How to Apply to Diehl Defence

Key Takeaways

Diehl Defence is the defence arm of the family-owned Diehl Stiftung, headquartered in Überlingen am Bodensee with a second major site in Röthenbach a.d. Pegnitz, around 4,500+ employees and €1.8B+ revenue. Helmut Rauch is CEO.
The core products are IRIS-T air defence (SLM/SLS/SLX), IRIS-T air-to-air missiles, the HEROnet loitering munition, VULCANO precision artillery and naval rounds, 40mm infantry ammunition, and training/protection systems. Diehl does not make the Bundeswehr's new G95 rifle (that is Heckler & Koch); Diehl's small-calibre footprint is ammunition, not rifles.
Since the 2022 Zeitenwende, Ukraine alone has placed multi-billion-euro IRIS-T orders (including a roughly €2.2 billion 2025 package for more SLM/SLS systems), and Diehl has committed about €1 billion to triple missile production capacity. Hiring in engineering, production, quality, software and secure-cleared programme management is sustained through 2026.
The careers portal is career.diehl.com/SelfService, built on Abacus Umantis — not iCIMS, Workday or SuccessFactors. Apply via the filtered Diehl Defence list at www.diehl.com/career/en/jobs-application/job-offers/.
Sicherheitsüberprüfung (Ü1/Ü2/Ü3) under the SÜG is mandatory for most roles. EU/German nationality is effectively required. Plan for a 6-week to 12+ month clearance window after a conditional offer.
Diehl is a classic German industrial-prime culture: formal Sie-and-title, V-model systems engineering, deep standards literacy (AQAP 2110, VG-Normen, MIL-STD, DO-178C, ISO 9001), tariff-based compensation, 30 days' holiday, long tenures and long memories.
Strong entry paths exist at every level — Ausbildung (Mechatroniker, Industriemechaniker, Elektroniker, Fachkraft für Lagerlogistik, Fachkraft für Schutz und Sicherheit, Industriekaufmann), Duales Studium (Luft- und Raumfahrttechnik, Elektrotechnik, Embedded Systems, Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen, Data Science & KI, Wirtschaftsinformatik, BWL Industrie), direct-entry engineering and lateral senior hires.
Apply in German with a full Bewerbungsmappe (Anschreiben, tabular Lebenslauf, Zeugnisse, Arbeitszeugnisse), be explicit about language level, nationality and clearance, and expect a structured two- to three-round process concluding in a conditional offer contingent on successful clearance.

About Diehl Defence

Diehl Defence GmbH & Co. KG is the defence corporate division of the family-owned Diehl Stiftung & Co. KG, headquartered at Alte Nußdorfer Straße 13 in Überlingen am Bodensee, on the northern shore of Lake Constance. The parent Diehl Group traces back to 1902, and while the group as a whole spans metering, aerospace, metall and controls, Diehl Defence is the arm the world has started paying very close attention to since 24 February 2022. The division reports roughly €1.827 billion in revenue for FY2024 and employs on the order of 4,500 to 4,700 people across Überlingen and its second major site in Röthenbach an der Pegnitz near Nuremberg, with additional facilities in Troisdorf and Pfullendorf and joint ventures reaching into Israel, Sweden and the United States. Helmut Rauch serves as CEO and Chairman of the Management Board and has become one of the more visible industry spokespeople during the Zeitenwende — the strategic pivot in German defence policy announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz days after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The product catalogue sits in four functional clusters. Air Defence is the flagship. The IRIS-T SLM (medium range), SLS (short range) and SLX (long range) surface-to-air missile systems — derived from the original IRIS-T short-range air-to-air missile flown on Eurofighter, Tornado and Gripen — have become the poster child for European air defence renewal. Ukraine publicly confirmed additional orders and, in 2025, signed a package reported at around €2.2 billion for further IRIS-T SLM and SLS systems. Germany itself placed a major follow-on in early 2026 covering missiles and launchers delivered on rolling tranches into 2030. Ten IRIS-T systems are planned to roll off the line in 2026 alone. Diehl has publicly committed roughly €1 billion to ramp capacity, tripling missile output, with a new building in Überlingen, a second assembly line in Röthenbach and an announced missile components plant. Guided Missiles & Seekers covers IRIS-T air-to-air, the HEROnet loitering munition, and joint-venture products such as PARS 3 LR (anti-tank) and the Spike family via EuroSpike. Ammunition covers 40mm infantry grenades, the VULCANO 127mm and 155mm precision-guided artillery and naval rounds, and sensor-fuzed artillery via the GIWS joint venture with Rheinmetall. Training, Reconnaissance & Protection rounds out the portfolio with simulators, EW effectors and warning systems. It is worth correcting one common mix-up up front: Diehl Defence does not make the Bundeswehr's new G95 assault rifle (that contract is Heckler & Koch, with the Haenel MK556 selection having been overturned earlier in the procurement saga). Diehl Defence's small-calibre footprint is ammunition and pyrotechnics, not rifles. Culturally, Diehl Defence presents itself as the opposite of a Silicon Valley defence startup. It is a Mittelstand-flavoured industrial prime: family-owned via the Diehl Stiftung, heavily engineering-led, precise in documentation, conservative in promises and allergic to bravado. The site in Überlingen in particular is a tight, stable community of engineers and technicians, many of whom came through Ausbildung or Duales Studium pathways and stayed for decades. You will hear the word Gründlichkeit (thoroughness) more than the word disruption. At the same time, the pace is no longer what it was pre-2022. The combination of Zeitenwende spending, Ukraine deliveries, and the German Sondervermögen (special budget) has pushed the organisation into a sustained hiring and production surge that is still underway in 2026, particularly in manufacturing, quality, systems engineering, software for air defence command and control, missile guidance, test engineering and security-cleared project management. If you are a German- or EU-passport-holding engineer or skilled technician who is willing to accept a government security vetting, there has rarely been a stronger moment to approach Diehl Defence than right now.

