Engineering Design Graduate Programme

Let's cut straight to it

Taking care of ‘one of life’s essentials’ – it’s our purpose and we want you to be part of it. Supplying wholesome drinking water, treating wastewater and recycling this back to the environment responsibly is no mean feat. We serve around 8 million people across the Midlands and Wales and unlike other businesses, our delivery is non-negotiable. It’s a matter of life. 

Many of our employees are also our customers, so we truly take pride in what we do! Employing people from across our communities and beyond, Severn Trent is an exciting and inclusive place to work – a place where you can be curious, can be ‘Wonderfully You’ and where you can truly make an impact to our environment, now and for future generations.  

Let's tell you more

Our Engineering Design Graduate Programme offers the perfect blend of personal and professional development, exposing you to the frontline and the core our business. The programme will enable you to spend time in areas of our engineering design teams and capital delivery covering the end-to-end process of the project and programme life cycles, water/ waste network and water/waste treatment asset design and delivery. 

You’ll get an insight into our water and wastewater treatment, through 3 x 9-month unique placements, across our engineering design teams. You’ll learn about different aspects of our business whilst working on a range of projects which will help address real life challenges and drive tangible change.

The aim of the programme is to create a pathway and give you the necessary tools to become a future leader within our engineering design teams. Furthermore, the programme is designed to enhance your critical thinking, leadership, and strategic thinking, as well as giving you the opportunity to showcase your creativity and really add value in shaping our future direction.

How will the programme work?

• Your 1st placement will be in Water Treatment Design and Waste Treatment Design
• Your 2nd placement will be in Water Network Design and Waste Network Design
• Your 3rd Placement will be in Treatment Process Engineering and EICA Team  
• Plus, throughout the programme you will have exposure to our Capability Teams- Digital Design, Sustainability, Innovation and Data & Systems
• You will have the chance to discuss your development and career ambitions in your 1-1 meetings with line managers, mentors, and New Talent Team

What will you learn?

You will expand your knowledge of project and people management, including learning how to effectively manage and influence stakeholders. You’ll also gain a strong business and commercial acumen, developing your ability to plan strategically with time, cost, and quality in mind, and how to deliver this message successfully to a range of stakeholders. 

You’ll gain a deeper understanding of why and how we make sure we deliver with our customers at the heart of what we do, and how we communicate this message across our communities.

You will learn the following either directly from placements, through supplementary training or project work:

• The end-to-end process of a project/programme life cycle
• Water/Waste Network and Water/Waste Treatment asset design
• Water/Waste Network and Water/Waste Treatment asset delivery
• Gathering data and using that data to aid your projects
• You will enhance your buildability and operability skills  
• You will learn various engineering principles and how you can put them into practise on the projects you work on 
• Engineering Standards and Specification
• Digital Design and CDE

Typical Off-Scheme Role:

This can vary depending on your personal career ambitions and the business needs. However, roles such as Assistant Design Engineer, Assistant Process Engineer, Assistant Project Engineer and Assistant Engineering Project Manager are examples of some of the roles our past graduates have landed after the scheme. 

Our New Talent Team will guide you and support you every step of the way. Furthermore, your line manager, mentor and buddy will be there to help you in making sure you reach your full potential here at Severn Trent. 

Typical contracts are 37 hours per week, however there may be flexibility around the structure of our working hours, team and line manager dependent.

Who we're looking for

Entry Criteria: Engineering degree with preference to chemical, mechanical or civil disciplines. Degree in hydrogeology or sustainability background will be considered.

Travel is required, therefore a driving licence and access to your own vehicle is preferable. However, most main sites are accessible via public transport.

We want our employees to care and to have a genuine passion for what we do as a business. We need people who want to make a difference in providing a vital service to our customers, now and for the long-term. 

We’d love you to be someone with… 

• A ‘can do’ attitude – willing to get stuck in, take accountability for decisions and actions and who takes pride in their work 
• A love of variety in a role and ability to adapt to a dynamic, fast-paced working environment  
• Ability to quickly prioritise tasks and the initiative to dive head-first into problem solving. No two days are the same on the front line and not every day goes to plan, so you’ll need to be quick on your feet to respond!  
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills and enjoy working with multiple teams 
• Ability to analyse and interpret information and effectively communicate this to different team members and audiences 
• Ability to travel freely across our patch to visit different sites and travel to meetings and training days  
• Curiosity to learn quickly in a reactive and dynamic working environment   

Diversity and Inclusion

At Severn Trent we are passionate about our people. We want to make sure that we continue to foster a more diverse, inclusive, and cohesive culture that represents the communities and customers we serve. We’re making sure we keep up the progress with our wonderful working groups – LGBTQ+, Women in Operations & STEM, Disability and Ethnicity, who help us with our commitments.

How we'll reward and care for you in return

It’s not just a job you’ll get here, you’ll get a career too. We have a range of benefits that reward and recognise great work and award-winning training to ensure you reach your potential. And we’ll also help you play your part in looking after the environment and the community in which we live.  

Here’s some of our favourites:  

• 28 days' holiday + bank holidays (and the ability to buy/ sell up to 5 days per year)  
• Annual bonus scheme maximum £1,500 (pro rata based on your start date, and based on company performance)
• Leading pension scheme – we will double your contribution (up to 15% when you contribute 7.5%)  
• Sharesave – the chance to buy Severn Trent Plc shares at a discounted rate  
• Dedicated training and development with our ‘Academy’  
• Family friendly policies  
• Two community volunteering days per year Involvement in more than just your day job 

As if that isn’t enough, you’ll receive an annual salary increase whilst you’re on programme and you’ll also get an increase when you move into your first job. 

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