Job Description:

Your impact

Are you ready to apply your studies to a real-world engineering challenge and gain practical experience of Systems Engineering?

At Leonardo, we're looking for summer placement students who are curious about how complex systems work, enjoy solving problems and want to gain experience working on projects that make a real-world difference. You'll have the opportunity to apply what you've learned at university, develop your technical and professional skills, and gain valuable insight into engineering in industry.

Our Summer Placement Programme

We have several exciting opportunities for Summer Placement Systems Engineering s within our Customer Support and Service Solutions (CS3) line of business. CS3 operates across the UK, developing and delivering innovative support solutions and services that help our customers keep critical capabilities available wherever and whenever they are needed.

Our nine-week Summer Placement is designed to give you meaningful experience within a relatively short period. You will typically work on a defined project or investigation focused on a real CS3 engineering challenge, giving you the opportunity to explore a problem, work with engineers and stakeholders, develop and evaluate ideas, and communicate your findings and recommendations. Projects are likely to support the development of CS3's engineering capability and could involve areas such as new technologies, data and information, engineering methods and tools, or new approaches to how we design and deliver support solutions. You will work as part of a team throughout your placement, whether undertaking a defined investigation or contributing to a broader range of ongoing engineering activities.

You won't be expected to know everything when you join. Throughout your placement, you'll work alongside experienced engineers and subject matter experts who will help you understand the context behind your project and provide technical guidance. You'll also receive coaching and support from your team and our dedicated CS3 Early Careers Manager. You will also have opportunities to engage with other early careers colleagues and the wider engineering community, helping you gain an understanding of the different career opportunities available within Leonardo.

As your understanding and confidence grow, you'll have the opportunity to take ownership of elements of your project, explore ideas and apply what you've learned at university in a practical engineering environment. There will also be opportunities to get involved in STEM activities with local schools.

Our aim is for a Summer Placement to be the start of your journey with us. Successful placements may lead to opportunities to return for future placements or, where appropriate, join our Graduate Programme after completing your studies.

This is a nine-week placement based at our Luton site. Leonardo also operates a Custom (hybrid) working model that allows employees to split their time between attending the workplace and working remotely, subject to the needs of the placement, project and team.

What you'll do as a Summer Placement Systems Engineering (Customer Support):

Your exact activities will depend on your placement project or the team you join, but you could:

• Apply and develop your technical knowledge to investigate a real engineering problem or opportunity.
• Understand the problem and its wider context, including the needs of relevant customers and stakeholders.
• Gather, analyse and interpret information or data to develop your understanding and support engineering decisions.
• Explore potential solutions, approaches or improvements, considering their benefits, limitations and wider implications.
• Use Systems Engineering techniques such as requirements analysis, modelling, option assessment or structured problem solving, where appropriate to your project.
• Work collaboratively with engineers and specialists from different disciplines, learning from their expertise and contributing your own ideas and perspectives.
• Develop practical experience of how engineering activities are undertaken within an organisation, including the processes, methods and tools used to deliver high-quality technical work.
• Document and communicate your work clearly, sharing your findings, conclusions or recommendations with relevant stakeholders.
• Contribute to engineering capability and process improvement, where relevant to your placement.
• Contribute to the design, development, integration, verification or support of complex systems and support solutions.

The exact activities will vary depending on the team and area you join, giving you the opportunity to develop a broad understanding of Systems Engineering while building your technical knowledge and practical experience.

What we need from you:

You will need:

• To be currently studying an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in a relevant discipline, such as Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science or another STEM subject.
• An interest in engineering and enthusiasm for developing your understanding of Systems Engineering in an industry environment.

We are also looking for people who can demonstrate some of the following through their studies, university projects, work experience, extracurricular activities or other experiences:

• Curiosity and a logical approach to solving unfamiliar problems.
• Self-motivation and a proactive approach to learning and problem solving.
• The ability to consider both the detail of a problem and the wider system or context.
• A willingness to investigate a topic, ask questions and use evidence to develop your understanding.
• A collaborative approach and willingness to learn from, and share ideas with, people from different technical and professional backgrounds.
• The ability to organise and prioritise your work and take ownership of tasks, seeking guidance where appropriate.
• Confidence to ask questions, constructively challenge ideas and speak up when something doesn't look right.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain technical information and ideas to different audiences.
• A willingness to seek feedback, learn from experience and try new approaches.

You do not need previous experience of the defence or aerospace industry. We are interested in your potential, your approach to problem solving and your willingness to learn. This is not an exhaustive list, and we encourage you to apply even if you don't yet have experience in all of the areas above. We recognise that a Summer Placement is an opportunity to develop your skills and experience. A positive attitude, curiosity and a willingness to learn are some of the most important qualities we're looking for.

Security Clearance 

Many of our roles are subject to security requirements and, where applicable, export control restrictions arising from UK Government requirements and customer obligations many of our roles are subject to security and export control restrictions set by UK Government Security requirements and customer obligations.  As a result, and in line with the UK Government Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) requirements, all successful applicants will be asked to provide evidence of identity, eligibility to work in the UK, criminal record declaration information and employment and/or education history verification for the previous five years.  

For staff operating in more sensitive posts, there is an additional range of personnel security controls referred to as National Security Vetting (NSV).  As part of this process, a range of factors may be considered, including an individual's background, travel history, nationality, previous nationalities held and other information relevant to the vetting assessment.  

To be eligible for National Security Vetting at SC level, applicants will generally be expected to have continuously resided in the UK for the previous five years. For DV clearance, this is typically ten years.  In some circumstances, time spent overseas may be accepted, with additional overseas checks.  Additional vetting requirements may apply upon appointment.  

For more information and guidance please visit: https://careers.uk.leonardo.com/gb/en/security-and-vetting 

Why join us 

At Leonardo, our people are at the heart of everything we do, key contributors in shaping innovation, advancing technology, and enhancing global safety. 

We offer a comprehensive benefits package that supports your wellbeing, learning and development, and work–life balance: 

• Time to recharge: Our employees are entitled 25 days of annual leave plus bank holidays. As a Summer Placement student you will receive this allowance pro rata. 

• Secure your future: Award-winning pension scheme with up to 15% employer contribution.

• Your wellbeing matters: Free access to mental health support, financial advice, and employee-led networks championing inclusion and diversity. 

• Never stop learning: Free access to 4,000+ online courses via Coursera and LinkedIn learning. 

For a full list of our company benefits please visit: https://careers.uk.leonardo.com/gb/en/company-benefits  

We are committed to building an inclusive, accessible, and welcoming workplace. We believe that a diverse workforce sparks creativity, drives innovation, and leads to better outcomes for our people, communities, and customers. If you have any accessibility requirements to support you during the recruitment process, just let us know. 

Be part of something extraordinary- apply now! 

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