Application Process

1
Start at the Diehl group careers portal at www
Start at the Diehl group careers portal at www.diehl.com/career/en/jobs-application/job-offers/ and filter the 'Corporate Division' facet to 'Diehl Defence' — this is the authoritative list of open roles across Überlingen, Röthenbach, Pfullendorf and Troisdorf. The 'Division' filter will also let you screen for Air Defence, Missiles & Seekers, Ammunition, or the central corporate functions.
2
When you click a job, the Apply button deep-links into Diehl's applicant self-se
When you click a job, the Apply button deep-links into Diehl's applicant self-service at career.diehl.com/SelfService, which is built on Abacus Umantis HR software. It is not iCIMS, Workday or SuccessFactors — which matters because resume parsing behaviour, auto-fill and file-upload quirks are specific to Umantis. Budget 20 to 30 minutes per application for the first one, and keep your browser on a modern Chromium or Firefox build.
3
Create a candidate account with a real email address you will actually read for
Create a candidate account with a real email address you will actually read for at least six months. All communication from Diehl — including shortlist decisions, clearance paperwork and interview invites — flows through that address and the Umantis inbox. Set a strong unique password, and use the German language version of the portal (gerger) if your German is solid, because some field labels and error messages are only fully polished in German.
4
Upload a complete German-style Bewerbungsmappe as a single PDF where possible: A
Upload a complete German-style Bewerbungsmappe as a single PDF where possible: Anschreiben (one-page cover letter), Lebenslauf (tabular CV, photo optional but still very common in DE defence), Zeugnisse (school leaving certificate, degree certificates, vocational certificates), Arbeitszeugnisse (every qualified reference letter you have from prior employers — these matter in Germany far more than in the US) and relevant certifications. Total package is typically 8 to 20 pages.
5
On the cover letter, name the role title and reference number verbatim, name the
On the cover letter, name the role title and reference number verbatim, name the site (Überlingen vs Röthenbach vs Pfullendorf — they are very different commuting realities), name two or three specific Diehl products or programmes you can contribute to (IRIS-T SLM, VULCANO 155, HEROnet, etc.), and close with a Verfügbarkeit (availability) line and confirmation that you either hold or are willing to undergo a Sicherheitsüberprüfung.
6
Tailor the CV to the specific role
Tailor the CV to the specific role. Use the ResumeGeni German-style CV builder to generate a tabular Lebenslauf in reverse chronological order, with each role showing employer, location, exact start/end months, responsibilities, and — crucially for defence — the product families, standards (e.g. VG 95 374, MIL-STD-461, DO-178C, ISO 9001, AQAP 2110), and clearance levels you touched. Quantify where possible (budget responsibility, team size, TRL progression).
7
Be explicit and honest about language
Be explicit and honest about language. Most Diehl Defence roles at the Überlingen headquarters are operated in German; C1 or near-native German is effectively mandatory for engineering, project management, quality, purchasing, HR and legal roles. Software, systems engineering on international programmes, and some specialist R&D roles run in English or bilingual. State your CEFR level for German (B2, C1, C2) and any other relevant languages clearly in a Sprachkenntnisse section — hedged wording hurts more than it helps.
8
Disclose nationality and residency honestly
Disclose nationality and residency honestly. For almost all Diehl Defence roles you will need to hold an EU passport (German preferred), a permanent German residency, and be able to pass a Sicherheitsüberprüfung nach Sicherheitsüberprüfungsgesetz (SÜG). Do not apply to cleared roles if you cannot meet the nationality and background requirements — it wastes your time and theirs and the clearance process is lengthy and intrusive.
