Senior Software Infrastructure Engineer

Posted: 06/03/2026

Closing Date: 03/04/2026

Job Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: Adelaide and Edinburgh

Job Category: Software \& Computer Systems Engineering

At Swordfish, we specialise in delivering transformative innovation to our Defence clients through integrated teams that combine the engineering disciplines with deep defence domain knowledge, specialist skills in the applied sciences, mathematics and digital technologies. We are passionate about applying quality engineering and embracing emerging technologies to bring innovative solutions to Defence.

Over the past 25 years, Swordfish has established a reputation for outstanding innovative R\&D, and is a preferred and trusted industry partner to Defence clients. We are proudly Australian owned and operated and are committed to safeguarding our sovereignty, citizens, and national interests through helping to provide Australian Defence with a capability edge.

We strive to maintain a respectful and honest working environment that fosters a culture of inclusion, open collaboration and trust. Our teams welcome new ideas and alternative solutions, are passionate about what they do, and eagerly welcome new team members.

What we are looking for

We seek talented and experienced Senior Software Infrastructure Engineer than can work as senior member of Agile software development teams. We look for engineers who enjoy the responsibility of designing and implementing software systems that integrate cutting-edge technologies and sharing their knowledge with other team members. Our ideal candidate will engage effectively with senior leadership, clients, stakeholders and team members through the ability to clearly articulate ideas, issues and solutions.

We value passionate people who enjoy technical challenges and thrive in a collaborative environment, who are prolific contributors of ideas and inspiration, and who can motivate and guide junior engineers with empathy and mentorship. We love problem solvers who want to keep learning, individually and as part of the team and who care about helping their teams and our clients to achieve their objectives. Our problems can be thorny and we value people who have tenacity and resilience. Our senior engineers don’t live in ivory towers - they strive alongside their team mates no matter what is thrown at them.

What you will do

Apply systems engineering principles to the design, build and integration of software-defined infrastructure supporting advanced Defence research and development programs.

Design, implement and operate cloud-native infrastructure solutions within Azure and AWS environments, leveraging platform APIs to provision and manage scalable, resilient systems.

Engineer and maintain Infrastructure as Code using tools such as Terraform and Ansible to deliver repeatable, automated and secure environment provisioning.

Build, enhance and maintain CI/CD pipelines that support multi-language software development in distributed environments, embedding DevSecOps practices and automation throughout the delivery lifecycle.

Design and support containerised and virtualised environments, including Kubernetes-based platforms, to enable secure and efficient deployment of software systems.

Implement and manage cloud networking constructs including VNets/VPCs, subnets, routing, and secure connectivity patterns to support resilient system architectures.

Develop and maintain software tooling to support virtualised and container-based development, integration and test environments.

Collaborate with researchers, software engineers and stakeholders to translate system requirements into scalable infrastructure and platform designs.

Champion DevSecOps practices, including automated testing, secure configuration, environment consistency, and pipeline-driven deployment models. Contribute to architectural decisions that align software development, infrastructure engineering and operational sustainability.

Conduct technical reviews, guide engineers in infrastructure and platform best practices, and provide mentorship in modern cloud and DevOps tooling.

Stay current with emerging cloud, containerisation and infrastructure automation technologies, and evaluate their applicability to Swordfish programs.

Location

Swordfish is headquartered on North Terrace in the Adelaide CBD with our teams operating from both the CBD and our client's sites in the northern suburbs. Some but not all projects offer opportunities to work in a hybrid manner.

Additional benefits

Interesting and rewarding work

An engaging, lively and supportive culture within a growing company

37.5 hour working week with hybrid work arrangements

Value given to work-life balance and support for professional development

Attractive remuneration

Relocation support for interstate applicants

Desirable skills and experience

The skills below represent the potential breadth of the role. Successful candidates typically bring significant depth in a subset of these areas, along with the ability to learn the rest.

Cloud \& Infrastructure

10+ years’ experience designing and delivering secure software systems and system integration (preferably within Defence or Aerospace environments)

Strong hands-on experience with Infrastructure as Code (e.g. Terraform, Ansible) to deliver automated, repeatable and scalable environments.

Experience leveraging cloud provider APIs for provisioning and lifecycle management.

Strong foundational cloud networking knowledge (VPCs/VNets, subnets, routing and secure connectivity patterns).

Containerisation \& Platforms

Containerisation technologies (e.g. Docker, Podman)

Container orchestration systems (e.g. Kubernetes, RedHat OpenShift/OKD)

Infrastructure as code techniques (e.g. Ansible, Terraform)

Understanding of distributed systems and platform considerations supporting microservice architectures.

DevOps \& DevSecOps

Continuous Integration systems (e.g. GitLab, Jenkins, Bamboo)

Continuous delivery systems (e.g. Argo CD, Flux CD)

Strong understanding of DevSecOps principles, including zero-trust, automation-first delivery, secure configuration and pipeline-driven deployment practices.

Technical Leadership \& Collaboration

Strong systems engineering mindset applied to software-defined infrastructure.

Ability to communicate complex infrastructure concepts clearly and mentor engineers in modern cloud and DevOps practices.

Experience working in Agile, multidisciplinary delivery teams.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s or higher degree in Computer Science, Computer Systems Engineering, Software Engineering or related field.

Australian Citizenship

Eligible to hold and maintain a NV1 Australian Defence Security Clearance. Please see the following URL for eligibility requirements: http://www.defence.gov.au/agsva