Mechanical Engineering Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship 2026

MBDA UK Ltd; Stevenage; On-site; GBP 18,000 - 22,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading defence organisation is offering a Mechanical Engineering Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship in Stevenage, UK. Apprentices will study for a BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering degree while gaining hands-on experience through various placements in Customer Support Services, Mechanical Engineering, and Environmental Engineering, alongside other benefits including a competitive salary and annual pay reviews.

Benefits

Fully funded qualification

Paid travel expenses

Annual pay reviews

25 days annual leave

Study leave during exam periods

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 GCSEs at grades 9-4 including English, Mathematics and a Science or Technology subject.
• Three A levels at minimum grade C including Maths AND Physics or Technology/Engineering subject.
• BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Engineering at minimum grade DDM including a Distinction in Further Maths module.

Responsibilities

• Complete rotational placements in various engineering and support services.
• Study for a BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering degree while gaining practical experience.
• Work in diverse areas including Customer Support Services, Mechanical Engineering, and Environmental Engineering.

Skills

Mathematics

Physics

Problem solving

Teamwork

Education

5 GCSEs at grades 9-4 including English, Mathematics and a Science/Technology subject

3 A levels (min grade C) including Maths and Physics or Technology/Engineering

BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Engineering with DDM

Job description

Overview

Mechanical Engineering Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship 2026

Salary: £18,750 plus a £3000 joining bonus

Location: Stevenage

Learning provider Location: University of Hertfordshire

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.

Closing date: Midnight on 23 January 2026 (subject to application volumes).

What we can offer you

• Fully funded qualification starting September 2026
• Paid travel expenses to and from your place of study
• Annual pay reviews
• 25 days annual leave (plus holiday purchase) and up to 15 days flexi leave
• Study leave during exam periods

The opportunity

There are three streams within the Mechanical Degree Apprenticeship that you may join. During the recruitment process we will assess which role you are best suited for.

Customer Support Services

Customer Support & Services (CSS) has overall responsibility for the definition, development and delivery of support and service packages for all MBDA products, with the aim of continually being able to meet the most demanding of our customers\' requirements. This includes:

• Developing and implementing affordable and innovative support solutions covering the entire range of prime equipment as well as the support equipment, training, documentation, test benches and simulators required. This is under the control of the ILS Manager who is supported by a range of skills including supportability analysts, logistics modellers, technical authors and trainers.
• Maintaining through life the product support policy for the MBDA product portfolio, up to and including disposal/de-militarisation.
• Providing all required support services to our Customers for our in-service products, including ensuring that availability levels are maintained, technical assistance is provided, and modifications and mid-life updates are managed and implemented. This is under the control of the Product Support Manager, who is supported by a range of skills including Field Service Engineers, trainers, fleet planners, asset managers and support engineers.

On this apprenticeship you\'ll complete rotational placements in:

• Supportability Engineering
• In-Service Teams
• Support Services
• Mechanical / Electronic Engineering
• Human Factors
• Training and Field Support Engineering
• Technical Publications

Environmental Engineering

Environmental Engineering & Facilities (EE&F) provide MBDA with the ability to simulate real world mechanical and climatic environments (through vibration, shock, temperature, etc.). Our Environmental Engineers provide expertise throughout the product lifecycle and generate evidence to demonstrate that our products are safe, suitable for service and meet our customer\'s expectations.

Environmental Engineering Apprentices work with experienced professionals and world leading technical specialists in their field, to test our products and ensure that they can withstand the environments for where they will be used. MBDA exports products across the globe and the role of this team is pivotal to ensure that our systems can withstand these conditions and operate as needed, without fault or delay.

Witness, control and apply extreme climatic and mechanical environments, from simulating the extreme cold of artic conditions to the temperatures induced by supersonic flight. From combined complex low pressure, high humidity and low temperature environments to multiple system 3D vibration simulation.

You\'ll see all aspects of Engineering from a mechanical perspective. Starting on more basic tasks, as you increase in confidence and your studies progress you\'ll get involved in more projects in an increasingly autonomous environment - but always with the support and guidance from world leading technical specialists in that area.