9
Submit, then monitor the Umantis portal dashboard weekly
Submit, then monitor the Umantis portal dashboard weekly. Automated status updates (Eingegangen → In Prüfung → Einladung → Abgelehnt / Angebot) appear in the portal; email notifications are a courtesy, not a guarantee. Typical first-response window is 2 to 6 weeks, longer over the German summer shutdown (late July to late August) and the Christmas/Drei Könige period.
10
If you are invited, expect a first-round Telefoninterview or Teams call with the
If you are invited, expect a first-round Telefoninterview or Teams call with the Personalreferent (HR business partner) of 30 to 45 minutes covering motivation, availability, salary expectation (ranges in Diehl's tariff-oriented bands), nationality and clearance consent. This is the gate; take it as seriously as the technical round.
11
The technical round is typically on-site in Überlingen or Röthenbach, 2 to 4 hou
The technical round is typically on-site in Überlingen or Röthenbach, 2 to 4 hours, with the hiring manager and two to four senior engineers. It is a structured fachliches Gespräch, not a whiteboard coding interview in the US sense. Bring printed copies of your CV and a short portfolio of prior work you are legally allowed to discuss.
12
A successful interview leads to a Vertragsangebot (offer) specifying position, t
A successful interview leads to a Vertragsangebot (offer) specifying position, tariff group (frequently IG Metall Südwest or a company tariff derivative), base salary, Urlaubsgeld and Weihnachtsgeld, 30 days' holiday, 35- or 37-hour week depending on site, pension scheme (bAV), and a starting date contingent on the completion of Sicherheitsüberprüfung Ü1, Ü2 or Ü3 depending on the role. Many offers explicitly state aufschiebende Bedingung: Erfolgreiche Sicherheitsüberprüfung (commencement conditional on successful clearance).

Resume Tips for Diehl Defence

recommended

Write the CV in German if you are applying to a German-operating role

Write the CV in German if you are applying to a German-operating role. English CVs are accepted for international systems engineering, software and programme roles, but a polished German Lebenslauf is a strong positive signal for Überlingen and Röthenbach roles regardless of the job ad language.

recommended

Use a clean, one- or two-column tabular layout with consistent month-year date f

Use a clean, one- or two-column tabular layout with consistent month-year date formatting (MM/YYYY – MM/YYYY). Avoid infographic templates, circular skill charts and non-standard icons — Abacus Umantis parses straightforward PDFs cleanly and human reviewers at defence primes treat ornament as a lack of seriousness.

recommended

Photo is optional under German law (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz) but is

Photo is optional under German law (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz) but is still the cultural default in defence. A professional head-and-shoulders photo, neutral background, business attire, is common. It is not a negative to omit one — it is a small negative to include a casual one.

recommended

Open with a short Kurzprofil (three to five lines) naming your engineering speci

Open with a short Kurzprofil (three to five lines) naming your engineering specialisation, years of experience, the relevant product domains (e.g. guided missile seekers, radar signal processing, fuze electronics, C2 software), security clearance status and German CEFR level.

recommended

In the experience section, for each role list employer, site, dates, role title,

In the experience section, for each role list employer, site, dates, role title, and three to six bullet points. For defence-relevant roles, reference the product family, the system-engineering V-model phase (requirements, architecture, integration, verification, qualification), the relevant standards (e.g. VG 95 374, AQAP 2110 / 2210, MIL-STD-810, IEC 61508, DO-178C, ECSS), and concrete outcomes (TRL step-ups, qualification campaigns closed, defects reduced).

