Location: Templecombe, United Kingdom
Thales people provide armed forces customers with operational advantage at every decisive moment throughout the mission. Defence and armed forces customers rely on us to deliver the full range of defence mission systems solutions at land, sea, and air. Our platforms extend across the battlespace including Above and Sonar, Electronic Combat, and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance systems.
Together we offer fantastic opportunities for committed employees to learn and develop their career with us. At Thales UK, we research, develop, and supply technology and services that impact the lives of millions of people each day to make life better, and keep us safer. We innovate across the major industries of Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space. Your health and well-being matters to us and that’s why we offer you the flexibility to do what’s important to you; whether that’s part time hours, job sharing, home working, or the ability to flex your start and finish times. Where possible, we support a working pattern that suits your lifestyle and helps you reach your ambitions.
2026 Industrial Process Engineer Apprentice – Level 6 Manufacturing Engineer Degree Apprenticeship
Start Date: 07 September 2026
Salary: £24,000
Employee type: Permanent
Location: Templecombe
Working Schedule: Monday – Thursday, 37 hours a week (9.25 hours Monday – Thursday)
Are you passionate about engineering? Do you have an inquisitive mind? Are you looking for an employer who will sponsor you through a degree, whilst providing valuable and exciting on-the-job experience within a global, innovative and industry-leading organisation? If so, read on to see what Thales has on offer within the Industry Team at our Templecombe site…
What the role has to offer:
- Earn while you learn
- Job specific training experience
- Recognised qualifications
- Permanent role from day one
- Tuition fees for university or approved training providers are fully covered
The role will develop your engineering skills to become a confident, positive and flexible industrial process engineer with well-honed technical knowledge gained from both the academic commitments and on the job training. You will be part of a team that provides manufacturing solutions in support of our customers’ requirements. This will provide many opportunities to experience the various aspects of engineering such as, defining and optimising manufacturing documentation, tools and workflows for manufacturing, performing manufacturing readiness reviews, contributing to the technological innovation to reduce costs and workflows, whilst guaranteeing the feasibility and reproducibility of the process.
As an Industrial Process Engineer Apprentice, you will develop the key skills and experience in the following:
- Develop an understanding of the required behaviours and codes of practice of a professional engineer
- Understanding complex systems by working on different tasks on on-going projects
- Assessing Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) of products by reviewing the product maturity with project teams to identify and minimise risk
- Define, set up, prepare and optimise manufacturing processes and tooling for a defined area or product line
- Contribute to Health, Safety and Environment processes
- Define and optimise manufacturing documentation, tools, workflows for manufacturing and inspection based on the information supplied by upstream R&D engineering departments
- Contribute to the technological innovation to reduce costs and workflows, whilst guaranteeing the feasibility and reproducibility of the process
- Attend Material Review Boards and Configuration Control Boards on behalf of manufacturing, actively manage failures and changes
- Implement test & control plans for manufacturing equipment
Apprentice Programme:
Through our degree apprenticeship you’ll be making the most of your talents, getting to understand engineering from the ground up; and doing so with the help of one of the biggest and best names in the industry.
As an Industrial Process Engineer Apprentice, you will be enrolled onto the Level 6 Manufacturing Engineer Degree Apprenticeship at Yeovil College. Delivered via a day release model, you will attend college on set days to complete your academic learning and will spend the rest of your time in the business – applying what you have learnt in a real-life environment. This programme will take between 5 and 6 years to complete and will include a foundation qualification such as an HND, followed by a BEng in Engineering.
Requirements:
- 2 A Levels at grade C or above including English and an additional STEM subject, or a 90+ credit BTEC Diploma in Engineering
- GCSEs at grade 4 (C) or above, including Mathematics, English and a Science, Technology or Engineering related subject
Please note that applicants who already hold a relevant degree will not be eligible for this programme.
Benefits:
- 201 hours annual leave (plus a company day and bank holidays)
- Company Pension
- Health Care Cash Plan
- Life Insurance
- Discount Portal
- Performance-related pay uplifts
- 80 Hours Volunteering (first two years)
Please note, assessment centres for shortlisted candidates will be held between February - May 2026.
Induction week for all Graduates and Apprentices will take place from Monday 7 September - Friday 11 September 2026.
Closing date: Our applications will close at
11.59pm on
Thursday 12 February 2026, this is the only time we will be accepting applications this year. Please note, we will be in contact by the end of
February 2026 with details of next steps.
PLEASE NOTE THAT ROLES MAY CLOSE EARLIER THAN THE ADVERTISED DEADLINE IF WE RECEIVE A HIGH NUMER OF APPLICATIONS. WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO APPLY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO AVOID MISSING OUT ON THIS OPPORTUNITY.
Recruitment Process:
For further information about our Future Talent recruitment process, including hints and tips, or to connect with a member of the Future Talent Team, a Graduate, or an Apprentice, please visit Thales Future Talent - Connectr.
Due to the nature of the work that we do at Thales, all our roles are subject to security restrictions.
All successful candidates must possess the permanent right to work in the UK and will be required to go through Government security clearance at BPSS Level and to obtain full Security Clearance (SC) in line with the United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) requirements below, prior to starting with us.
This role requires Security Clearance (SC). It would be advantageous if currently held, however, if not currently held, it is a requirement that the successful applicant undergo, achieve, and maintain SC Clearance prior to commencing employment. Please visit the UKSV website for further guidance.
To be eligible for full SC, you generally need to have resided in the UK for the last 5 years. As part of the vetting process, you will be asked to provide evidence of your identity, eligibility to work in the UK, time spent abroad over the last 5 years, as well as employment and / or educational history.
For further details of the evidence required to apply for security clearance please follow this link - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/nationa…
Thales is an equal opportunities employer and diversity, and inclusion are integral to the success of Thales.
In line with Thales' Baseline Security requirements, candidates will be asked to provide evidence of identity, eligibility to work in the UK and employment and/or education history for up to three years. Some vacancies may require full Security Clearance which can require further evidence to be provided. For further details of the evidence required to apply for Baseline and Security Clearance please refer to the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting (DBS NSV) Agency.
At Thales we provide CAREERS and not only jobs. With Thales employing 80,000 employees in 68 countries our mobility policy enables thousands of employees each year to develop their careers at home and abroad, in their existing areas of expertise or by branching out into new fields. Together we believe that embracing flexibility is a smarter way of working.
Thales UK is committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free recruitment process. We will provide reasonable adjustments and support to ensure neuro-diverse applicants or those with a disability or long-term condition can be their best during the recruitment process. To request an adjustment, if you need this job advert in an alternative format or if you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Resourcing Ops for mid to senior roles, or the Early Careers Team for graduate and apprentice roles.
Great journeys start here, apply now!
