Engineering Jobs UK
Find your ideal Engineering job in the UK by applying for jobs and registering with agencies up to two years before you plan to travel to the UK.
Prepare for the experience of a lifetime by reading this page and visiting our essential tips section.
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Learn how to get the UK jobs you really want – Visit our FAQ's section.
Engineering Jobs UK
- Roads Jobs UK
- Traffic/Transportation Jobs UK
- Water Jobs UK
- Rail Jobs UK
- Structures Jobs UK
- Geotech Jobs UK
- Mechanical & Electrical Jobs UK
Other important topics for Engineering Professionals!
- How much will I earn in the UK?
- What is the general outlook for the UK engineering industry?
- What should my UK Engineering Resume look like?
"…the interview was successful and I will be starting an engineering design contract on Monday. I am ecstatic!” Chris B.
Highest Demand Engineering Jobs UK
WORKgateways’ UK-based recruitment partners continually place Aussie/Kiwi/South African and Canadian engineering professionals into a variety of jobs within the UK engineering industry. UK engineering jobs exist within Engineering Consulting and all levels of Government.
UK Jobs + Civil Engineering — Exceptional engineering jobs in UK based positions exist in Structural Engineering, Civil Engineering, Transport and Traffic Engineering, Water Engineering and Geotechnical Engineering.
UK Jobs + Mechanical, Electrical, Mining and other Engineering — Just about every type of engineer with 2 years experience or more will find excellent opportunities in the UK. Mining engineers for example often find positions in tunnelling roles with Contractors whilst Mechanical project engineers find opportunities in the UKs massive rail industry. HVAC, Building Services and Tunnelling engineers are consistently in high demand for building and infrastructure projects.
In the UK, there is a strong demand for experienced design engineers and CAD drafters particularly those with relevant industry experience and software skills. There are also great roles available for those with experience in team or project management, or on-site experience such as a consultant's representative or management of contractors.
Roads Jobs UK
UK engineering jobs in consultancies, construction and government in roads, highways, drainage design or project management are nearly always available. If you have at least a year's postgraduate experience with the above type of projects WORKgateways can assist you with a job in the UK for your planned UK trip. Positions are available with Local Authorities, private consultancies, or roads and highways associations.
In particular, experience with MOSS MX or PDS will be beneficial to your job search.
Back to Traffic and Transportation Jobs UK
The traffic & transportation recruitment industry is in great shape. Plenty of positions are usually available in traffic and transportation system design and modelling. Our partner recruitment agencies in the UK frequently have great positions available with good potential earnings. Industry software that would be advantageous is Arcady, Picady or Oscady for UK engineering jobs.
Rates of pay are relatively high and jobs are available UK wide including central London. Both contract and permanent roles are usually available.
Positions vacant can be located in private consultancies or within local government departments.
Water Jobs UK
Large asset management and network re-development projects are nearly always underway. The UK's water and sewerage network systems are old and are constantly in need of attention. Regional Water Authorities look after assets and service in their areas. Many positions are with these water authorities, or with engineering consultancies on secondment to water authorities for certain projects. Employment opportunities are available for those with experience in asset management, network maintenance and leak detection, network design and modelling including pump stations, project management or consultant's site representatives. Flood-plain modelling and management, and asset management vacancies are also regularly available. Positions available can be located in private engineering consultancies or in local government engineering departments. Modelling software frequently used includes; Hydroworks, MapInfo and Infoworks, MOUSE, HEC-RAS, RORB and other open channel and catchment modelling systems.
Rail Jobs UK
The rail infrastructure system in the UK and London is a key to
the general functioning of the country on a day to day basis. The
extensive network requires constant maintenance and expansion creating
many maintenance, refurbishment and new-build projects. Projects
can require rail-specific experience or can be more general construction
projects where a range of backgrounds is suitable. This makes the
rail industry in the UK an exciting new area of employment for many
Aussie, Kiwi and South African engineers travelling over to the
UK for work.
Backgrounds and skills which can be transferred to the UK rail industry
tend to be any rail site or rail design experience, general construction
site work as project engineer, project manager, site engineer etc
particularly with skills in scheduling and planning, or estimating
and cost management. Engineering jobs in UK rail positions are often filled by engineers who have worked in a safety critical environment on electrical or mechanical projects such as signalling, ventilation and tunnelling projects.
Software that is beneficial: MS Project, Primavera, MS Access, MIMS
Positions can be with private engineering consultancies, publicly owned entities or within government.