recommended

Call out security clearance status explicitly: 'Sicherheitsüberprüfung Ü2 (gülti

Call out security clearance status explicitly: 'Sicherheitsüberprüfung Ü2 (gültig bis MM/YYYY)' or 'Bereitschaft zur Sicherheitsüberprüfung nach SÜG erklärt'. An active Ü2 or Ü3 is a major differentiator and should appear above the fold.

recommended

For non-engineering roles (purchasing, supply chain, quality, HR, finance, legal

For non-engineering roles (purchasing, supply chain, quality, HR, finance, legal), emphasise experience with regulated environments — ITAR/EAR familiarity, AWV (Außenwirtschaftsverordnung), Dual-Use Regulation (EU) 2021/821, KWKG (Kriegswaffenkontrollgesetz) exposure, NATO procurement processes, and German Vergaberecht for public-sector bids.

recommended

Include an Ausbildung / Studium section showing the full academic chain: Hochsch

Include an Ausbildung / Studium section showing the full academic chain: Hochschulreife (Abitur or equivalent), vocational training if any (e.g. Industriemechaniker IHK), Bachelor, Master, Promotion. Include grades in German scale where available (e.g. 'Gesamtnote: 1,7 – gut').

recommended

Do not claim knowledge of classified programmes in writing

Do not claim knowledge of classified programmes in writing. Use neutral phrasing such as 'ground-based air defence system' rather than naming a specific variant if the specific variant is not publicly associated with you, and never reference information obtained under a prior clearance that has not been publicly declassified.

recommended

Add a clean Fachliche Kenntnisse section grouping tools and domains: CAD (CATIA

Add a clean Fachliche Kenntnisse section grouping tools and domains: CAD (CATIA V5/V6, Siemens NX), simulation (MATLAB/Simulink, STK, ANSYS), software (C/C++, Ada, Python, MISRA C, DO-178C tooling), model-based systems engineering (Cameo, Rhapsody, SysML v2), quality (DOORS, Polarion, ReqIF), and standards (AQAP 2110, ISO 9001, ISO 27001).

recommended

Keep length to two pages if you have under ten years of experience, three pages

Keep length to two pages if you have under ten years of experience, three pages for senior engineers and managers. Attach certificates (Anlagen) as scanned PDFs in the Umantis uploader, one per document if size allows, or as a single merged PDF named 'Anlagen_Nachname_Vorname.pdf'.

recommended

Finish with Persönliche Angaben or similar: full legal name, date and place of b

Finish with Persönliche Angaben or similar: full legal name, date and place of birth (still customary in DE, legally optional), nationality, marital/family status (optional), availability date, willingness to relocate to Überlingen or Röthenbach, and consent to clearance.

ATS System: Abacus Umantis (career.diehl.com/SelfService)

Diehl Group — including Diehl Defence — uses the Abacus Umantis talent management suite operated at career.diehl.com/SelfService as its applicant tracking system. This is different from the iCIMS, Workday or SAP SuccessFactors systems you might expect at a similarly sized industrial prime. Umantis is a Swiss HR suite widely deployed across the German-speaking Mittelstand and is operated in German by default, with an English surface layer. It does resume parsing into structured fields (contact details, education, experience) from PDF and DOCX, supports candidate accounts with a persistent Lebenslauf and document locker, and routes applications to the responsible Personalreferent and hiring manager with a structured status workflow (Eingegangen, In Prüfung, Einladung, Entscheidung). Because it is less aggressive than Workday or iCIMS at keyword-filtering, a well-structured human-readable CV is more important than ATS gaming. A single-column or clean two-column PDF with real text (never scanned images), standard section headings in German (Berufserfahrung, Ausbildung, Kenntnisse, Sprachen) and consistent dates will parse correctly in almost all cases.

