Professional Development Lead

Babcock International; Leicester Forest East; Hybrid; GBP 52,000 - 73,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Matched contribution pension scheme

Digital GP and annual health check

Employee share scheme

Employee shopping savings portal

Payment of professional fees

Reservists in the armed forces 10 days

Be Kind Day

Employee assistance programme

Job summary

Cavendish Nuclear in Leicester invites applications for a Professional Development Lead to shape engineers' careers across early talent, apprentices and graduates. You’ll partner with leaders to build competency-based development plans and professional registrations, while driving workforce capability and career pathways.

Join a national security and infrastructure focused team at our Leicester site, with hybrid working and a strong culture of learning, inclusion, and continuous professional

Qualifications

• Developing, coaching and managing talent across engineering, project and technical disciplines.
• Experience with competency frameworks, career development pathways or accreditation programmes.
• Strong stakeholder management and ability to influence at all levels.

Responsibilities

• Develop and support graduates, apprentices and early career professionals.
• Create and manage development plans aligned to competency frameworks and business requirements.
• Coach and mentor individuals toward professional registration and career progression.
• Collaborate with placement managers and leaders to secure development opportunities.
• Monitor performance and intervene to ensure successful outcomes.

Skills

Engineering

Project management

Career development

Stakeholder management

Talent development

Professional registration

Professional accreditation

Workforce capability

Early careers

Mentoring

Education

Engineering degree

Chartered/Incorporated Engineer

Professional registration within 6 months

Job description

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Professional Development Lead

Location: Leicester, GB, LE3 1UF

Onsite or Hybrid:

Job Title: Professional Development Lead

Compensation: Attractive Salary + Benefits

Role Type: Full time / Permanent

Role ID: SF76673

Shape the Future of Engineering Talent and Build Capability That Makes a Difference

At Cavendish Nuclear, we’re working to create a safe and secure world, together. If you join us, you can play your part as a Professional Development Lead at our Leicester site.

This is your opportunity to influence the development of the next generation of engineers, project professionals, and technical specialists supporting some of the UK's most important nuclear, defence, and infrastructure programmes. If you're passionate about coaching talent, building capability, and creating meaningful career pathways, this role offers the chance to make a lasting impact on both people and national programmes.

The role

As a Professional Development Lead, you will be responsible for developing and supporting emerging talent across engineering, project management and technical disciplines. Working closely with business leaders, placement managers, professional institutions and training providers, you'll ensure apprentices, graduates and early career professionals gain the experience, skills and professional accreditations needed to succeed.

This is an exciting opportunity to combine people leadership, talent development, coaching, workforce capability and stakeholder engagement in a role that directly supports projects critical to national security, clean energy and public infrastructure. You'll play a key role in developing future industry leaders whilst advancing your own career within a business committed to professional growth and continuous learning.

This is a permanent, 37-hour-per-week role based at our Leicester site. Hybrid working patterns are available.

Day-to-day, you’ll be required to:

• Supporting graduates, apprentices and early career professionals throughout their development journey.
• Creating and managing professional development plans aligned to competency frameworks and business requirements.
• Coaching and mentoring individuals towards professional registration and career progression goals.
• Collaborating with placement managers and business leaders to secure meaningful development opportunities and assignments.
• Monitoring development performance, identifying risks and implementing interventions to support successful outcomes.

Essential experience of the Professional Development Lead:

• Experience developing, coaching, mentoring or managing talent within engineering, technical or project environments.
• Experience working with competency frameworks, career development pathways or professional accreditation programmes.
• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence and build relationships at all levels.
• Experience managing multiple priorities, development activities and competing business requirements.
• Knowledge of workforce capability, early careers, talent development or professional development programmes.

Qualifications for the Professional Development Lead:

• Degree qualification or equivalent experience in Engineering, Project Management, Business Management or a related discipline.
• Incorporated Engineer, Chartered Engineer status, or the ability to obtain professional registration within six months of appointment.
• Matched contribution pension scheme, with life assurance
• Access to a Digital GP, annual health check, and nutritional consultations through Aviva DigiCare+
• Employee share scheme
• Employee shopping savings portal
• Payment of Professional Fees
• Reservists in the armed forces receive 10-days special paid leave
• Holiday Trading is a benefit that allows UK Cavendish employees to buy additional leave or to sell up to one working week of annual leave from their annual entitlement. This Window opens February through to March annually.
• ‘Be Kind Day’ enables employees to take one working day's paid leave a year (or equivalent hours) to undertake volunteering work with their chosen organisation or registered charity
• Excellent development opportunities and benefits package including an employee assistance programme supporting physical, mental and financial wellbeing.

We’re Cavendish Nuclear — a team of c5,000 specialists and a core part of Babcock International Group.

Here, you’ll be part of something bigger. Across clean energy, defence, and civil decommissioning, your work will contribute to projects that are critical to energy security and national protection. Together, we’re shaping a future that lasts — not only through the impact we make, but through meaningful careers that respect your work-life balance.

Join us and discover how far we can go, together.

We are a disability confident committed employer. If you have a disability or need any reasonable adjustments during the application and selection stages, please email [e-mail] with the subject header ‘Reasonable adjustments requirement’. We’re committed to building an inclusive culture where everyone’s free to thrive. We are happy to talk about flexible working – please ask about alternative patterns of work at interview.

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