Industrial Placement - Engineering

The Engineering Industrial Placement Scheme is designed for undergraduates who have completed their second year at university. It's the ideal opportunity to get first-hand experience of an engineering environment and broad industry exposure, whilst developing a well-rounded knowledge of Air Traffic Control activities.

Roles and responsibilities

We employ engineers in roles ranging from System Architecture, Design and Software Development to Project Engineering, Asset Support and Maintenance. As an Industrial Placement student, you'll be assigned to two six-month placements within the NATS Asset Engineering department. These include: Systems Safety, Communications, Navigation, Surveillance or Simulators. You could find yourself managing projects or working as part of a team on some of the largest engineering challenges in the business. As your experience increases, so will your responsibility - so be prepared to meet deadlines and manage budgets. Assisting with the technical aspects of projects will also figure prominently, so you'll get invaluable exposure to the specification, design development, procurement, implementation, test and acceptance of systems.

Types of Engineering

Over the course of your placements, you'll encounter the different types of engineers we have within Asset Engineering. Here's a brief outline of what each of them does:

a) Systems Engineers

Responsible for designing, maintaining and upgrading many of our current and future assets, these engineers also liaise with clients and suppliers to write quality requirements, ensuring that the solutions are within specification and budget.

b) Software Engineers

Build new solutions based on information provided by Systems Engineers. They also maintain and adapt current products in a changing environment.

c) Test Engineers

Testing is a massive part of what NATS engineers do. The systems that we create and maintain are used in critical situations every day. All systems have to be rigorously tested to ensure that they are completely safe before they become operational. Due to the type of work undertaken, the methods of testing are world class, making this the perfect place to learn.

d) Integration Engineers

Once the products are built and tested they need to be integrated into complicated operational facilities. This will often mean connecting new systems to existing and legacy systems ensuring no loss of service.

e) Systems Safety Engineers

Provide safety management and assurance support to projects. This involves ensuring the change to operational units is managed safely by projects while providing the focal point within projects for the Division of Safety and the CAA Safety Regulation Group.

Environment

NATS has a very team-oriented culture that thrives on everyone working together and supporting each other. That's why we work in an open plan office to allow easy interaction, which in turn creates a more relaxed environment. Everyone is friendly, welcoming and always happy to help.