Test, Calibration & Maintenance Engineering Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship 2027

Salary: £23,000 plus a £3000 joining bonus.

Duration: 4.5 years

Work Location: Bolton

Learning Provider Location: Blackpool College

Due to the need to attend your MBDA site and the training provider as required for your apprenticeship, applicants need to ensure their home or rental location is appropriate, travel arrangements are manageable and travel time is minimised as required for your role.

The qualification: You'll study Electro-Mechanical Engineering at Blackpool College. Your final award will be a BSc honours degree in Engineering, awarded by Lancaster University.

Find more details about the course here: https://www.blackpool.ac.uk/course/en00112

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 22nd January 2027 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 be at college 1 day a week, for the remainder of the working week you'll be working in our Manufacturing facility learning about two essential parts of the team that work hand in hand; Manufacturing Test and Calibration & Maintenance.

A truly varied role covering different stages of the Manufacturing process!

Engineers in Manufacturing Test support the manufacturing, testing and programming of the whole build cycle, from circuit cards through to missiles and the platforms they're integrated onto. Calibration and Maintenance engineers provide a commissioning, calibration, maintenance and metrology service, and respond to faults and breakdowns across test and process equipment. In both these areas you’ll experience working with varied technologies such as electronics, mechatronics, optics and RF and utilise a mix of electronic, electrical and mechanical skills – a great way to start your engineering career!

All of our apprenticeships in MBDA involve placements to help you understand more about our business. This apprenticeship will involve placements that rotate around Test and Calibration & Maintenance and by the end of your apprenticeship you’ll be fully equipped to understand which of these areas you want to move your career into. Your final year will typically be spent developing in a single placement. This will allow you to gain a deeper understanding of the specific area including the ongoing projects and complex challenges within it.

 In each placement you'll find yourself among a team of encouraging engineers who have varied experiences and expertise, working together to support a set of equipment. You’ll also be able to complete a placement in an area of MBDA that is external to Engineering which will allow you to get insight in to new technologies, build your network across the business and bring back your learning to the manufacturing facility. Our Engineers work closely with several collaborative functions such as Product Design, Test Equipment Design, Manufacturing Engineering and Quality Assurance.

Placements in this programme could be in:

• Circuit Card Assembly
• Seekers and Datalinks
• Missile and Actuation Systems
• Weapon Systems & Interconnects
• C&M Electrical Engineering
• C&M Mechanical & Maintenance Engineering
• C&M Environmental Engineering

Daily activities for an Engineer range from hands on experience with the equipment on the shop floor and in the lab, to working in the office on technical documentation. You could go from diagnosing issues and fault finding on a non-conforming piece of equipment one day, to Introducing new innovative products and equipment into Manufacturing on another so you’ll truly develop that engineering mindset of problem solving, analytical and logical thinking and curiosity to get to the bottom of what is happening.

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 minimum grade 4.

This must include:

• English Language
• Mathematics
• Any Science or Technology subject

After GCSEs:

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 Science, Technology or Engineering subject, with no individual grade below C
• BTECs: A single Level 3 Extended Diploma in an Engineering, Science or Technology based subject at a minimum grade of DDM, including a distinction in a Further Maths module.
• T Levels: T Level in Engineering with a minimum Merit grade.

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/college.

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.

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