jgombos

I'd like to find work outside the US, for a change. There aren't many Ada gigs out there, and the ones that exist often require security clearances, which is difficult (if not impossible) for a foreign national to obtain.

This is what I've figured out so far:

UK: Forget about defense gigs (SC is always required), and although there are rail jobs, the UK is not accepting HSMP applicants outside the UK anyway.

Australia: SC always required for defense gigs, and no other industry there seems to use Ada.

New Zealand: Almost no Ada, and SC required where it's used.

Belgium: Uses Ada for defense gigs, but SC is often not required.

Brazil, Netherlands, Ireland, and South Africa: Supposedly uses Ada for air traffic control, but there seems to be no vacancies.

Switzerland: Uses Ada for commercial avionics and rail, but there seems to be no vacancies.

European Space Agency: Uses Ada, but no vacancies.

So at the moment, Belgium seems to be the only practical option to explore.. it's just a matter of finding a recruiter willing to sponsor a work visa.

Any other options for Ada SWEs? Rail and medical device industries should both be using Ada heavily, and not have a security clearance requirement, but Ada gigs in those industries rarely appear on job sites for some reason.

jgombos

Correction: Found an Ada vacancy, but Switzerland is not accepting non-EU workers, apparently.

(wish I could edit my posts.. don't mean to bump an old topic)

jgombos

Correction:

Australia uses Ada for air traffic management.

New Zealand also uses Ada for air traffic management, and is open to giving a security clearance to foreign nationals.

steve_and_gill

The UK will give clearances (at SC level) to foreign nationals, in fact it can be relatively simple.

An SC allows you to see
UNCLASSIFIED, RESTRICTED, CONFIDENTIAL, SECRET

Though if there is a national caveat that can then be an issue, but it would only be at UK SECRET that the national caveat becomes an issue.

What nationality are you, a US from birth would probably be allowed access to UKS without a lot of fuss due to the 'special relationship'

A DV clearance will be harder to obtain, but the UK does accept the US clearances (with a bit of fuss), though national caveat rules will come into play at anything above SECRET.

Had a few Ada job offers since I started looking again, so it may be worth considering it.

jgombos

Thanks for the feedback. I did chat with a couple of UK recruiters a few months ago, and got the impression that it's possible for foreign nationals to acquire a clearance. However, agencies there are reluctant to recruit foreigners because the clearance adds too much burden to the already cumbersome paperwork pile. Perhaps they overestimate the time and effort.

Ultimately, it all rests on the recruiters willingness; and it's somewhat difficult just to find a recruiter willing to place foreigners when an SC isn't needed.