Graduate Civil Engineer

targetjobs UK; Exeter; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading sustainable design consultancy is offering a graduate programme in civil engineering. This structured 3-year opportunity allows graduates to enhance their skills through hands-on experience across various sectors, including highways and transportation, water management, and rail. Graduates will work on real-world challenges and contribute to sustainable projects that have a significant impact. Strong analytical and communication skills are essential, alongside a relevant engineering degree.

Qualifications

• Graduating in 2026 or recently graduated with at least a 2:2 in a relevant degree.
• Demonstrate resilience, creativity, analytical thinking, and teamwork.
• Willing to travel and stay away from home when required.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to projects across highways, rail, energy, and water.
• Design new infrastructure and assess existing assets.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams and attend site visits.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Creativity

Team player

Communication skills

Education

BEng or MEng in Civil, Structural or Geotechnical Engineering

Tools

Civil 3D

OpenRoads

BIM

Job description

Overview

Arcadis is the world's leading company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets. We are more than 36,000 people, in over 70 countries, dedicated to improving quality of life. Everyone has an important role to play. With the power of many curious minds, together we can solve the world’s most complex challenges and deliver more impact together.

Role Description

Our graduate GROW programme is a structured 3-year programme, designed to help you evolve and develop skills to become an experienced professional in your chosen field. You’ll benefit from training and development, mentoring, and assistance for accreditations relevant to your programme, as well as the support and guidance you need to develop and succeed. As a GROW graduate you will be empowered to drive your career and will be exposed to a variety of experiences to assist you in gaining the skills you require to succeed.

As an engineer joining GROW, you will be given the opportunity to specialise within your chosen discipline of engineering and we ensure you obtain the appropriate experiences that you need to become a technical expert. Being an Engineer at Arcadis is about applying a human filter to all your technical expertise and training and making an impact through innovation and creativity. During our three-year programme you will develop core engineering and consulting techniques that can be applied while working with our clients in the UK and potentially even some of our international clients around the globe.

Role Accountabilities

Our civil engineering teams work across highways, rail, energy, and water, delivering safe, high-quality, and sustainable design solutions for clients and communities. As a graduate, you will be supported and mentored while contributing to projects ranging from local schemes to major international developments. You will work with diverse, multidisciplinary teams and follow a structured path towards professional qualification.

Using advanced software and digital tools, you will design new infrastructure, and in many cases assess existing assets for repair or reuse. You will gain hands-on experience across sectors, applying your knowledge to real-world challenges. You will learn about project delivery models, contracts, and commercial constraints, while collaborating with other disciplines and attending site visits to ensure your designs are safe, buildable, and sustainable. Civil engineers are central to tackling the climate emergency, therefore you will help deliver resilient, low-carbon solutions, contributing to maximising environmental, social and economic impact.

Our work varies and covers projects of all scales across the different sectors.

• As a civil engineer in highways and transportation, you will help shape the future of transport infrastructure—designing safe, sustainable, and innovative solutions that connect people and communities. You will work on infrastructure such as roads, junctions, bridges, and active travel routes. Your role may include designing foundations, earthworks, retaining structures or drainage systems using tools like Civil 3D, OpenRoads, and BIM. You may shape the future of design, embracing generative design and technologies that will play a growing role across industries. Your role will also focus on enhancing highways resilience and ensuring designs are safe and buildable. You will engage with clients and stakeholders, developing your skills across all stages of project delivery—from concept to construction—on UK and international projects, from local upgrades to major schemes.
• A water management engineer works on a wide variety of waste and clean water infrastructure and non-infrastructure assets to deliver sustainable solutions, ensuring resilience and quality of water supplies to our communities through innovative technologically advanced and natural solutions alike.
• As a civil engineer in rail, you will help design and deliver the infrastructure that supports the railway network. From station infrastructure and bridges to utility crossings, drainage, safe access and support structures for railway systems. You will collaborate across disciplines in a safety-critical environment, integrating designs that meet rail standards and health and safety requirements. Using latest digital tools and engineering software, you will help develop resilient, future-ready solutions that directly impact the reliability and sustainability of rail transport. You will gain experience across all stages of project delivery, from concept to construction, on UK and international projects that shape the future of rail, including light rail and tram systems.
• An energy engineer works on supporting our clients in delivery of new connections and grid upgrades to help the UK Electricity Industry meet its Net Zero carbon reduction ambitions.

No matter the sector, our programme is an opportunity for you to grow your skills and ability in the delivery of sustainable solutions. The work will involve some site work visits and inspections.

Accepted Degrees

• Roles within Highways and Transportation are open to candidates with either a BEng or MEng in Civil, Structural or Geotechnical Engineering.
• Roles within Rail, Water & Energy are open to candidates with either a BEng or MEng in Civil or Structural engineering.

Qualifications & Experience

• You will be graduating in 2026 or have recently graduated with at least a 2:2 in a relevant Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.
• You will demonstrate typical Arcadian skills including resilience, creativity, analytical thinking and being a team player.
• You will have excellent communication skills and the ability to use your technical knowledge to influence and consult stakeholders.
• Willing to travel and stay away from home when required (where possible we embrace virtual working).

Why Arcadis?

We can only achieve our goals when everyone is empowered to be their best. We believe everyone's contribution matters. It’s why we are pioneering a skills-based approach, where you can harness your unique experience and expertise to carve your career path and maximize the impact we can make together. You’ll do meaningful work, and no matter what role, you’ll be helping to deliver sustainable solutions for a more prosperous planet. Make your mark, on your career, your colleagues, your clients, your life and the world around you. Together, we can create a lasting legacy. Join Arcadis. Create a Legacy.

Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging

We want you to be able to bring your best self to work every day which is why we take equality and inclusion seriously and hold ourselves to account for our actions. Our ambition is to be an employer of choice and provide a great place to work for all our people. We believe that by working together diverse people with different experiences develop the most innovative ideas. Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of how we improve quality of life and we work closely with our people across six ED&I Workstreams: Age, Disability, Faith, Gender, LGBT+ and Race. A diverse and skilled workforce is essential to our success.