2027 AI Engineer Apprentice - AI and Data Science Graduate Level Apprenticeship

thales; Glasgow; Hybrid; GBP 22,000 - 26,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid/flexible working options

Contributory Company Pension

Health Care Cash Plan

Life Cover

Learning and development support

Job summary

Thales in Glasgow invites applications for the 2027 AI Engineer Apprentice – an AI and Data Science Graduate Level Apprenticeship. Start date 06 September 2027, salary £24,000 per annum, location Glasgow.

The programme combines university study with on‑the‑job AI engineering experience over four years. You will develop AI and ML skills, work on live projects, and learn data preparation, model development, deployment, testing and monitoring within a supportive engineering community.

Qualifications

• Highers required for entry
• 4 Highers including Maths or Computing
• 96 UCAS points required
• Foundation apprenticeship counts as one Higher
• SCQF Level 6 apprenticeship counts as two Highers

Responsibilities

• Developing and evaluating AI models and AI-enabled software components
• Prepare, explore and validate data for machine learning use cases
• Write clean, tested and documented code
• Support model integration, deployment, monitoring and performance improvements
• Collaborate with engineers and researchers on live projects

Education

Highers (UK)

4 Highers (BBCC) including Maths or Computing

96 UCAS points

Foundation apprenticeship equivalent to one Higher

SCQF Level 6 apprenticeship equivalent to two Highers

Job description

Location: Glasgow, United Kingdom

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.

2027 AI Engineer Apprentice - AI and Data Science Graduate Level Apprenticeship

Start Date: 06 September 2027

Salary: £24,000 per annum

Employee type: Permanent

Location: Glasgow

Working Schedule: Monday - Friday, 37 hours a week (8 hours Monday - Thursday, 5 hours Friday)

Turn your curiosity into a career. If you're passionate about artificial intelligence, eager to learn, and looking for a degree apprenticeship that combines academic study with exciting on-the-job experience, we'd love to hear from you.

Benefits of the programme:

• Earn a salary while studying for your qualification
• Gain hands-on experience in a real AI and engineering environment
• Receive job-specific training and development
• Achieve a recognised Level 6 qualification
• Secure a permanent role from the start of your apprenticeship
• Have your university tuition fees fully paid

About the Role

As an AI Engineer Apprentice, you will develop the technical knowledge, practical skills and professional behaviours needed to design, build, test and deploy dependable AI-enabled solutions.

Working as part of our AI and engineering community, you will contribute to live projects across the machine learning lifecycle, collaborating with software, data, systems and domain specialists to turn needs into secure, maintainable solutions.

Your responsibilities may include:

• Preparing, exploring and validating data for machine learning use cases
• Developing and evaluating machine learning models and AI-enabled software components
• Writing clean, tested and documented code using appropriate engineering tools and practices
• Supporting model integration, deployment, monitoring and performance improvement
• Contributing to technical reviews, experiments and structured problem solving
• Working with experienced engineers and researchers on live projects

What You Will Learn

Throughout the apprenticeship, you will gain experience and knowledge in:

• Professional engineering behaviours, teamwork and industry best practice
• Programming, software engineering, version control and automated testing
• Data preparation, feature engineering and data quality techniques
• Machine learning methods, model selection, training and evaluation
• Deployment patterns, MLOps, monitoring and lifecycle management
• Cloud, compute and development tools used to deliver AI solutions
• Responsible AI, security, privacy, safety and regulatory considerations
• Structured approaches to troubleshooting, experimentation and continuous improvement

Degree Apprenticeship Programme

You will study towards an AI and Data Science Graduate Level Apprenticeship qualification with Glasgow Caledonian University , developing the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to build and apply artificial intelligence responsibly in an engineering environment.

The programme is delivered through a blended learning approach, combining:

• On campus study
• Live virtual lectures
• Online learning resources
• Self-directed study

Programme structure:

Delivered over 4 years, you will achieve:

• Year 1: Certificate of Higher Education in Computing
• Year 2: Diploma of Higher Education in Computing
• Year 4: BSc (Hons) AI and Data Science (Graduate Apprenticeship)

Entry Requirements

To apply, you will need:

• Highers
• 96 UCAS points
• Four Highers (BBCC) including Maths or Computing
• A foundation apprenticeship will be equal to one Higher at B
• A modern apprenticeship SCQF Level 6 in a relevant discipline will be equal to two Highers at B

Benefits

• Competitive salary of £24,000 per annum
• Performance-related pay uplifts
• Holiday entitlement of 201 hours a year (plus a company day and bank holidays)
• Contributory Company Pension
• Health Care Cash Plan
• Hybrid/flexible working options
• Employee assistance programme
• Learning and development support
• Employee discounts and wellbeing initiatives
• Life Cover
• 80 Hours Volunteering per year (first two years)