Location: Glasgow, United Kingdom
Thales people architect solutions that are relied upon to deliver operational advantage at every decisive moment throughout the mission. Defence and armed forces customers rely on us to deliver the full range of defensive systems for land, sea, and air. From early warning, to threat neutralisation, our platforms cover all levels from very short-range systems, to extended protection across the entire battle-space including Airspace Mobility Solutions, Vehicles and Tactical Systems and Missile Defence, Optronics, and Radar.
Together we offer fantastic opportunities for committed employees to learn and develop their career with us. At Thales UK, we research, develop, and supply technology and services that impact the lives of millions of people each day to make life better, and keep us safer. We innovate across the major industries of Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space. Your health and well-being matters to us and that’s why we offer you the flexibility to do what’s important to you; whether that’s part time hours, job sharing, home working, or the ability to flex your start and finish times. Where possible, we support a working pattern that suits your lifestyle and helps you reach your ambitions.
2025 Mechanical Engineering Apprentice - Graduate Level Apprenticeship, Engineering for Design and Manufacture
Start Date: 01 September 2025
Salary: £22,500 per annum
Employee type: Permanent
Location: Glasgow
Working Schedule: 37 hours a week. University days are normally a Friday, where you would either attend University in person or virtually. Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu are the Thales working days where you will be on site at Thales in Glasgow or working from home, where suitable.
Do you have an inquisitive mind? Do you like to know how things work and are interested in engineering? Are you looking for an employer who will sponsor you through a degree, whilst providing valuable and exciting on-the-job experience within a global, innovative and industry-leading organisation? If so, read on to see what Thales has to offer…
What the role has to offer:
- Earn while you learn
- Job specific training experience
- Recognised qualifications
- A support network of students currently on the programme
- Various benefits and opportunities to grow your essential skills
- Permanent role from day one
Thales Glasgow designs a range of state-of-the-art optronics solutions for the some of the most technically advanced defence and security platforms in the world.
As a Mechanical Engineer in our Glasgow office, you will work as part of a development team and be responsible for technical contributions towards leading edge naval or vehicles based products. This is a great opportunity to work on state of the art defence equipment and develop the latest optical systems for the MoD and a wide range of export customers around the world. This position will challenge your skills and you will have the flexibility to mould the role to suit your strengths and career development interests.
Key Responsibilities:
- MCAD design and development
- Environmental testing and product qualification
- Design for manufacture for mechanical designs
- Building prototypes for test and development
Apprentice Programme:
As a Mechanical Engineering Apprentice you will be studying at University of Strathclyde towards a degree in Engineering: Design & Manufacture BEng (Hons). For the duration of this four year programme you will combine university studies with practical application, working within our Engineering function in Glasgow.
You will be given one day per week in which to focus on your studies. For the other four days you will be working in the business, applying your university learning in a real-life engineering environment.
Upon completion of the programme you will move into a permanent role within Thales in Glasgow.
Requirements:
Candidates will need to have achieved at least four Highers (BBBB) including Maths. Please note that for anyone who does not achieve their Maths Higher in 2025, they will be required by the university to sit a 9 week Maths course starting in April 2025. The Thales UK offer will be conditional on Strathclyde accepting you onto the programme.
Right to Work in the UK for the duration of the 4 year programme.
Benefits:
- 201 hours annual leave (plus a company day and bank holidays)
- Company Pension
- Health Care Cash Plan
- Life Insurance
- Discount Portal
- Performance-related pay uplifts
- 80 Hours Volunteering (first two years)
Please note, assessment centres for shortlisted candidates will be held between February and May 2025. Induction week for all Graduate and Apprentices will take place from Monday 01 September until Friday 05 September 2025.
Closing date: Our applications will close at 11.59pm on Sunday 16 February 2025, this is the only time we will be accepting applications this year. Please note, we will be in contact by the end of February 2025 with details of next steps.
Recruitment Process:
For further information on our Early Careers recruitment process, or to speak to a member of the Early Careers Team or a Graduate or Apprentice, please visit Thales Future Talent - Connectr.
Due to the nature of the work that we do at Thales, many of our roles are subject to security restrictions. This role requires you to be a sole British National from birth and achieve Security Clearance (SC) without any caveats. It would be advantageous if currently held, however, if not currently held, it is a requirement that the successful applicant undergo, achieve, and maintain SC Clearance prior to commencing employment. Please visit the UKSV website for further guidance.
To be eligible for full SC, you generally need to have resided in the UK for the last 5 years. In some circumstances, a minimum of 3 years’ residence in the UK over the last 5 years may be accepted, with additional overseas checks. As part of the vetting process you will be asked to provide evidence of your identity, eligibility to work in the UK, time spent abroad over the last 5 years, as well as employment and/or educational history.
For further details of the evidence required to apply for security clearance please follow this link - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels.
Thales is an equal opportunities employer and diversity and inclusion are integral to the success of Thales.
In line with Thales' Baseline Security requirements, candidates will be asked to provide evidence of identity, eligibility to work in the UK and employment and/or education history for up to three years. Some vacancies may require full Security Clearance which can require further evidence to be provided. For further details of the evidence required to apply for Baseline and Security Clearance please refer to the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting (DBS NSV) Agency.
At Thales we provide CAREERS and not only jobs. With Thales employing 80,000 employees in 68 countries our mobility policy enables thousands of employees each year to develop their careers at home and abroad, in their existing areas of expertise or by branching out into new fields. Together we believe that embracing flexibility is a smarter way of working.
Thales UK is committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free recruitment process. We will provide reasonable adjustments and support to ensure neuro-diverse applicants or those with a disability or long-term condition can be their best during the recruitment process. To request an adjustment,if you need this job advert in an alternative format or if you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Resourcing Ops for mid to senior roles, or the Early Careers Team for graduate and apprentice roles.
Great journeys start here, apply now!
