The Defence Industry is evolving

Copello are the specialist recruitment partner you need to find you the talent to deal with the demands of immediate results against increased threats.

Our teams are focused on ensuring we develop networks across Air, Sea, Land, Cyber and Space.

We are embedded in the sector and work closely with our clients to understand their needs whether with existing projects, dealing with legacy equipment or within R&D.

Copello are proud of our track record of recruiting diverse candidates into our clients, helping towards changing the face of the industry.

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Successful across the following areas

  • System Engineers
  • Technical Authorities
  • Service Delivery
  • Service Design, Solutions and Systems Architecture
  • Trials, Validation & Verification Engineers
  • Electrical Design Engineers Requirements
  • ILS Engineers and Supportability Consultants
  • Configuration Engineers and Managers
  • Modelling & Simulation Engineers Software
  • Engineers & Software Architects
  • Risk Managers and Consultants
  • Mechanical Design Engineers and Managers
  • Project and Programme Management
  • Bid Management
  • Commercial, Procurement and Supply Chain
  • Safety & Reliability Engineers
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Working to secure the best talent to move the defence industry

Copello has significant experience of working within the Defence sector either directly or throughout the supply chain.

Our focus is establishing networks of talent in core areas that have significant impact on the successful delivery of critical projects.

Our specialist team focus specifically within the defence and government services industries providing talent across a number of vital security projects

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Proven Success

Copello work with clients across Aerospace and Aviation, Marine, Land, Space and Nuclear. Our focus is establishing long standing relationships with our clients and candidates built on our one corporate value, Trust. This value underpins our approach to everything.

The Defence sector is continually changing and needs new skills and approaches. Our commitment is establishing talent networks for clients that ensure current projects are delivered on time as well as focusing on the talent of the future.

Security Clearance Explained

With such a variety of roles available, it is often necessary to gain levels of security clearance. There are different levels of security clearance. Depending on the industry, position or site location, personnel could be instructed to receive a specified level of clearance in order to meet the contract requirements.

Copello have a track record to responding to the need for specialist teams quickly and understand the levels of security clearance required. As such, we have developed a talent pool of security cleared candidates (BC, CTC, SC and DV cleared) to provide an agile service to our clients.

Copello will guide you through this process to ensure all the requirements are met in a timely and efficient manner.

Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS)
Basic Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)
Counter Terrorist Check (CTC)
Security Check (SC)
Developed Vetting (DV)
Security Industry Authority (SIA)
NATO/NATO Cleared

DBS checks are for positions involving certain activities and high levels of responsibility, such as teaching children or dealing with vulnerable adults, and can also be obtained for certain other professions such as judicial appointments or RSPCA officers.

A DBS check is carried out and results in certificates being issued to an individual. Employers can then ask to see this certificate to ensure that they are recruiting suitable people into their organisation.

There are four levels of check:

  • Basic check
  • Standard check
  • Enhanced check
  • Enhanced check with barred list(s)

The information contained on each type of check is different.

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Although not an official security check, it does provide an insight to a candidate’s integrity, and is used as standard in government for roles such as civil servants, armed forces, and government contractors. The check includes verifying nationality, ID, and immigration status, as well as employment history and a basic criminal records check. This check cannot be carried out by the applicant and must be completed by the organisation offering employment. 

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This type of check will be carried out for any applicant that may have access to sensitive or military information, or be working with high profile / public figures if a vulnerability to terrorist attack is identified.

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A security check (SC or SC cleared) is required for people who have substantial access to secret or occasional controlled access to secret assets.

A full security check clearance process comprises:

  • A baseline personnel security standard (BPSS)
  • Departmental/company records check
  • Security questionnaire
  • Criminal record check
  • Credit reference check
  • Security service check
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Developed Vetting (DV) is the highest level of security clearance and is required for people with substantial unsupervised access to secret assets or for those working in the intelligence or security agencies.