Structural Engineering Jobs UK
Structural Engineering Jobs are continually available for candidates with experience in the design of civil, infrastructure and building structures. Civil design projects include infrastructure such as bridges and tunnels as well as buildings of all description from stadiums to multi-storey commercial. Skills and experience in design, project management and draughting of structural steel, reinforced concrete components (including RC Detailing)are always in demand for all types of projects for UK engineering jobs.
Jobs continuously available include Bridge Design Engineers, Tunnel Design Engineers, Building Design Engineers, Structural Revit technician, Structural CAD technicians and Project Engineers with construction management experience.
Frequently used software includes: Space Gass, Superstress, Strapp, GeoPac-Rebar, Robot, Lusas using AutoCAD and Microstation
Geotechnical Jobs UK
Geotechnical engineering is an area of increasing recruitment activity from both a design office as well as a site-based perspective. Design positions exist with many engineering consultancies and local government authorities. Site based positions are as consultant's representative or with contractors on-site with earthworks and other geotechnically related works. In particularly any experience with tunnelling projects, design or on-site is sought after at present and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. Experience in foundations, footings, dams, tunnelling etc in roles such as Civil Design Engineer, Design Draughtsperson, Civil Technician, Senior Design Engineer, Graduate Civil Engineer, CAD Technician, and Project Engineer. Site-based positions please see Construction UK.
Mechanical and Electrical Jobs UK
Within the Mechanical and Electrical engineering discipline, jobs for building services design engineers are in high demand; in particularly for commercial, office and institutional (Health, Education) projects in the UK. Projects include new-build and refurbishments and can be located UK wide though tend to be available mostly in the greater London and Midlands and North West (Birmingham up to Manchester) area. British M&E Engineering Consultancies are experiencing a shortage of suitably qualified and available candidates with a strong background in the design of HVAC and fire protection systems.
In addition, the Power Generation industry within the UK is experiencing
shortages of most key positions. These include Lead Electrical Engineers,
Lead Mechanical Engineers, Project Engineers, Lead Systems Engineers,
Planning Engineers, and Technical Writers. It is important to note that recruitment agencies will often have specialist consultants for sub-sectors of engineering jobs in UK based roles.
How much will I earn in the UK? – Engineers Job UK
For most recently graduated or qualified individuals (one to three years experience) the average starting contract rate is usually between £10 to £16 per hour.
Those arriving in the UK for work with over fours years experience
may expect their contract salaries to start around £14 to
£17 per hour. It is also important to note that your contract
rates often increase relatively quickly as you gain UK experience.
Specialist Engineers and Project Planners, or those with skills
and experience in high demand, can sometimes start on relatively
high contract rates, or permanent salaries without having UK experience.
Within the UK engineering jobs
market, examples currently include Structural Design, Traffic and
Transport, Water Modelling, Project Planning, Rail, Tunnelling,
Quantity Surveying and Estimating.
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What is the outlook for the UK engineering industry currently?
For qualified engineers with at least two years experience, the UK Engineering industry is nearly always a safe bet for reasonably quick and satisfactory employment options. Graduates and those with less than two years relevant industry experience will often be able to find suitable employment, however they may have to wait a little longer than usually particularly around the quieter times of the year such as Christmas and sometimes in August. All areas are set to remain busy for the foreseeable future as public works proposals are granted and private consultancies team up with contractors to lodge tenders UK wide.
To get the best job for your experience register with recruitment agencies up to 2 years before you plan to travel to the UK. We also recommend that you apply to jobs beginning about three months before you arrive. You can also learn how to get the most out of you WORKgateways UK job search.
What should my UK Engineering Resume look like?
Be sure your resume includes specific details of your project experience. This is the most common complaint from UK recruitment consultants – ‘not enough information or detail!’ For example, for each project indicate the type of project and work carried out, your job position, your duties and responsibilities, the approximate project value, duration and project result if applicable. It is also very useful to include the industry software packages with which you are familiar or proficient – either under each project or in a separate ‘Relevant Software Skills’ section.
For more assistance on candidates resumes in engineering jobs in UK — see our section on How to Write a Resume.
If you have far too many projects to list, please choose four to six representative projects. If the scope of your project experience seems too wide – you may want to either create two resumes or leave as is and your UK recruitment consultant can tailor your experience to a given job.
You can upload and update your UK engineering resume for your WORKgateways file at any time from your log-in. It is then on-line and can be viewed by the UK based engineering recruitment companies with whom you choose to register.
Want to know more about living and working in the UK?
- Working: UK taxation, UK banking
- Living: cost of living, where to live, healthcare, finding a flat, getting around
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