Mechanical Engineering

MBDA S.A.S.; Stevenage; On-site; GBP 18,000 - 24,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fully funded qualification starting 9/

Paid travel expenses to and from study

Annual pay reviews

Healthcare Cash Plan

25 days annual leave (+), holiday buy

Study leave during exam periods

Job summary

MBDA is offering a Mechanical Degree Apprenticeship at the Stevenage site, starting September 2027. You will study onsite at university one day a week, with the remainder of the week spent on placements within MBDA to apply learning in real engineering environments.

Four streams are available: Integration and Missile Validation, Engineering Support, Environmental Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. There is a rotational programme across the product lifecycle, with opportunities to learn

Qualifications

• Apprenticeship pathway mapping to the Product design and development engineer apprenticeship standard.
• Final award BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering.

Responsibilities

• Undertake placement-based learning across streams within the Mechanical Degree Apprenticeship.
• Support integration and validation activities with experienced engineers.
• Develop understanding of lifecycle support and field services.

Education

Bachelor’s degree apprenticeship pathway (Mechanical Engineering)

Tools

Creo

Altair

Hypermesh

Ansys

Job description

Due to the location of the site and learning providers, applicants are encouraged to consider their home or rental location to ensure travel arrangements are manageable and travel time is minimised. The qualification: You'll study for an Mechanical Engineering Degree Apprenticeship, which maps to the Product design and development engineer apprenticeship standard. Your final award will be a BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering. Find out more on the course here: https://www.herts.ac.uk/courses/degree-apprenticeships/engineering-degree-apprenticeship-mechanical Security clearance: British Citizen or a Dual UK national with British citizenship. Restrictions and/or limitations relating to nationality and/or rights to work may apply. As a minimum and after offer stage, all successful candidates will need to undergo HMG Basic Personnel Security Standard checks (BPSS), which are managed by the MBDA Personnel Security Team. This role is scheduled to close for applications at midnight on Friday 20th November 2026 but may close earlier depending on application volumes.

What we can offer you:

• Fully funded qualification starting September 2027
• Paid travel expenses to and from your place of study
• Annual pay reviews
• Healthcare Cash Plan: provides support with everyday health related costs - including medical, dental, optical, physio and health & wellbeing
• 25 days annual leave (plus holiday purchase) and up to 15 days flexi leave
• Study leave during exam periods

Programme structure - your work at MBDA

You'll study onsite at University one day a week (with occasional virtual learning sessions); the rest of your working week will be in your home function with MBDA and you'll be putting into practice everything you're learning in a real life environment, via placements tailored to the stream you'll be joining. There are four streams within the Mechanical Degree Apprenticeship that you may join. During the recruitment process we will assess which role you are best suited for.

Integration and Missile Validation

• Get hands on experience preparing and supporting live missile trials across different testing environments
• Learn about instrumentation, sensors, data acquisition and test equipment.
• Support trials, record and analyse data, and contribute to trial reports and engineering reviews
• Work alongside experienced engineers to understand how testing helps prove, validate and improve complex systems.

Engineering support

• Gain experience in how engineering products are supported throughout their entire lifecycle, from development through to in-service use.
• Explore placements across areas including Supportability, In-service teams, Support Services, Human factors, Field support and Technical publications
• Learn how engineers help customers keep complex systems available, reliable and effective
• Develop an understanding of the wider engineering roles involved beyond the initial design and manufacture of a product.

Environmental Engineering

• Test advanced products in extreme mechanical and climatic conditions to make sure they can operate safely and reliably.
• Experience simulating real world mechanical and climatic environments ranging from extreme cold and heat to vibration, shock, humidity and low pressure.
• Gain experience across placements in mechanical and climatic testing, structural testing, trials, data analysis and facilities.
• Use specialist equipment and facilities while applying your university learning to real engineering challenges

Mechanical Engineering

• Explore the full mechanical engineering lifecycle, from design and simulation through to manufacture, assembly and testing.
• Gain experience across placements such as Mechanical Design, Future Concepts, Actuation, Analysis, Materials and Environmental Engineering
• Develop critical skills alongside academic knowledge, using industry-standard tools such as Creo, Altair, Hypermesh and Ansys.
• Work on increasingly complex projects as your skills and confidence grow

Regardless of the route you take, you'll benefit from a rotational programme that exposes you to the entire product lifecycle. You'll collaborate with a wide range of engineering functions and specialist teams; all while being supported by experienced colleagues.

Employees receive 25 days of paid annual leave per calendar year, in addition to all statutory and public holidays. After 5, 10 and 15 years of service, an additional day of annual leave is added to your allowance at each of these milestones. You can also enjoy more time off by purchasing up to an additional five days holiday through payroll.

We trust our people to agree, within their teams, where and when they can be most effective. Our Dynamic Working policies allow individuals great levels of flexibility around the hours they work and where they work. Depending on your role and function, this may include options for paid overtime, dynamic leave (time in lieu) and more.

Our MBDA Retirement Savings Plan is a 'Defined Contribution' plan in the Mercer Master Trust. The standard contributions are 4% of an employee's base salary and 6% employer contributions. You can increase both employee and employer contributions by up to 2%.

Financial Awareness - Employees have access to free financial webinars hosted throughout the year, along with access to a financial education website which provides plenty of useful hints, tips and guidance on managing financial wellness.

