Driven by Leonardo’s leading roles in engineering programmes such as the Tempest Future Combat Air System and exciting opportunities such as the UK’s New Medium Helicopter requirement, this increase will bring the total number of young people on early careers schemes to 900 – an increase of 50% in a single year.
Leonardo offers a choice of career paths for those looking to take their first steps in a career within the aerospace, defence and security sector with positions available on apprenticeships (including degree apprenticeships), industrial placements and graduate schemes.
The company is collaborating with a number of organisations to understand how we can correct misconceptions and break down barriers to inclusion in order to demonstrate that, no matter your culture, lifestyle or education, we have a training programme suitable for everyone. We know that our best innovation emerges from teams that are more diverse, so we want to encourage people with a wide range of skills from a variety of personal backgrounds to apply.
Leonardo recently completed an assessment by This is Purpose, an organisation which seeks to improve social mobility in the UK. The activity involved in-depth discussions and forums with people at all levels of the business, and its findings were summarised in a new ‘Levelling Up Impact Report’. The report revealed how we are contributing to positive destinations for those aged over 16, benefitting disadvantaged regions by providing life-changing career opportunities.
Lynda McVay, our UK Director of Skills and Capability, comments: “Offering better social mobility to people from underrepresented communities through well paid professional careers can have a ripple effect that stretches far beyond the individual employed. They can become trusted role models for the young people from their communities, by opening doors they thought were closed, or they didn’t know existed. We are proud to be the first aerospace engineering company to have undertaken This Is Purpose’s assessment process to better understand the value we do and can bring to our people, our communities and the UK.”
Some of those who joined Leonardo as part of our previous Early Careers intakes have spoken about their time at the company and their experience while applying for their roles.
Jay Mistry was aged 16 when he joined our Luton site as an apprentice in 2018 after his GCSEs. His family supported his application, as they knew he was a practical learner who needed hands-on activities to grow. Jay has now completed his apprenticeship and is working in our labs as an Antenna Technician on high profile projects such as Tempest.
Jay said, “I get on really well with the team and like the work – I feel it has been the best choice for my skills. The main part of what I do is booking chambers for different programmes to test their antennas, then I share data on its performance. Alongside my daily role, I go to Bedford College once a week – I’m already half way through an HND in engineering. I’m so much further down the road in my career than I would have been without the apprenticeship and I’m gathering qualifications on the way.”
Pawel Maczynski started working on a pre-apprenticeship scheme for local school students at our Edinburgh site in 2020, having arrived in the city from his native Poland without speaking English just five years ago. Now in the third year of his engineering apprenticeship, he credits the mentoring he received with encouraging him to be more outgoing.
Pawel said: “When I first came to Scotland five years ago, I couldn’t speak English and I was very shy. But now I’m more open to people and I really like talking to my colleagues, getting to know them and asking them questions, so the apprenticeship has really changed me.
“Leonardo looks for people with a spark, who are passionate about their work, and motivated to take an active part in projects. People who are actually interested in what they do.”
Samuel Humphreys joined our Southampton site in 2021 after studying for an extended diploma in engineering in London. He moved away from East London to take up a Systems Degree Engineering Apprenticeship, marking the first time he has ever worked away from home, friends and family. However, he viewed the apprenticeship as a rocket boost to his career that he could not miss.
Samuel commented, “Systems Engineering is so diverse that you’re not locked into one particular type of engineering. It involves electronics, design, manufacturing and troubleshooting. On an apprenticeship, you get to see how things work on live projects, and you feel that you’re at the centre of things from day one. You have to be quite motivated and self-sufficient and you’re encouraged to think for yourself. I like feeling like I’m part of something meaningful, working on technology used in the real world.
I also work as a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) Ambassador doing educational activities and helped out at the Southampton Robotic Games recently for local schoolchildren, probably something I wouldn’t have done before.”
Technical Apprentice, Abby Verney, joined Leonardo at our Basildon site when she was 16. Because Abby consistently received top grades at school, her teachers assumed she would go on to further education. However, her family were supportive when she decided to pursue an apprenticeship at Leonardo instead.
Abby explained, “I was always getting top grades but wanted to get stuck-in: learning, working, earning money and being responsible for myself. I remember when I got confirmation of my apprenticeship, one of my teachers asked me why I wasn’t going to university, so there is still a little bit of a stigma attached to apprenticeships in schools. My apprenticeship at Leonardo gives me the responsibility and freedom that I need. You get to work in the different departments as part of your rotation, learn, make mistakes and discover the best way to do things. It’s a great working environment, I just think more people need to know about it.”
In September 2022, Abby was part of a Leonardo team that won the IMechE Apprentice Automation Challenge. Team SAL, made up of apprentices from our Basildon site, designed and built a product that reduces plastic waste, with considerations for older customers.
There is no wrong path into a Leonardo career
Beyond our full-time trainee roles, Leonardo offers Work Experience across our UK sites. This summer, 48 school students attended a Helicopters Work Experience programme in Yeovil. The cohort took part in a mixture of business and engineering activities, as well as receiving tours and talks from around the company. One student commented: “I have gained an understanding of what it takes to build an aircraft, and I am now even more interested in going into this field of work”.
We offer a wide range of early careers opportunities in the UK including placements, internships, apprenticeships and graduate programmes. Apply today for roles at our sites in Basildon, Bristol, Edinburgh, Luton, Southampton and Yeovil.
