It may sound like a job coaching the Arsenal back four, but a defence analyst does something far more important by providing the brains behind warfare.

Analytical people who can assess why a missile works, what makes it work and how it could be adapted are sought, so degrees in mathematics or physics will impress. Recruits also need communication skills so that they can explain complex theories to brigadiers in the front line as well as Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials.

Dave Richardson worked in IT for 30 years before joining the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), an agency of the MoD, as a defence analyst last year. “During my time in IT I had led teams and done project management,” he says. He also has a degree in war studies.

He is part of Dstl’s historical analysis team, which studies warfare since 1945. “We look at what works, why it works and whether it is applicable today,” he says. He isn’t allowed to talk in detail about his job but says that it mainly involves collecting data and conducting research for the MoD.

Emily Leeper wanted to apply the skills she had learnt from her mathematics degree and PhD in cosmology to real-world issues. A recruitment agency put her in touch with Corda, a technical and support services provider, and she was offered a job. Eighteen months later she is a senior analyst, building computer simulations and carrying out research for the MoD. Defence analysts, she says, should be “numerate people with analytical mindsets who can apply that to real-world problems”. Does not being able to talk shop with her friends bother her? “I quite like it,” she says. “It makes for more interesting conversations.”

Starting salary is £19,000, rising to £34,000 with experience.

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