Submit a machine-readable PDF exported directly from Word or LaTeX — never a scan or an image-only PDF. Umantis parses text layers into structured fields; a scanned CV will populate as empty fields and force the recruiter to re-type.
Use the German section headings the parser expects: Persönliche Daten / Berufserfahrung / Ausbildung / Kenntnisse / Sprachen / Weiterbildungen / Referenzen. English equivalents work for English roles but are less cleanly parsed.
Fill in the Umantis structured fields (Anschrift, Telefon, Nationalität, Ausbildung, letzte drei Positionen) even if they duplicate your CV. Recruiters search the database on structured fields, not PDF content, so a fully populated profile increases visibility for internal sourcing when new roles open.
Upload your documents individually where the form allows (Anschreiben, Lebenslauf, Zeugnisse, Arbeitszeugnisse, Zertifikate) rather than merging everything into one PDF — it makes the reviewer's job faster and signals that you know the German document conventions.
Attach all Arbeitszeugnisse (qualified employer references). In Germany these are a regulated artefact with a coded grading language ('stets zu unserer vollsten Zufriedenheit' = 1,0). Reviewers will read them; omitting them triggers implicit questions.
Save your candidate profile and opt in to Stellenabos (job alerts) for relevant Fachbereiche. Internal sourcing from the existing candidate pool is a real channel at Diehl, particularly for niche roles that are not widely advertised.
Do not try to game keywords. The hiring-manager review is the dominant signal, and padded keyword lists are visible and harm credibility. Instead, use the actual terminology from the job ad (Systemingenieur Flugkörperlenkung, Prüfingenieur Qualifikation, Software-Entwickler Führungs- und Waffeneinsatzsystem) in context.

Interview Culture

Diehl Defence interviews are formal, structured and technically rigorous in the tradition of German engineering firms.

Dress is business — a suit or smart blazer with a shirt and closed shoes — even when you are told the site is 'eher locker' (rather relaxed); over-dressing is forgivable, under-dressing is not. Address everyone with Sie and the family name (Frau Müller, Herr Doktor Schmidt) unless explicitly invited to switch to Du; many senior engineers and managers hold a Doctor title and will use it on their business cards, and you should use it when addressing them. The first round is almost always a 30- to 45-minute video or phone interview with the Personalreferent (HR business partner). This is less technical and more a fit-and-formalities screen: motivation for Diehl specifically (not defence in general, not the Zeitenwende in general — Diehl, and this role), availability, salary expectation inside the company's tariff logic, nationality, residence, and consent to Sicherheitsüberprüfung. Come prepared to name a concrete Gehaltsvorstellung (expected gross annual salary) — 'offen' or 'verhandelbar' reads as underprepared — ideally with a single number anchored to tariff research (IG Metall Baden-Württemberg or Bayern bands are public). The technical round is typically on-site in Überlingen or Röthenbach, though senior roles increasingly run hybrid with an initial remote fachliches Gespräch. Expect 2 to 4 hours with the hiring manager and two to four senior engineers, sometimes including a Bereichsleiter (department head) and the future team lead. The format is a structured technical discussion, not a whiteboard coding interview or a case study. You will be asked to walk through your CV in sequence, explain past projects in system-engineering terms (requirements, architecture, interfaces, verification, qualification), and defend technical choices under polite but pointed questioning. For software-heavy roles, expect deep dives on MISRA, DO-178C, safety-critical patterns, model-based design, configuration management and coding standards. For hardware roles, expect thermal, vibration, EMC, environmental qualification, and supplier-management questions. Behavioural questions exist but are understated. You will not be asked to 'tell a story about failure' in the STAR-method sense; you will be asked how you handled a specific schedule slip, a late change in requirements, or a supplier non-conformance, and your answer is expected to be concrete, quantitative, and humble about your own role. Overclaiming individual credit is a significant negative in the German engineering-team culture; Diehl hires for durable team players, not heroes. Come with thoughtful questions prepared — on the product roadmap (publicly available material only), the team structure, the Ausbildungs- or Weiterbildungsprogramme, the site's relationship with local technical universities (Konstanz, Ravensburg-Weingarten, Erlangen-Nürnberg, Friedrich-Alexander), and the tariff and working-time framework. Asking about home-office flexibility is acceptable; asking how much you can work from abroad is a negative signal given clearance and export-control constraints. After a successful technical round, expect a short closing round with HR and possibly the Betriebsrat (works council) liaison, an offer within one to three weeks, and a start date contingent on the completion of Sicherheitsüberprüfung (typically 6 weeks for Ü1, 3 to 6 months for Ü2, 6 to 12+ months for Ü3). Be realistic about this: you should not hand in your notice at your current employer until either (a) your offer is unconditional, or (b) you have a signed Vertrag with a start date and you understand the clearance-timeline risk.

