A UK defence and security technology company with sites such as Malvern and Bristol, running graduate cyber roles and youth cyber courses.
QinetiQ (said "kin-et-ick") is a British defence and security technology company. In plain terms, it tests and improves the equipment that armed forces, governments and other critical organisations rely on, from aircraft and ships to computer networks, and it helps protect those systems from cyber attacks. Cyber security is one part of a much wider engineering business.
QinetiQ was created in July 2001 when the UK Ministry of Defence split its research agency, DERA, in two. The smaller part became the government-owned laboratory Dstl; the larger part, with most of the testing and evaluation sites, became QinetiQ and was later privatised and listed on the London Stock Exchange in February 2006. The name comes from the scientific word "kinetic", about motion, and the Greek "kineo", meaning "to move". Its headquarters is at Cody Technology Park in Farnborough, Hampshire, and it has about 8,000 people (2026 figure). Key sites include Boscombe Down in Wiltshire, Malvern in Worcestershire, Haslar and Rosyth, and Pendine in Carmarthenshire, plus a graduate cyber listing in Bristol.
We did not find a formal mission statement in the pages we read. What the company does show is a commitment to teaching young people: in 2026 it delivered the National Cyber Security Centre's CyberFirst Advanced course to over 200 students at 11 venues across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, including its Malvern site. The course is for 16 and 17 year olds and ends with a national Capture the Flag competition, a contest where teams solve security puzzles.
Its work includes a 25-year agreement with the Ministry of Defence, signed in 2003, to test and evaluate military and civil equipment on land, at sea and in the air. It built the Zephyr solar-powered aircraft, which flew for nearly 26 days in 2018 and is now with Airbus, and it is linked to the Talon bomb-disposal robots made by its US arm. Its cyber security team advises on protecting defence and government systems, and roles such as Cyber Security Consultant, Security Analyst and Graduate Crypto Security Engineer have been advertised in Malvern.
For young people, QinetiQ's UK early-careers page lists graduate programmes, apprenticeships covering science, technology and business (school leavers and career changers both welcome), and a Year in Industry placement for undergraduates. Work experience is not taken as unsolicited requests; places are limited and arranged through local schools and youth groups. QinetiQ has advertised a Graduate Cyber Security Consultant role in Bristol and a Systems Engineer Graduate role in Malvern, both filled when we read them. Many defence roles need security clearance, so check requirements, which were not on the pages we read.
Website: www.qinetiq.com
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