What Jobs are available in Kilmarnock?

• £31,827 - £5,000 per annum
• Average uncapped bonus of ,800 per annum (with potential to earn more)
• 5 days a week
• Earn extra with our refer a friend scheme – T&C’s Apply

This is a really exciting time to join our Halfords Garage Services team.  You will be working at one of our new Fusion centres; it will be upgraded with the latest facilities to lead the way in providing a first-class customer experience and a great working environment.

If you are a qualified MOT Tester join us at Halfords, the UK’s largest Automotive service, maintenance and repair business, where we offer great career opportunities, benefits and uncapped bonus scheme.

Benefits Include:

• 5.6 weeks’ annual leave
• Up to 50% off garage bills in our Autocentres and 25% off most our Halfords products in our retail stores
• Discounts on everything from groceries, shopping, insurance, days out, restaurants and more
• Family & Friends Discount Events
• Opportunity to buy a Trade Price Bike & enrol in the Cycle to Work Scheme
• Financial planning support via Wagestream - access up to 30% of your salary in advance
• GP Access, 364 days a year, 24 hours a day
• Join the Share save scheme with a 20% discount on shares
• Health Cash Plan – to access wellbeing services and claim back healthcare costs
• Pension Scheme & Life Assurance

You will be given every opportunity to progress your career at Halfords. Access to hybrid training and IMI approved continuous development will be fully supported.

Skills and experience

• Current MOT Testing Licence (No licence? Other opportunities available for Mechanic’s & Technician’s, contact one of our team on for more details)
• Must have a full drivers licence with less than 9 points
• Team player willing to assist in workshop carrying out light vehicle maintenance, when not performing MOT’s

Why Halfords?

We’re in an exciting chapter – rapidly growing our business with a focus on motoring services and electric mobility. We’re the UK’s leading retailer of motoring and cycling products and services, and the UK’s largest Automotive service, maintenance and repair business. Join us and be part of our success story in getting the nation safely back on the move.

Not sure you meet all the criteria? We'd encourage you to take the wheel and apply anyway! At Halfords we are committed to creating an inclusive workplace for our colleagues. We're an equal opportunities employer and proud to welcome applications from all backgrounds and embrace diversity within our one Halfords Family.

Job Title: Software Architect

Location: Isle of Wight – Cowes or Portsmouth – BroadOak

Salary: Up to £85,700 depending on skills and experience plus bonus scheme. Part time & accruing hours available’ Please let us know if you would like to discuss these options.

What you’ll be doing:

• Provide Software Subject Matter Expertise: Working across multiple projects with various programming languages, architectures, and lifecycle models, offering specialist technical advice and guidance to peers and projects
• Define and Develop Architectural Artefacts: Creating, assessing and reviewing software and data processing architectures to meet software and system requirements and support future re-use of software, ensuring alignment throughout the engineering lifecycle
• Establish and Maintain Design Processes: Enhancing transformational activities and tools used to develop and manage software design artefacts, ensuring robust, resilient, scalable and secure middleware and applications architectures on modern hardware
• Ensure Toolchain Compliance and Integration: Collaborating with DevOps to ensure tools are licensed, OSS-compliant, interoperable, and integrated into the build process
• Lead Technical Governance: Conduct peer reviews, leading technical design reviews, verify and sign off software designs, and uphold Maritime Services’ software processes
• Promote Continuous Improvement and Knowledge Sharing: Supporting skills development within the team, maintain awareness of industry trends, and ensure architectural awareness of Security, and Safety Integrity Levels (SILs)

Your skills and experiences:

• Extensive experience with at least one high-level programming language and a high-level design methodology such as UML
• Deep understanding of the software development lifecycle and familiarity with various models, including Agile and Waterfall
• Proven experience in leading software development activities and mentoring engineering teams
• Solid knowledge of relevant software standards (e.g. ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207), including software safety and Safety Integrity Levels (SIL)
• Comprehensive understanding of configuration management practices and tools. Strong Technical Background, Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related numerate discipline, with Chartered Engineer (CEng) status or working towards it

Benefits:

As well as a competitive pension scheme, BAE Systems also offers employee share plans, an extensive range of flexible discounted health, wellbeing and lifestyle benefits, including a green car scheme, private health plans and shopping discounts – you may also be eligible for an annual incentive.