What Diehl Defence Looks For

EU passport (German preferred) and German residence. Non-EU candidates are effectively excluded from most cleared roles by the Sicherheitsüberprüfungsgesetz; do not apply to cleared roles if you cannot meet this bar.
Willingness to undergo and maintain Sicherheitsüberprüfung at Ü1, Ü2 or Ü3 as the role requires. This means consenting to a detailed background investigation by the BMI/BMWi services, disclosing foreign contacts, travel and finances, and in some cases involving your spouse or life partner.
Solid German language skills for operational roles in Überlingen and Röthenbach — C1 is the practical floor for most engineering, project, quality and commercial roles. B2 is workable for specialised international-programme or software roles where English is the working language.
Engineering depth over breadth. A Master's in Luft- und Raumfahrttechnik, Elektrotechnik, Maschinenbau, Nachrichtentechnik, Physik, Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen, Mechatronik or Informatik is the norm; a doctorate is a positive signal for R&D roles.
Experience with V-model systems engineering and the standards that matter in German defence: AQAP 2110/2210 (NATO quality), VG-Normen (Verteidigungsgerätenormen), MIL-STD, ISO 9001/27001, DO-178C/254, ECSS, and ITAR/EAR/AWV export-control fundamentals.
For software: modern C/C++ with MISRA, Ada in legacy programmes, Python for tooling, model-based design in Simulink/Stateflow, and a healthy respect for safety-critical and security-critical coding disciplines. Hobby-project GitHub is nice; certified, reviewed, traceable code in a regulated pipeline is what actually hires you.
For mechanical/electronic hardware: qualification and environmental-test literacy (thermal cycling, vibration, shock, EMC, EMP, humidity), CAD fluency (CATIA is dominant), tolerance-chain analysis, and supply-chain realism in a post-2022 constrained-component world.
For commercial, procurement and supply chain: hands-on experience with SAP (MM, SRM, SD, PP, QM), familiarity with NATO and national framework contracts, AWV- and Dual-Use-Verordnung compliance, and the ability to manage long-lead defence components (semiconductors, seekers, pyrotechnics) with tight traceability.
Demonstrated longevity and Verlässlichkeit. Short stints are read sceptically in German industrial hiring; a two-year-or-more average tenure with clear reasons for each move reads well. First job out of university through an Ausbildung or Duales Studium at Diehl itself is the single strongest positive signal in the system.
Alignment with Diehl values in the Code of Conduct — integrity, responsibility, precision, sustainability — expressed in concrete prior behaviour, not marketing language. Ethical seriousness about defence work (neither squeamish denial nor cavalier bravado) is a cultural must.

Frequently Asked Questions

What ATS does Diehl Defence use?

Diehl Defence, like the rest of the Diehl Group, runs its applicant tracking on Abacus Umantis at career.diehl.com/SelfService. It is not iCIMS, Workday, or SAP SuccessFactors. Umantis is a Swiss HR suite widely used across the German Mittelstand, operated primarily in German with an English interface layer. Resume parsing works best with clean, single-column text PDFs using standard German CV headings (Berufserfahrung, Ausbildung, Kenntnisse, Sprachen). Fill in the structured profile fields in addition to uploading your documents — recruiters search the database on those fields, not on your PDF.

Do I need to be a German or EU citizen to work at Diehl Defence?

For the overwhelming majority of roles, yes. Diehl Defence operates under the German Sicherheitsüberprüfungsgesetz (SÜG), which requires background vetting (Ü1, Ü2 or Ü3) for access to classified information. German nationality is strongly preferred; other EU nationalities are generally acceptable with longer vetting timelines; non-EU nationals are effectively excluded from cleared roles. A small number of roles in international joint ventures, pure commercial functions, or site services may be available to third-country nationals with permanent German residence, but you should assume you need an EU passport and a German address unless a posting explicitly says otherwise.

How does Sicherheitsüberprüfung (security clearance) work?

