Defense companies are seeking IT specialists. Who are they looking for and what are the terms?

While war brings destruction, tears, and pain, it also creates opportunities that seemed impossible during peacetime. For instance, a new defense technology sector has emerged in Ukraine.

Dozens of enthusiasts who created the first products in limited quantities in 2022 have grown within two years into fully-fledged companies, becoming new players in the talent market, hiring the best of the best.

The job market in Ukrainian IT is currently experiencing challenging times. Due to a decrease in new projects, finding a job has become significantly more difficult. At the same time, miltech companies are showing the opposite trend: the number of vacancies in this field is increasing every month.

Engineers, developers, and designers are increasingly turning their attention to miltech. However, entering such companies is not easy: candidates often know very little about them until they sign a contract, and the requirements exceed what IT specialists are accustomed to.

The new sector is already facing a significant shortage of personnel, especially engineers skilled in working with "hardware." There are very few such specialists in Ukraine, and companies are willing to wage a real battle to attract them from one another.

In 2024, the miltech market confidently made its presence known. This new type of technological business in Ukraine has started to compete for talent, demonstrating that defense technologies are becoming an integral part of the future economy and labor market.

A Rapidly Growing Sector

The emergence of the defense industry in Ukraine largely began as private initiatives, where the end users were often relatives or friends of developers serving in the military. The desire to help with knowledge and expertise drove IT specialists to create their own projects and startups. However, the endless flow of requests and needs could not be met by small groups of engineers.

Over almost three years of extensive warfare, most of these initiatives have transformed into full-fledged businesses. Companies are securing large government contracts and attracting investments, and entire markets have emerged in Ukraine - from drone production (UAVs) to electronic warfare systems (EW) and ground robotic complexes (GRC).

To understand the scale, only in 2024 did the production capacity of Ukrainian companies reach 4 million drones of various types, said President Volodymyr Zelensky. This was made possible by the "quantum leap" of the state from perceiving DJI Mavic as a "fun drone" to the monthly distribution of 2.5 billion UAH among the Armed Forces brigades for drone purchases.

For example, the State Special Communications Service, which since 2022 has been able to purchase drones through a simplified procedure, has operated with procurement budgets of around 45 billion UAH solely for UAV purchases in the following years.

To organize the chaotic initiatives in the defense sector, the Brave1 platform was created in April 2023. It has become a venue for collaboration among miltech companies, the government, and the military. Currently, over 3,300 developments from more than 1,500 manufacturers are registered in the cluster. These mainly include UAVs (850+ developments), GRC (300+), and EW systems (240).

More than 400 of them have received grant support from the government. The budget for 2025 allocates nearly 3 billion UAH for grants through Brave1 - double that of 2024.

In addition to government funding and volunteer contributions, the Ukrainian miltech sector has begun to attract attention from the venture market. Although the scale of funding is still far from American levels, the dynamics show significant progress. According to KSE Institute and Brave1, in 2023 Ukrainian defense startups attracted up to $5 million in investments, and in 2024 this amount could grow to $50 million.

Since 2023, the number of vacancies among Ukrainian miltech companies has been steadily increasing. According to DOU data, in 2024 it increased by 56%.

"Currently, there are 270 vacancies posted on DOU from over 40 defense companies. Interestingly, we see how defense-tech is actively seeking HR personnel, recruiters, PR specialists, project managers, and similar roles. The industry is evolving, and processes are being streamlined," notes DOU's Chief Operating Officer Vladyslava Zatsaryna.

The active growth in the number of vacancies in the Ukrainian defense industry began in late summer 2023, says Marichka Chaban, head of recruitment at Everstar - a company specializing in hiring for the miltech sector. It was during this time that many teams solidified their focus, creating demand for specific specialists.

All Positions Needed, and Then Some

Overall, the search for candidates in miltech companies can be divided into three main areas: development team, production, and office positions.

"The hardware development team, for instance, in the fields of EW or UAVs, typically consists of hardware engineers, electronic engineers, plastic and metal part designers, as well as antenna and radio frequency specialists," explains Chaban.

At Everstar, they note that previously narrow-profile specialists mainly worked for international companies, so the demand for them is currently extremely high. The development teams also include software engineers who work on embedded systems, data processing, and artificial intelligence.

It is worth noting that there are significantly more candidates responding to software positions than to niche specialties. For example, finding a Python engineer with knowledge in AI is considerably easier, as there are plenty of such specialists in the IT sphere.

There are instances where software project managers change direction and transition to working with hardware. "There have been several successful cases where project managers from IT companies moved to work on hardware products. For them, it was more challenging than for specialists with relevant experience, but such transitions ended successfully in both the hiring process and in the further effective work of these specialists," adds Chaban.

As for non-technical specialists, the key roles are those ensuring stable operational work and implementation of strategic projects. "Among office positions in the miltech sector, the highest demand is for sales managers, project managers, procurement specialists, customer support specialists, and even accountants," notes TAF Drones recruiter Anna Zhelyaskova.

TAF Drones is currently one of the largest private manufacturers of FPV drones. In September 2024, the company reached a production rate of 40,000 drones per month. In 2025, it plans to focus on more technological solutions, including the development of systems for FPV and reconnaissance drones, as well as creating its own software for remote control.

Ultimately, transitioning to innovative solutions requires significant investments in research and development (R&D). This, in turn, drives companies to attract highly qualified specialists and create infrastructure for implementing innovations. In the miltech sector, investments in R&D are critically important for creating competitive products.

Staff Shortages, No Remote Work, and Blind Interviews

The talent market in Ukrainian miltech companies today resembles the IT industry of 2021. Due to the acute shortage of specialists in certain areas, companies are willing to offer higher salaries or even poach specialists from competitors.

The main reason for the staff shortage is the specific nature of miltech companies, most of which are hardware-oriented. Historically, IT companies in Ukraine that work with "hardware" have never held leading positions, and the market for such specialists has virtually not formed. Even with a large number of IT specialists, not all can work in the field of defense technologies.

"In miltech, IT specialists interact not only with code but also with physical devices. They often have to create boards from scratch and integrate them into devices to ensure proper interaction of all components. A conditional Java developer won’t be of help here. Engineers who develop radio technical devices from scratch are rare specialists, and attracting them is significantly more challenging than ordinary programmers," explains Stas Shakhov, CEO and founder of the IT recruitment company ITExpert.

Moreover, the companies themselves have a number of requirements for candidates that often complicate the hiring process. One of the main ones is the mandatory on-site work in Ukraine.

"Before the war, many specialists moved abroad, and only some returned. Attracting such specialists to miltech is challenging due to security risks: companies cannot hire workers located outside the country, and candidates undergo thorough checks, including polygraph tests, which limits the available talent pool," says TAF Drones HR manager Svitlana Shagakova.

However, even those seeking work in miltech are not always willing to