Industrial Placement Mechanical Engineer

Location: GB - Basildon

Job Description

our impact

Are you ready to make an impact and gain hands-on experience working on real-world projects from day one?

At Leonardo, we’re looking for industrial placement students who want to be part of something extraordinary—shaping innovation, advancing technology, and enhancing global safety.

Our placements are designed to help you apply your studies in a practical setting, develop your technical skills, and gain valuable insight into how our business operates.

Our Industrial Placement Programme

Our Industrial Placement Programme offers you the chance to spend a year with us, working on meaningful projects alongside industry leaders, within multidisciplinary teams, and across the product lifecycle. You’ll receive a salary of £26,228, with coaching and support from a dedicated team to help you achieve both your placement objectives and personal development goals.

Successful completion of an Industrial Placement with Leonardo may also lead to an offer on our Graduate Development Programme.

During your placement, we encourage you to spend at least three days each week on site to integrate with your team and maximise your learning experience.

As an Industrial Placement Mechanical Engineer you will

Be enthusiastic with a desire to develop in the Mechanical Engineering Function

Be creative with ideas and recommendations based on sound engineering principals

Be team orientated in the working environment with a high degree of personal integrity

Be able to challenge ideas, proposed solutions and people in a constructive, positive manner

Be mindful of the Business environment

Be aware of the importance of cost and schedule

Be ethical in their approach to all their undertakings and adhering to core company values

During your placement, you will be exposed to tools, technologies and processes. You will be introduced to the software development processes and utilise state-of-the-art methods, technology and tools. You will also gain experience on one or more aspects of the software development lifecycle, which could include; applied research, requirements analysis, design, implementation, integration, and test.

Key Responsibility Area

Contribute to Mechanical design and development

Work within the integrated project team, providing accurate mechanical engineering output and assisting in the provision of technical information to ensure informed decision-making

Support and facilitate reviews

Liaison with other engineering functions for example systems, electrical, quality and production to ensure product & customer requirements are fully satisfied

Perform ‘hands on’ mechanical design and development using 3D CAD or Analysis software

Deliver design solutions against requirements, within budget and timescales

Create documentation in line with BS8888, including appropriate use of GD&T, to support manufacture, test and inspection of Mechanical item

Manage design documentation through the company PDM system

What you will bring

Qualifications

All of our Industrial Placement roles require you to be currently undertaking a minimum of a Bachelors level degree such as  Mechanical Engineering, Aero-Mechanical Engineering, Mechtronics or Electro-Mechanical.

The successful candidate should have the following skills and experience:

Be a self-motivated individual, willing to take on new challenges and drive continuous personal development

Strong communication skills across a variety of mediums i.e. written, verbal, digital, etc.

The ability to develop effective working relationships with peers and stakeholders

Appreciate the principals of Mechanical engineering design

Ability to problem solve and engage in concurrent engineering

Some knowledge of using CAD and Analysis tools

Customer focused

Appreciate DFx, mechanical production processes and techniques

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