German security vetting is defined in the Sicherheitsüberprüfungsgesetz (SÜG) and carried out by the competent federal authorities. Ü1 is the lightest clearance (VS-VERTRAULICH access) and typically completes in about 6 weeks; Ü2 (GEHEIM) involves a deeper background check, foreign-contact disclosure and typically 3 to 6 months; Ü3 (STRENG GEHEIM) is the most intrusive, examines your partner as well, and can take 6 to 12+ months. You consent in writing, fill out a detailed Sicherheitserklärung covering residence, education, employment, finances, foreign travel and foreign contacts, and may be interviewed. Diehl pays for and sponsors the clearance; you cannot privately apply for one. Offers typically include an aufschiebende Bedingung (suspensive condition) tying your start date to successful completion.

What is the Ausbildung and Duales Studium pathway at Diehl Defence?

Diehl Defence offers a strong vocational and dual-study entry into the company, particularly in Überlingen. Typical Ausbildungen are Mechatroniker, Industriemechaniker, Elektroniker für Geräte und Systeme, Fachkraft für Schutz und Sicherheit, Fachkraft für Lagerlogistik and Industriekaufmann, each running 3 to 3.5 years combining IHK vocational school and in-house training. Duales Studium pathways include Luft- und Raumfahrttechnik (B.Eng.), Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik (B.Eng.), Embedded Systems (B.Eng.), Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen (B.Eng.), Wirtschaftsinformatik, Data Science & KI (B.Sc.) and BWL Industrie (B.A.) in partnership with the Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg (DHBW). Graduates are routinely offered permanent positions and frequently stay with Diehl for decades. Applications for the following year's cohorts typically open in late summer/early autumn.

What does Diehl Defence actually make, and does it build the new Bundeswehr rifle?

Diehl Defence's core portfolio is air defence (IRIS-T SLM/SLS/SLX), guided missiles (IRIS-T air-to-air, HEROnet loitering munition, PARS 3 LR via PARSYS, RAM via RAM-System, Spike via EuroSpike), artillery and naval ammunition (VULCANO 127mm and 155mm precision rounds, sensor-fuzed 155mm via GIWS with Rheinmetall), 40mm infantry ammunition, and training, reconnaissance and protection systems. Diehl does not manufacture the Bundeswehr's new G95A1/G95KA1 assault rifle — that is Heckler & Koch, after an earlier selection of the Haenel MK556 was overturned. If you see those rifle names associated with Diehl, that is a mix-up with the Diehl Stiftung group's broader industrial portfolio or a confusion with ammunition supply.

How has the 2022 Zeitenwende changed hiring at Diehl Defence?

Dramatically, and the effect is still visible in 2026. Since the German government's post-invasion defence-policy reset and the €100 billion Sondervermögen, Diehl has booked a sustained wave of orders — including multi-billion-euro IRIS-T packages from Germany, Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania and others — and has publicly committed roughly €1 billion in capacity expansion aimed at roughly tripling missile output. Hiring has ramped accordingly: manufacturing and assembly in Überlingen and Röthenbach, systems engineering, guidance software, test and qualification engineering, supply chain, quality, and cleared programme management. The culture has not loosened — if anything the pressure on quality and traceability has risen — but the range of open roles, the appetite for mid-career lateral hires and the willingness to invest in Ausbildung cohorts are all higher than they were a decade ago.

What is the salary range at Diehl Defence?

Diehl Defence compensation is tariff-oriented and broadly tracks IG Metall Baden-Württemberg (Überlingen) and IG Metall Bayern (Röthenbach) bands, with company-specific supplements. As rough public reference points: Ausbildungs-Vergütungen run roughly €1,100 (year 1) to €1,400 (year 4) per month; Duales Studium starts near €1,100 and rises with semesters; entry-level engineer (Einstiegsingenieur) roles typically sit in the mid-€50k to low-€60k gross range including 13th month and Urlaubsgeld; experienced systems engineers and project managers €70k to €95k; senior engineers, Fachreferenten and Teamleiter €90k to €130k; Abteilungsleiter and programme leads above that. 30 days' holiday, Urlaubsgeld and Weihnachtsgeld, a 35-hour (BW) or 37-hour (BY) week, bAV pension and company-specific bonuses are standard. Always cross-check with current IG Metall tariffs and ask for the concrete Tarifgruppe (e.g. EG 13) in the offer.

Is Diehl Defence hybrid or on-site?