Placements within Environmental Engineering include:

• Mechanical and Climatic Test
• Structural test
• Facility maintenance
• Trials & Data Analysis
• Mechanical & Climatic Project

Through your placements you\'ll benefit from the breadth and depth of a diverse function - from Theory and Design, to Analysis and Application - you\'ll get to experience some incredibly niche areas! All whilst working in our bespoke facilities. You\'ll be taking your learning at University and applying it directly to your work. This is a truly outstanding chance to be hands on with advanced and sophisticated test hardware and equipment.

Mechanical Engineering

You\'ll gain vast experience of a product lifecycle which will provide the foundations on which to build the expertise required to design, make, and test the next generation of missile system hardware.

This will cover a variety of Mechanical Engineering, including computer aided concept design, simulation and modelling to hands on testing, manufacture and assembly.

The apprenticeship is designed to educate and develop engineering foundations from which to grow practical and academic skills. As experience increases following training on engineering principles and some basic project work, apprentices can expect to tackle more complex projects in an increasingly autonomous environment.

Typical placements in this stream can include:

• Mechanical Design
• Mechanical Future Concepts
• Actuation Systems
• Mechanical Analysis
• Materials and Processes
• Environmental Engineering

As a Mechanical Engineering apprentice you can expect to gauge an understanding of material properties and how to utilise their unique characteristics in Engineering design they will also learn how to use industry standard design tools such as Creo Parametric as well as simulation and modelling packages: Altair, HyperMesh, and Ansys.

This role would suit someone with a curiosity in hands on Engineering coupled with a creative and innovative approach to problem solving and well-grounded understanding in mathematics and applied sciences. The apprenticeship provides exciting opportunities to work with state of the art technologies and will lead to personal and professional progression to people management, becoming a technical specialist, project manager, or beyond.

Whichever function you end up joining, you\'ll study for BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering degree at University of Hertfordshire, for one day a week and the remainder of your working week will be putting in to practice everything you\'re learning in a real life environment.

Programme structure

For this 4 year programme you\'ll study towards a BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering degree at The University of Hertfordshire one day a week, with the remainder of your working week putting in to practice everything you\'re learning in a real life environment via your placements. Course delivery will be a blend of virtual and face to face learning.

Our apprentices complete a number of placements, so that by the end of the four-year programme they have gained a broad overview and can best decide where in the function they would prefer to start the next phase in their career.

During the third and fourth year there is the freedom to select placements to suit particular areas of interest and developmental needs, supported by an industrial mentor. In addition, there will be a great opportunity to do an external placement in another MBDA function or with an external organisation or an associated MBDA supplier!

During the fourth year you\'ll complete an individual research project with the option for this to be an industry sponsored project in partnership with MBDA.

MBDA will assist in achieving Professional qualification through the IMechE, IET or RAeS.

Find more details about the course here: https://www.herts.ac.uk/courses/degree-apprenticeships/engineering-degree-apprenticeship-mechanical

You will be following the Manufacturing Engineer Standard (not the Product Design standard as per the link above):

https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/manufacturing-engineer-degree-v1-1

What we\'re looking for from you

This role has specific qualification and subject criteria so please make sure you carefully check your eligibility against this criteria before applying otherwise your application will not be considered. If you are currently studying and predicted to meet these requirements by the start date you are welcome to apply.

GCSEs

A minimum of 5 GCSEs at grades 9-4

This must include:

• English Language
• Mathematics
• Any Science or Technology subject

After GCSEs

After your GCSEs you must have completed one of the following and achieved 120 UCAS Tariff points:

• 3 x A levels at minimum grade C including Maths AND Physics or Technology/Engineering subject
• BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Engineering at a minimum grade of DDM, including a Distinction in Further Maths module.
• T-Level at Merit or Distinction in an Engineering subject

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.

Our company: Peace is not a given, Freedom is not a given, Sovereignty is not a given

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.

Follow us on LinkedIn (MBDA), X (@MBDA_UK), Instagram (MBDA_UK) and Glassdoor or visit our MBDA Careers website for more information.

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