future-ready skills, helping you manage change and retain critical talent.

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Are you a security-cleared recruitment agency?

LHH is a trusted security-cleared recruitment agency, supporting organisations across the UK with hiring into SC and DV environments, as well as roles where candidates are eligible and willing to undergo vetting.

We regularly recruit into secure, mission-critical and safety-critical environments, where discretion, compliance and realistic clearance timelines are essential.

Do you recruit for security-cleared jobs across the UK?

Yes. We recruit for security-cleared jobs across the UK, including site-based and secure environments, and support programme hiring across multiple locations.

Our consultants understand the challenges of recruiting into clearance-constrained markets and build hiring plans that reflect eligibility requirements, location constraints and programme delivery timelines.

What defence roles do you recruit for?

We recruit across a broad range of defence technology, engineering and leadership roles, supporting organisations delivering complex, mission-critical programmes. This includes:

Systems engineers and integration specialists working on multidisciplinary engineering programmes
Cyber security, DevSecOps and secure IT roles
Software engineers across frontend, backend and full-stack development
Cloud, DevOps and platform engineering professionals modernising secure infrastructure
Technical architects, including solutions and enterprise architects
Programme and project management roles
Supply chain, compliance and export control professionals
Advanced manufacturing, quality and regulated production roles

What aerospace roles do you recruit for?

We recruit across the full aerospace engineering and technology lifecycle, from concept and design through to production and through-life support. This includes:

Design, stress, manufacturing and production engineering
Systems integration, testing, certification and deployment
Software, digital and platform engineering supporting aerospace programmes
MRO, maintenance and through-life support roles
Technical architecture and digital transformation leadership
Operational, commercial and senior leadership appointments

Can you support volume hiring or programme ramp-ups?

Through project-managed recruitment, managed recruitment solutions and RPO, we can scale hiring quickly for multi-hire campaigns and programme ramp-ups while maintaining compliance, quality and a consistent candidate experience.

This is particularly effective for defence and aerospace programmes with fluctuating demand or site-based delivery requirements.

How is managed recruitment different from RPO?

Managed recruitment provides flexible, scalable hiring support without the fixed cost of a traditional RPO. It allows organisations to increase or reduce recruitment capacity in line with programme demand while maintaining compliance and quality. Managed recruitment doesn’t have a minimum number of hires, but allows us to become a partner to your organisation so that your hiring becomes more efficient.

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