It depends heavily on the role and the clearance level. Many engineering, manufacturing, quality, test, and cleared programme-management roles are on-site by necessity — you cannot take classified material or certain test hardware home. Commercial, IT, HR, finance, marketing, and some software and systems-engineering roles offer 1 to 2 days of mobiles Arbeiten per week by Betriebsvereinbarung. Fully remote is rare and essentially unavailable for cleared roles. Permanently working from outside Germany is not realistic given export-control and clearance constraints.

What are the main Diehl Defence locations and what do they do?

Überlingen am Bodensee is the headquarters and the main air-defence and guided-missiles site; Röthenbach an der Pegnitz (near Nuremberg) is the second major location with strong focus on missile components, propulsion, fuzes and ammunition; Pfullendorf hosts specialised production; Troisdorf (near Cologne) is associated with pyrotechnics and propellants; there are also joint-venture sites (GIWS in Nuremberg with Rheinmetall, RAM-System, PARSYS, EuroSpike) and a US subsidiary in Alabama. Überlingen and Röthenbach absorb the majority of engineering, production and cleared-role hiring.

Can I work at Diehl Defence as a software engineer without deep defence-industry experience?

Yes, particularly for guidance, navigation and control (GNC) software, command-and-control (Führungs- und Waffeneinsatzsystem) development, simulation and digital-twin engineering, and security-critical embedded software. What matters more than prior defence experience is (a) rigorous software engineering in regulated, traceable pipelines — MISRA C, DO-178C, static analysis, code reviews, requirements traceability in DOORS/Polarion — (b) a willingness to slow down for quality, and (c) eligibility and willingness for Sicherheitsüberprüfung. Experience from aerospace, automotive safety-critical (ISO 26262), medical (IEC 62304) or industrial safety (IEC 61508) translates well. Pure web-startup CVs translate poorly.

How long does the hiring process take from application to start date?

For uncleared or Ü1 roles, from application to unconditional start date is typically 2 to 3 months: 2 to 6 weeks to first contact, 2 to 4 weeks across interview rounds, 1 to 3 weeks to offer, plus the Ü1 clearance of roughly 6 weeks. For Ü2 roles, plan 5 to 8 months end to end because of the clearance window. For Ü3 roles, plan 9 to 15 months. Diehl typically wants you to start as soon as clearance and your notice period allow; in Germany a 3-month Kündigungsfrist is standard for permanent employees and will be factored in.

What should I do if I really want to work at Diehl Defence but do not yet meet the requirements?

Pick the gap that matters most and close it deliberately. If you lack German at C1, invest in an intensive language course and put evidence on your CV (Goethe-Zertifikat C1, testDaF). If you are non-EU, realistically target the small set of uncleared commercial or international-JV roles or pursue Blue Card → permanent residence → naturalisation on a multi-year horizon. If you are an engineering student, apply now for Werkstudent or Praktikum roles (typically 6 months) at Überlingen or Röthenbach — Diehl converts a meaningful fraction of interns into permanent hires. If you are mid-career without defence experience, take a safety-critical or regulated-industry role that gives you AQAP, DO-178C, ISO 26262 or IEC 61508 exposure and then apply again with a concrete case for why you can move laterally into defence.

How to Apply to Diehl Defence

Key Takeaways

About Diehl Defence

Application Process

Resume Tips for Diehl Defence

Write the CV in German if you are applying to a German-operating role

Use a clean, one- or two-column tabular layout with consistent month-year date f

Photo is optional under German law (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz) but is

Open with a short Kurzprofil (three to five lines) naming your engineering speci

In the experience section, for each role list employer, site, dates, role title,

Call out security clearance status explicitly: 'Sicherheitsüberprüfung Ü2 (gülti

For non-engineering roles (purchasing, supply chain, quality, HR, finance, legal

Include an Ausbildung / Studium section showing the full academic chain: Hochsch

Do not claim knowledge of classified programmes in writing

Add a clean Fachliche Kenntnisse section grouping tools and domains: CAD (CATIA

Keep length to two pages if you have under ten years of experience, three pages

Finish with Persönliche Angaben or similar: full legal name, date and place of b

ATS System: Abacus Umantis (career.diehl.com/SelfService)

Interview Culture

What Diehl Defence Looks For

Frequently Asked Questions

Open Positions

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