The Future Radar team:

Join us in shaping the Future of Radar Technology. We are evolving our radar portfolio by enhancing our existing products and developing brand-new radar products to address emerging and future threats in the realm of Future Air Dominance. With strong collaboration from our customers and investment in talent, our strategy is to keep the UK at the forefront of defence innovation.

As the Software Architect you will act as the technical focal point and design authority, developing and maintaining software architectures that meet challenging complex Radar requirements. Using modern operating systems, tools, and design patterns, you will create robust, resilient, scalable and secure middleware and application layers for hardware. You’ll leverage both licensed and open-source tools, ensuring compliance with OSS guidance, and work with the wider team to ensure a smooth implementation, integration and test process.

Our workplace in Cowes is an easily accessible commute from Southampton with a regular foot passenger ferry and BAE shuttle service from the ferry terminal to site.

As the world has evolved, so has the way we work. Our working approach, will enable you to have flexibility with your working hours, depending on your role and location. This could include accruing hours as well as flexibility around start and finish times, ensuring you can balance life at work, on site and life at home.

Why BAE Systems?

This is a place where you’ll be able to make a real difference. You’ll be part of an inclusive culture that values diversity of thought, rewards integrity, and merit, and where you’ll be empowered to fulfil your potential. We welcome people from all backgrounds and want to make sure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. If you have a disability or health condition (for example dyslexia, autism, an anxiety disorder etc.) that may affect your performance in certain assessment types, please speak to your recruiter about potential reasonable adjustments.

Please be aware that many roles at BAE Systems are subject to both security and export control restrictions. These restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any nationalities you may have previously held, and your place of birth can restrict the roles you are eligible to perform within the organisation. All applicants must as a minimum achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard. Many roles also require higher levels of National Security Vetting where applicants must typically have 5 to 10 years of continuous residency in the UK depending on the vetting level required for the role, to allow for meaningful security vetting checks.

Closing Date: 7th November 2025

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

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Job title: Principal Systems Engineer

Location: Cowes, Broad Oak, Great Baddow – Part time & accruing hours available. Please let us know if you would like to discuss these options

Salary: Up to £75,900 (dependent on skills and experience)

Put yourself into a dynamic Principal Systems Engineering role at the forefront of real world demands in the defence industry. Alongside ensuring operational excellence for our existing products, there will be the opportunity to develop next generation radar products to counter emerging threats and contribution to our strategy for new technology. Your new day-to-day will be exciting and diverse by applying the principles of Systems Engineering across the entire engineering development lifecycle as you join in developing radar systems used by those who serve and protect us.

What you’ll be doing:

• Develop novel solutions to evolving technical challenges and emerging issues for complex Radar Systems that our customers and end-user communities are facing

• Apply a breadth of knowledge, skills and experience of Systems Engineering principles, techniques and governance to steer and develop technical solutions and resolve engineering issues

• Conduct system design analysis to manage trade-offs of system parameters to characterise and specify robust product design

• Lead the decomposition of requirements to system and sub-system level and manage these in an approved toolset such as IBM DOORS Next

• Be a technical focus point with a holistic understanding of a whole system solution leading analysis activities and system design decisions and providing guidance to own team

• Collaborate with specialists across different engineering disciplines including electronics, electrical, mechanical and software to direct and realise overarching system design solutions

• Direct and undertake system integration, test planning and execution

• Define and articulate system acceptance strategies and acceptance evidence demonstrating system performance across a wide range of operational scenarios to internal and external stakeholders

• Through these activities you will build your personal profile with senior stakeholders and grow a diverse knowledge base in engineering

Your skills and experiences:

• A good understanding in some of the following subject areas; signal processing, target track extraction, object classification algorithms, system and sensor resource optimisation

• A good understanding of factors that can affect the real-world performance of sensing systems and how these can impact the accuracy and timeliness of measurements in order to meet challenging design objectives and requirements

• Demonstrates understanding and experience of Systems Engineering which could include knowledge of Systems Engineering standards (e.g., ISO 15288)

• Experience of presenting both technical and non-technical information in a formal setting

Benefits:

As well as a competitive pension scheme, BAE Systems also offers share plans, an extensive range of flexible discounted health, wellbeing and lifestyle benefits, including a green car scheme, private health plans and shopping discounts – you may also be eligible for an annual incentive.