Share Incentive Plan - Acquire shares in our UK Shareholder, BAE Systems PLC, the scheme is tax efficient on shares purchased.

Mortgage Advice - As part of our financial wellbeing initiative employees can access free of charge mortgage advice and webinars.

Season Ticket Loan - Employees can borrow the value of public transport season ticket for bus or train journeys to and from work and spread the cost over 12 months.

Critical Illness - To help reduce the financial impact after being diagnosed with a critical illness, employees receive a tax-free lump sum payment that can be used for any purpose including covering medical expenses, adjustments to lifestyle and more.

Employee Assistance Programme - The Employee Assistance Programme is free, independent, confidential and is available 24 hours a day/365 days a year. Employees have access to short-term counselling (which includes up to 8 structured face to face, telephone or virtual sessions).

Voluntary Private Medical Insurance - Private Medical Insurance offers three healthcare plans to suit your individual requirements for you and your family.

Funded Private Medical Insurance - Eligible employees (Grade C & Above) are enrolled as standard into the company funded Private Medical Insurance benefit.

Dental Insurance - The Dental Insurance benefit provides the option to claim cash back on everyday dental expenses such as, minor treatments, routine examinations, restorative treatment and more. There are six levels of cover available, with each level providing increased claim limits.

Healthcare Cash Plan - The Healthcare Cash Plan benefit provides the option to claim cash back on everyday healthcare expenses such as optical, dental, health and wellbeing and more. There are six levels of cover available, with each level providing increased claim limits.

Healthcare and Leisure - The Healthcare and Leisure benefit provides the option to claim cash back on everyday healthcare expenses such as medical fees, dentist fees, opticians and also provides access to special deals and concessions on sporting and recreational facilities.

You'll be able to choose between a variety of online learning platforms such as Percipio, YouLearn, Career Builder and Video Gateway. Each one is tailored to a specific type of learning. Speak to your line manager to find out more. We encourage new learning and will provide up to £150 in financial support per year if you wish to participate in further study in your own time. You'll have access to our Learning Gateway, which hosts the formal course catalogue and is where you can select the right training for your role and future development. The catalogue displays which courses are being delivered virtually or are classroom based. If you want to lead a team, you might be interested in our management training, designed for people of all experience levels.

A minimum of 5 GCSEs at minimum grade 4. This must include:

• English Language
• Mathematics
• Any Science or Technology subject, Following your GCSE's you must have completed one of the following qualification routes, equivalent to a minimum of 120 UCAS Tariff points:
• A Levels: Three A levels totalling 120 UCAS Tariff points, including Maths and either a Technology or Engineering subject, with no individual grade below B
• BTECs: A single Level 3 Extended Diploma in Engineering at a minimum grade of DDM, including a distinction in a Further Maths module.

The learning provider is not able to support T level qualifications for this apprenticeship. Please note: We look at entry criteria based on your top three full A Levels or equivalent qualifications (BTEC/T Level). We do not include UCAS points gained from an Extended Project Qualification. Additionally, as an employer we set our own entry criteria based on the requirements of this role. This means that the criteria above may differ from the university.

MBDA is a leading defence organisation. We are proud of the role we play in supporting the Armed Forces who protect our nations. We partner with governments to work together towards a common goal, defending our freedom. We are proud of our employee-led networks, examples include: Gender Equality, Pride, Menopause Matters, Parents and Carers, Armed Forces, Ethnic Diversity, Neurodiversity, Disability and more… We recognise that everyone is unique, and we encourage you to speak to us should you require any advice, support or adjustments throughout our recruitment process.

Healthworks Gym Membership - The Healthworks on-site gym at our Stevenage site offers a range of facilities and equipment, alongside a variety of classes available during the week. Annual Gym Membership - Take advantage of discounted membership at over 3,600 of the UK's leading gym chains, leisure centres, hotel health clubs, independent gyms, boot camps and yoga studios. The Club -The Club provides a fantastic opportunity to enjoy great social activities - from theatre trips, days out, to sporting activities.

We recognise that having or adopting a child is a significant life event for our employees and as a family friendly employer we offer a range of enhanced family leave provisions to support employees before, during and after a period of leave. Our enhanced parental leave offers up to 26 weeks for maternity, adoption and shared parental leave. Enhancements are available for paternity leave, neonatal leave and fertility testing and treatments. We also offer 2 weeks enhanced pay for paternity leave, and neonatal care leave for up to 12 weeks where a period of extended hospital care is required after birth. Employees also have access to support whilst undergoing fertility testing and treatments.

Lifestyle - Discounts & Vouchers

• The Discounts platform includes a great range of features such as: discounts, instant vouchers, reloadable cards, easy saver cards, cashback, mobile app and Wellbeing Centre.
• Costco - Permanent employees of MBDA qualify for Costco's individual membership.
• Technology Vouchers - Purchase the latest gadgets and white goods up to the value of £2,500 and spread the cost over 12 months.
• Charity Donations - Donate up to five charities each month, with full tax relief on all donations.
• MyCar Scheme - The MBDA MyCar Scheme offers employees the opportunity to access up to two new vehicles via a salary sacrifice arrangement including an all-inclusive package.
• Holiday Purchase - Purchase up to 5 days' extra holiday whilst making tax and National Insurance savings, spreading the cost over 12 months.