Engineering & Maintenance

Location: Sellafield, Cumbria

What is Plant & Reliability Engineering?

Plant and reliability engineering encompasses the whole lifecycle management of engineering equipment and facilities on the Sellafield site. You will work across a range of different areas from supporting the start up and testing of new facilities, providing maintenance and engineering support to operating facilities with challenging problem-solving aspects and assist in decommissioning Sellafield’s legacy equipment with a continuous focus on both safety and the environment. As a plant engineer you are here to help create a clean and safe environment for future generations.

What will I be doing? 

As an Engineering & Maintenance degree apprentice you will learn how to assess condition of equipment, model the deterioration of equipment over time, and develop maintenance strategies and other intervention strategies to help the facilities reach their strategic goals.

You will help the facilities to fault find and perform analysis of this to discover root causes and enact improvement strategies where needed. You will engage and work with other organisations across the site to deliver engineering improvements and projects by becoming a key plant stakeholder.

You will be exposed to new and exciting technologies such as UAV’s, ROV’s and rapid prototyping at our innovation and engineering centre of excellence. You will hone your problem solving and delivery skills by taking part in a 6 week sprint project solving a real site problem with a group of your peers, colleagues and supply chain workers.

Things I should consider?

If you have a desire to problem solve, think outside of the box and deliver improvements this might be the role for you. Creative thinking and an eye for detail are some attributes which may benefit you in this role. You’ll be working alongside highly experienced experts in the world class nuclear industry to solve complex real-world problems. You will be tested and challenged but supported at every step of the way by your colleagues, scheme line manager and career mentor.

Having a passion for a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Maths) based subject is beneficial but engineers can come from all walks of life and other experience such as design technology and creative subjects can also be transferable. Following successful completion of your Level 5 Apprenticeship you will have the opportunity to complete a Level 6 apprenticeship with an integrated Degree tailored to your chosen pathway.

As an integral part of your apprenticeship your progress will be monitored and assessed against government standard requirements. You will compile an evidence folder, demonstrating your areas of learning with accredited certificates of completion for elements of your training. Within the last six months of your apprenticeship, you will undertake an assessment by an independently appointed organisation, where you will be expected to clearly demonstrate your capability to perform in your chosen career.

Where will my training be delivered?

You will undertake a 3-month induction programme based at our local off-site training facility.

Work placements will be based on either the Sellafield site or one of our various satellite offices. Academic Learning will take place 1 day a week at our training providers off-site training facility. In addition, some pathways will undertake a Practical Engineering Operations at our local off-site training facility.

What qualifications will I obtain?

The Degree Apprentice Programme consists of 2 phases;

• Level 5 ST0380 Nuclear Technician Apprenticeship
• Level 5 Foundation Degree/ Higher National Diploma (HND) in Engineering or Science aligned to your chosen pathway

For candidates with the potential to progress further:

• Level 6 ST0289 Nuclear Scientist and Nuclear Engineer Apprenticeship
• Level 6 Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering (BEng) or Science (BSc) aligned to your chosen pathway, over a further 2-year period.

*Specific qualifications are subject to change and replaced with an equivalent.

What are the entry requirements?

Our degree apprenticeships are aimed at those studying for A-Levels or equivalent. The entry requirements for our degree apprenticeship schemes are:

• Minimum of 5 GCSEs at Grades 9 to 4 (Grades A* to C) including Mathematics, English Language and one Science or Engineering subject.
• Minimum of 96 UCAS points at A-Level / T-Level, STEM subjects preferred (e.g. Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, Physics or Science) but not mandatory.
• Other Level 3 STEM qualifications may be considered.
• Vocational equivalents at level 3 or higher will also be considered as equivalent to UCAS points.
• If you do not have Mathematics at A Level then a minimum of Grade 6 (Grade B) at GCSE is acceptable.
• Functional Skills Level 2 will also be considered as equivalent to GCSE Grade 4 (Grade C). Other equivalent qualifications may be considered.

Additional Requirements

• Candidates will be required to achieve appropriate security and medical clearances; these will be instigated on receiving a conditional offer of employment.