A full DV security clearance process comprises the following mandatory vetting stages:

  • A baseline personnel security standard (BPSS)
  • Departmental / company records check
  • DV security clearance questionnaire
  • Criminal record check
  • Credit reference check
  • Security service check
  • Check of medical and psychological information provided
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SIA Operates the compulsory licensing of individuals working in specific sectors of the private security industry within the UK. The activities licensed under the Private Security Industry 2001 regulation pertain to Manned Guarding.

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NATO has four levels of security classification: NATO Restricted (NR), NATO Confidential (NC), NATO Secret (NS) and COSMIC Top Secret (CTS). NATO’s clearance levels function independent of any clearance levels for other nations. However, it is understood that for most NATO nations, granting of a NATO security clearance is handled in a similar manner to that of obtaining a national security clearance.

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What our Clients and candidates are Saying

  • Copello were successful in locating candidates where other companies were not. They took time to really understand what sort of person we were seeking, both from a technical and behaviours perspective. They took an innovative approach to locating candidates, using targeted advertisements, and a wide network. They screened candidates effectively, and always offered good candidates to us for review.

    They then listened to initial feedback and refined their search criteria to reflect what we said. I was also impressed by the level of communication from Copello throughout the process – I felt informed at all stages and it led to an efficient, and pleasurable experience from my perspective.  Talking to successful candidates, its clear that they felt the same.

    Service Delivery Director, Defence Services Company
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  • Copello were incredible when securing me my new role. I had a really positive candidate experience due to the communication from Ella about the role I was applying for and throughout my whole interview experience. Ella was very knowledgeable about the company, team and role I was interviewing for which was a real help in building the employer brand and made me excited for the role. After securing the role Copello were very proactive in my onboarding and kept in touch throughout to see how they could help and answer any questions, an incredibly supportive team!

    Amy Thompson, HR Advisor at AQUILA Air Traffic Management Services
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  • Thank you for all your help in the ten months I have been working at Aquila. We have worked together a lot to find some permanent and contractor PMs to fit in with the vision I had for my team. You have been patient with me whilst I created and refined a short list we could both work from and you have been more than understanding when I turned away seemingly good candidates in order to stick with my vision. You’ve always been really good at communicating with me where you were in your searches and checking in to ensure you were selecting the right candidates to put forwards to me. Your follow up post interview was timely and you helped me manage a difficult customer at one point as well! To begin with you even had to help me understand how to work my new Android phone so I could actually answer it when you called! The outcome of all of this has resulted in the creation of a Project management team which is stable, hard working and most importantly happy! We have all gelled so well, we bring our whole selves to work (and to play) and we care truly for each other’s welfare. We are all at different stages of our careers but are all dedicated to helping one another advance. It is truly a wonderful experience to work with such a team every day and your patience, understanding and diligence helped create it. You should be really proud!

    Lucy Free, Head of Projects at AQUILA Air Traffic Management Services
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  • When Ella connected with me to understand what sort of role I was looking for, I had not long lost my previous long term job, was experiencing a family loss and felt at a complete loss as to how to negotiate my next steps. The empathy that Ella exhibited, provided me with the support to look internally at what I really wanted and needed, whilst maintaining a personal interest in my well being.

    Ella worked very hard to connect me with suitable roles and facilitate a number of interviews. Ella maintained contact, even if roles were not available, just to maintain that presence and know that I had someone looking out for my well being and keen to help.

    Thanks to Ella, I have found my new work family and a new role, whilst challenging, has provided me with the stability and positive value that I needed. Thankyou Ella, you went above and beyond, your work ethic and attention to detail changed my life.

    Steve Tamblyn, Project Manager at AQUILA Air Traffic Management Services
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Current Defence Jobs

Partnership Programme

We’ll find the talent, you grow your business

Combining Talent Solutions, Marketing Enablers to build your employer brand and real-time Analytics to ensure you have the information to develop an effective Talent Strategy which enables you to pivot with market conditions, our Partnership Programme is tailor made so you have the talent to achieve your business objectives.

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We want to hear from you…

If you are looking for a preferred recruitment company to work with to find you your next opportunity or to source prime talent in the market, get in touch!

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info@copello.co.uk

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+44 (0)23 9310 0594

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