2026 Industrial Process Engineer

Thales; Templecombe; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 28,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading defense and technology organization is offering an apprenticeship as an Industrial Process Engineer. This permanent position enables you to earn while you learn through a Level 6 apprenticeship program, covering tuition fees and providing training in a professional engineering environment. Applicants must possess 2 A Levels and meet security clearance requirements. This role presents a unique opportunity to build a solid foundation in engineering within a renowned organization.

Benefits

Annual leave of 201 hours

Company Pension

Health Care Cash Plan

Life Insurance

Discount Portal

Performance-related pay uplifts

80 Hours Volunteering

Qualifications

• Commitment to a 5-6 year apprenticeship program.
• Eligibility for Government security clearance.
• No relevant degree prior to application.

Responsibilities

• Develop engineering skills through on-the-job training.
• Contribute to manufacturing solutions for customer requirements.
• Define and optimize manufacturing processes.

Skills

Understanding of engineering principles

Team collaboration

Education

2 A Levels at grade C or above

GCSEs including Mathematics, English, and a Science subject

Job description

Location: Templecombe, United Kingdom

Thales people provide armed forces customers with operational advantage at every decisive moment throughout the mission. Defence and armed forces customers rely on us to deliver the full range of defence mission systems solutions at land, sea, and air. Our platforms extend across the battlespace including Above and Sonar, Electronic Combat, and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance systems. Together we offer fantastic opportunities for committed employees to learn and develop their career with us.

Industrial Process Engineer Apprentice – Level 6 Manufacturing Engineer Degree Apprenticeship

Start Date: 07 September 2026

Salary: £24,000

Employee type: Permanent

Working Schedule: Monday – Thursday, 37 hours a week (9.25 hours Monday – Thursday)

What the role has to offer

• Earn while you learn
• Job specific training experience
• Recognised qualifications
• Permanent role from day one
• Tuition fees for university or approved training providers are fully covered

Key responsibilities and development opportunities

The role will develop your engineering skills to become a confident, positive and flexible industrial process engineer with well‑honed technical knowledge gained from both the academic commitments and on‑the‑job training. You’ll be part of a team that provides manufacturing solutions in support of our customers’ requirements, and you will work on:

• Developing an understanding of the required behaviours and codes of practice of a professional engineer
• Understanding complex systems by working on different tasks on ongoing projects
• Assessing Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) of products by reviewing the product maturity with project teams to identify and minimise risk
• Defining, setting up, preparing and optimising manufacturing processes and tooling for a defined area or product line
• Contributing to Health, Safety and Environment processes
• Defining and optimising manufacturing documentation, tools, workflows for manufacturing and inspection based on the information supplied by upstream R&D engineering departments
• Contributing to the technological innovation to reduce costs and workflows, whilst guaranteeing the feasibility and reproducibility of the process
• Attending Material Review Boards and Configuration Control Boards on behalf of manufacturing, actively managing failures and changes
• Implementing test & control plans for manufacturing equipment

Apprentice Programme

Through our degree apprenticeship you’ll be making the most of your talents, getting to understand engineering from the ground up and doing so with the help of one of the biggest and best names in the industry. As an Industrial Process Engineer Apprentice, you will be enrolled onto the Level 6 Manufacturing Engineer Degree Apprenticeship at Yeovil College. Delivered via a day release model, you will attend college on set days to complete your academic learning and will spend the rest of your time in the business – applying what you have learnt in a real‑life environment. This programme will take between 5 and 6 years to complete and will include a foundation qualification such as an HND, followed by a BEng in Engineering.

Requirements

• 2 A Levels at grade C or above including English and an additional STEM subject, or a 90+ credit BTEC Diploma in Engineering
• GCSEs at grade 4 (C) or above, including Mathematics, English and a Science, Technology or Engineering related subject

Applicants who already hold a relevant degree will not be eligible for this 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)

Closing Date

Applications will close at 11:59 pm on Thursday 12 February 2026. Please note we will be in contact by the end of February 2026 with details of next steps. Roles may close earlier than the advertised deadline if we receive a high number of applications – we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid missing out on this opportunity.

Recruitment Process

For further information about our Future Talent recruitment process, please visit our Future Talent hub. All successful candidates must possess the permanent right to work in the UK and will be required to go through Government security clearance at BPSS Level and obtain full Security Clearance (SC) in line with UKSV requirements.

Security Clearance

To be eligible for full SC, you generally need to have resided in the UK for the last 5 years. As part of the vetting process, you will be asked to provide evidence of 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, consult the UKSV website and the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting (DBS NSV) Agency.

Thales is an equal‑opportunity employer and diversity, and inclusion are integral to the success of Thales.

Great journeys start here, apply now!