2027 Academy Engineer Apprentice - Level 6 Higher Level Apprenticeship - Mechatronic Engineering

thales; Belfast City District; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 26,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary during apprenticeship

Hands-on experience

Training and development

Tuition fees covered

Permanent role from start

Job summary

Thales in Belfast is offering a 4-year Level 6 Higher Level Apprenticeship in Mechatronic Engineering. Start date 6 September 2027, salary £24,000 per annum, permanent employment.

You will study towards a BEng Mechatronic Engineering with Ulster University while gaining hands-on experience in real engineering projects. The programme balances university learning with on‑the‑job training and cross‑disciplinary teamwork.

Qualifications

• Entry requirements include STEM-focused A levels or BTEC and UCAS points.
• GCSEs required; five at grade 9-4.

Responsibilities

• Learn and build real mechatronic engineering skills.
• Help deliver solutions meeting deadlines, quality, and budget.
• Develop understanding of design trade-offs and manufacturing.
• Collaborate with engineers across disciplines.

Skills

Engineering problem-solving

Teamwork

Communication

Eagerness to learn

Education

A Levels + 112 UCAS points (BBC) in STEM

BTEC Extended Diploma (DMM) in Engineering or equivalent

Job description

Location: Belfast, United Kingdom

About Thales

Thales is a global technology leader with more than 83,000 employees on five continents. With over 7,500 people in the UK, operating across defence, space, aerospace, and digital security, we help build a future we can all trust. Thales supports the security and stability of our nation by providing extraordinary technology to our customers, as well as delivering social value to the UK with our products and services.

Overview

2027 Academy Engineer Apprentice - Level 6
Higher Level Apprenticeship - Mechatronic Engineering

Start Date: 6 September 2027
Salary: £24,000 per annum
Employee type: Permanent
Location: Belfast
Working Schedule: Monday - Thursday 0800-1645, Friday 0800-1200 (flexible working available)

Turn your curiosity into a career. If you're passionate about engineering, eager to learn, and looking for an apprenticeship that combines academic study with exciting on-the-job experience, we'd love to hear from you. Our Mechatronics apprenticeship will let you explore different types of engineering before you make an informed decision to specialise in relevant disciple of engineering.

Benefits

• Earn a salary while studying for your apprenticeship
• Gain hands-on experience in a real engineering environment
• Receive job-specific training and development
• Achieve a recognised engineering qualification
• Tuition fees for approved training providers are fully covered
• Secure a permanent role from the start of your apprenticeship

About the Role

As an Engineering Apprentice, you'll be learning and building real mechatronic engineering skills - This will help you can grow into a confident, positive, and flexible engineer. You'll develop a strong technical base and get the chance to work on challenging engineering problems as part of a supportive team.

Mechatronics is where mechanical engineering, electronics, and software come together - so you'll learn how to think through design, how to create solutions, and how technology helps make systems work automatically.

In this role, you'll help the team deliver solutions to meet deadlines, quality expectations, and budget. You'll learn how good engineering decisions are made - balancing performance, cost, and manufacturability all while working with different parts of the business.

How this helps you grow

• Build practical, transferable engineering skills : you won't just learn theory - you'll learn how designs are made ready for real-world production.
• Become more confident in engineering problem-solving: you'll work with guidance, but you'll also learn how to break down challenges and find solutions.
• Understand how engineering decisions are made: you'll see how cost, quality, and performance trade-offs come into the design process.
• Learn through teamwork: you'll collaborate with people from different disciplines and begin building professional communication skills.

What You Will Learn

Throughout the apprenticeship, you will gain experience and knowledge in:How our business works, especially across Engineering, including software, hardware, and systemsEngineering and the wider business, together - you'll be exposed to other functions outside Engineering, so you fully understand how we're set up and how decisions get madeLearning from the people who make it all happen - you'll work with key stakeholders across the business, alongside experienced, long-tenured experts and our leadership teamsBuilding your network - you'll join a large community of future talent (including apprentices, graduates, and interns), helping you grow through connections and shared learningGrowing your capability through rotation - you'll develop through a designed pathway with internal rotational programmes, ensuring you get the right experience in the right teams

Apprenticeship Programme

You will be studying towards a Level 6 Higher Level Apprenticeship, finishing with a BEng Mechatronic Engineering degree, with our partners at the Ulster University in their Belfast campus.

This is a 4 year fast track programme. In the 1st year, you will attend university lectures and tutorials over 4 days per week, remotely complete Thales engineering project work and spend 1 day a week onsite developing your engineering knowledge. From 2nd year onwards, you will be in university 1 day a week and 4 days working in engineering, embedding your university learning in a real-life engineering environment.

Entry Requirements

A Levels
112 UCAS points (A Level BBC) to include Grade B in a STEM Subject (Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Technology & Design, Engineering, Electronics, Double Award Science/Applied Science)
Or equivalent BTEC Extended Diploma (DMM) to include a merit in Engineering Principles and Calculus to Solve Engineering Problems. Combination of smaller BTEC Diploma plus A levels or other acceptable Level 3 qualifications as per the Ulster University BEng Mechatronic Engineering degree entry requirements
GCSEs
- 5 GCSE\'s 9-4 (A-C)