The Radar Systems Engineering team:

You will be working as a Principal Systems Engineer within our close-knit multi-function radar team of inter-disciplinary engineers, evolving our radar portfolio of existing and brand-new radar products to address emerging and future threats . This role is a fantastic opportunity to enhance your skills and invest in your career journey within a global business. You will be supported in growing your knowledge in contemporary and cutting-edge Radar techniques, with opportunities to develop your skills and responsibilities in technical leadership

In this role, you will be able to enjoy both flexible and hybrid working arrangements. Our workplace in Cowes is an easily accessible commute from Southampton with a regular foot passenger ferry and BAE shuttle service from the ferry terminal to site.

As the world has evolved, so has the way we work. Our working approach, will enable you to have flexibility with your working hours, depending on your role and location. This could include part time hours, accruing hours as well as flexibility around start and finish times, ensuring you can balance life at work, on site and life at home

Why BAE Systems?

This is a place where you’ll be able to make a real difference. You’ll be part of an inclusive culture that values diversity of thought, rewards integrity, and merit, and where you’ll be empowered to fulfil your potential. We welcome people from all backgrounds and want to make sure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. If you have a disability or health condition (for example dyslexia, autism, an anxiety disorder etc.) that may affect your performance in certain assessment types, please speak to your recruiter about potential reasonable adjustments.

Please be aware that many roles at BAE Systems are subject to both security and export control restrictions. These restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any nationalities you may have previously held, and your place of birth can restrict the roles you are eligible to perform within the organisation. All applicants must as a minimum achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard. Many roles also require higher levels of National Security Vetting where applicants must typically have 5 to 10 years of continuous residency in the UK depending on the vetting level required for the role, to allow for meaningful security vetting checks.

Closing Date: 5th November 2025

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

#LI-AP1 #LI-Onsite

Job Title: Mechanical Design Lead

Location: Isle of Wight – Cowes or Portsmouth – Broad Oak. We offer a range of hybrid and flexible working arrangements – please speak to your recruiter about the options for this particular role.

Salary: Up to £85,700 (dependent on skills and experience) Part time & accruing hours available. Please let us know if you would like to discuss these options

Put yourself into a dynamic Mechanical Design Lead role at the forefront of real world demands in the defence industry. Alongside ensuring operational excellence for our existing products, there will be the opportunity to develop next generation radar products to counter emerging threats and contribution to our strategy for new technology. Your new day-to-day will be exciting and diverse by applying the principles of Engineering across the entire engineering development lifecycle as you join in developing radar systems used by those who serve and protect us.

What you’ll be doing:

Provide a depth and breadth of expert knowledge gained through substantial work experience to apply principles and concepts of systems engineering, ISO 15288 and own specialist mechanical engineering expertise to development or problem resolution of a complex shipborne structure with integrated sensor configurations

Provide technical and business leadership and may lead several engineering teams, including management and possible control of costs associated with the team activity

Analyse , define, evaluate, plan and deliver solutions to meet programme, business and customer requirements

Interface with customers, suppliers and other functions and will act as an ambassador for engineering to these groups

Assist with development of engineering capability and skills and monitor professional development of engineers to meet future discipline requirements

Your skills and experiences:

Subject matter expertise in Mechanical Engineering: Structures and Finite Element Analysis (particularly Static and Dynamic Shock and Vibration) or equivalent experience

Ability to generate requirements and translate concepts into production-ready designs

Relevant experience/knowledge of CAD and Mechanical Engineering Analysis , Modelling and Simulation tools

Experience of leading large scale complex system designs

Experience of multiple aspects of an engineering lifecycle and expert knowledge of lifecycle models (e.g. Waterfall, Agile)

Higher education (or equivalent experience) in a relevant STEM discipline

Achieved Chartered Engineer status or be working towards

Benefits

As well as a competitive pension scheme, BAE Systems also offers employee share plans, an extensive range of flexible discounted health, wellbeing and lifestyle benefits, including a green car scheme, private health plans and shopping discounts – you may also be eligible for an annual incentive.

