Profiles

Tyler Quinton Close
Engineering Technician, Swanwick Engineering Service Delivery
I first heard about NATS and the Engineering Technician Scheme (Eng Tech Scheme) while at Fareham College undertaking a BTEC in Electronic and Electrical Engineering, when the NATS Scheme Manager, Stephen, came to the college to provide a presentation on the scheme and the opportunities it presents.Read more

As part of the BTEC course we all had to create a presentation which Stephen was invited to attend, after I gave the presentation, I spoke to him and he suggested I should apply.

When I first joined NATS in Sept 2010, I spent the first few weeks attending training courses with the other two Eng Techs. These training courses varied from Familiarisation courses on NATS as a whole, Navigational Aids, Practical Radar and Communications Principles.

The section I joined, The Voice Communications Team (Comms Team), based in the NATS Swanwick Centre is responsible for the fault finding and maintenance of many sites spread over the UK, these sites stretch as far north as Nottingham right through to remote places like Land’s End and even the Isle of Man to provide Comms coverage of the whole of the south of the UK.

Over the course of the time I have spent within NATS I have been helping the Comms team to undertake maintenance tasks of radio equipment, Back-up battery systems and control and monitoring systems while also attending many faults to ensure the systems run as smoothly and reliably as possible. This job has given me the opportunity to get some hands on experience with operational equipment providing me with a greater understanding of not only the equipment but the service it provides to contribute to the 2.84M Km2 of airspace NATS controls.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time so far working for NATS and would highly recommend anyone to apply for a role such as mine. I am excited to see where my career within the company will take me and what opportunities arise over the coming years.

Louis Woods Close
Engineering Technician, Swanwick Engineering Service Delivery
After a few jobs working with a small building firm and then a surf shop, I found myself wondering, that there must be something more challenging, something exciting, the answer for me was engineering. I have always had a keen interest in understanding how things work, and operate and this interest has now developed into a growing career. I started my career at 21 with a three year electronic engineering apprenticeship, in which I gained a great grounding in electronics, followed by a year in industry, building up practical knowledge.Read more

It was at Fareham College, studying for my HNC that I met some Engineering Technicians working for NATS. Their job roles sounded both testing and rewarding and they all spoke of how well the company treated their staff and the many career prospects within NATS. It was off the back of these conversations that I applied for the engineering technician scheme. I accepted the offer to join the scheme and 15 months later …… I am not disappointed!

I currently work as part of a 12 man team carrying out both corrective and routine maintenance on surveillance sensors and their supporting systems. This role has taken me all over the UK, and for me the excitement is not knowing what tasks you may be assigned to from one day to the next. I find it extremely rewarding to be a part of a team that can provide air traffic control with the ability to view the aircraft that occupy the skies over the UK.

The last 15 months of the scheme has felt like my feet haven’t touched the ground and the scheme has been everything I had expected. I have attended over 20 courses, ranging from first aid, practical radar, presentation skills and data comms to name but a few, I have completed a HND, and carried out a business improvement project, giving me great experience in the project world. I have also been offered the opportunity, by NATS to enrol on a course to gain my Degree qualification, which I am looking forward to.

I am now coming to the end of my time in the scheme; however what I have learnt will stay with me for the rest of my career. I am now ready to put what I have learnt into practice and I am looking forward to my future career within NATS as an air traffic control engineer.

Douglas Howard Close
Engineering Technician, Swanwick Engineering Service Delivery
I joined the NATS Engineering Technician scheme after a recruitment event was held at the university where I was studying a degree Electronic Engineering, the presentation gave an insight into the world of air traffic control, and the leading role that NATS has in this area. The Swanwick and Prestwick centres handle over two million flights a year, using Terminal Control (TC) and Area Control (AC) operational centres.Read more

Prior to joining NATS I had worked for Cobham working in the field of Mechanical and Electrical engineering for 9 years, I wanted a new career path and the Engineering Technician scheme offered the opportunity to gain a world class level of training.

The first four months of the scheme acts an introduction to NATS’ operational systems, and covers Radio and Antenna theory, Data Communication Networks, Navigational Aids and Radar.

Once this period of training was completed, I was then moved to my specific engineering role where I have been further trained in different engineering systems such as EGNOS, a European space based satellite tracking system for aircraft, and TOMS, a system which is used for managing traffic levels and enables NATS to increase capacity by up to 30% (the number of aircrafts movements) in some of the most challenging airspace in the world.

Unlike previous careers, the variety of work at NATS is vast, every day sees a different challenge, whether it is fault finding on operational equipment, installing new equipment, or gaining experience on equipment in other operational areas. The Swanwick Centre is a rewarding place to work, all engineering departments work together to realise an end goal, and everyone is approachable and keen to help me develop in the field of air traffic control engineering.

The career prospects at NATS are very well defined with a culture that encourages self development at all stages of my career within NATS, once the 18 month scheme is successfully completed progression to the Air Traffic Control Engineer (ATCE) scale is automatic which offers world class levels of pay and benefits.