The Radar Systems Engineering team:

The Mechanical Design Lead is a subject matter expert in Mechanical Engineering, responsible for the conceptual development of future shipborne integrated mast structures designed to house multiple radars, sensors, communications systems, and ship services.

This role is a fantastic opportunity to enhance your skills and invest in your career journey within a global business. You will be supported in growing your knowledge in contemporary and cutting-edge Radar techniques, with opportunities to develop your skills and responsibilities in technical leadership .

In this role, you will be able to enjoy both flexible and hybrid working arrangements.

Our workplace in Cowes is an easily accessible commute from Southampton with a regular foot passenger ferry and BAE shuttle service from the ferry terminal to site.

As the world has evolved, so has the way we work. Our working approach, will enable you to have flexibility with your working hours, depending on your role and location. This could include part time hours, accruing hours as well as flexibility around start and finish times, ensuring you can balance life at work, on site and life at home.

Why BAE Systems?

This is a place where you’ll be able to make a real difference. You’ll be part of an inclusive culture that values diversity of thought, rewards integrity, and merit, and where you’ll be empowered to fulfil your potential. We welcome people from all backgrounds and want to make sure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. If you have a disability or health condition (for example dyslexia, autism, an anxiety disorder etc .) that may affect your performance in certain assessment types, please speak to your recruiter about potential reasonable adjustments.

Please be aware that many roles at BAE Systems are subject to both security and export control restrictions. These restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any nationalities you may have previously held, and your place of birth can restrict the roles you are eligible to perform within the organisation. All applicants must as a minimum achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard. Many roles also require higher levels of National Security Vetting where applicants must typically have 5 to 10 years of continuous residency in the UK depending on the vetting level required for the role , to allow for meaningful security vetting checks.

Closing Date 8th November 2025

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role . Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

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• £31,827 - £5,000 per annum
• Average uncapped bonus of ,800 per annum (with potential to earn more)
• 5 days a week
• Earn extra with our refer a friend scheme – T&C’s Apply

This is a really exciting time to join our Halfords Garage Services team.  You will be working at one of our new Fusion centres; it will be upgraded with the latest facilities to lead the way in providing a first-class customer experience and a great working environment.

If you are a qualified MOT Tester join us at Halfords, the UK’s largest Automotive service, maintenance and repair business, where we offer great career opportunities, benefits and uncapped bonus scheme.

Benefits Include:

• 5.6 weeks’ annual leave
• Up to 50% off garage bills in our Autocentres and 25% off most our Halfords products in our retail stores
• Discounts on everything from groceries, shopping, insurance, days out, restaurants and more
• Family & Friends Discount Events
• Opportunity to buy a Trade Price Bike & enrol in the Cycle to Work Scheme
• Financial planning support via Wagestream - access up to 30% of your salary in advance
• GP Access, 364 days a year, 24 hours a day
• Join the Share save scheme with a 20% discount on shares
• Health Cash Plan – to access wellbeing services and claim back healthcare costs
• Pension Scheme & Life Assurance

You will be given every opportunity to progress your career at Halfords. Access to hybrid training and IMI approved continuous development will be fully supported.

Skills and experience

• Current MOT Testing Licence (No licence? Other opportunities available for Mechanic’s & Technician’s, contact one of our team on for more details)
• Must have a full drivers licence with less than 9 points
• Team player willing to assist in workshop carrying out light vehicle maintenance, when not performing MOT’s

Why Halfords?

We’re in an exciting chapter – rapidly growing our business with a focus on motoring services and electric mobility. We’re the UK’s leading retailer of motoring and cycling products and services, and the UK’s largest Automotive service, maintenance and repair business. Join us and be part of our success story in getting the nation safely back on the move.

Not sure you meet all the criteria? We'd encourage you to take the wheel and apply anyway! At Halfords we are committed to creating an inclusive workplace for our colleagues. We're an equal opportunities employer and proud to welcome applications from all backgrounds and embrace diversity within our one Halfords Family.