Safety and Reliability Engineer – Undergraduate Placement 2027
// Role Summary
Gain hands-on experience in Safety and Reliability Engineering within the Defence sector on a 1-year undergraduate placement, contributing to the safety and performance of complex weapon systems.
// Key Responsibilities
- 1-year undergraduate placement starting September 2027.
- Hands-on experience across the product lifecycle.
- Opportunity to gain specialist skills in Safety and Reliability Engineering techniques.
- Potential to secure a graduate role based on performance.
- Hybrid working model: 2-3 days per week on-site.
- Requires BPSS security clearance.
// Role Specification
Safety and Reliability Engineer - Undergraduate Placement 2027
Our Safety and Reliability Department plays a crucial role in ensuring that the complex weapon systems provided to the Armed Forces are safe to operate and perform flawlessly when it matters most. This placement offers you the chance to gain hands-on experience across the entire product lifecycle, from initial concept to customer delivery.
What we can offer you:
- 1 year placement: Starting September 2027, this role allows you to apply your university learning to real-world projects and technologies.
- Graduate role potential: Perform well on your placement, and you could secure a graduate role before your final year.
- Company bonus: Based on company performance and varies year to year.
- Pension: Maximum total (employer and employee) contribution of up to 14%.
- Overtime: Opportunity for paid overtime.
- Annual Leave: 25 days plus the option to purchase extra holiday.
- Flexi Leave: Up to 15 additional days.
- Facilities: Fantastic site facilities including subsidised meals, free car parking, and much more.
- Healthcare Cash Plan: Option to claim cash back on everyday healthcare expenses such as optical, dental, health, and wellbeing.
The opportunity:
The Safety and Reliability Department is in a fortunate position to support all areas of the business to ensure all products MBDA produces are safe to use and provide reliable performance to the Armed Forces who protect our nations.
This role involves supporting the assessment and assurance of the safety and reliability aspects of the inherently lethal attributes required of complex weapon systems. Specialisation in either safety or reliability can be supported, but the preference is to fully develop skills in both areas.
Successful candidates will:
- Develop a specialist background in Safety and Reliability Engineering within the Defence sector.
- Gain experience and support product development across different phases: from product conception through testing and trials to manufacture and customer delivery.
- Gain experience of Safety and Reliability Engineering techniques and best practice, such as Hazard Analysis, Failure Mode Effects & Criticality Analysis (FMECA), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), and Safety or Reliability Case Reports.
- Have opportunities to build and secure a network with other stakeholders within and outside of MBDA.
- Support design teams to deliver safe and reliable products.
Working arrangements:
Dynamic (hybrid) working: 2-3 days per week on-site due to workload classification.
Security clearance:
This role requires you to be a British Citizen or a Dual UK national with British citizenship. Restrictions and/or limitations relating to nationality and/or rights to work may apply. As a minimum and after the offer stage, all successful candidates will need to undergo HMG Basic Personnel Security Standard checks (BPSS), which are managed by the MBDA Personnel Security Team.
Application closing date:
This role is scheduled to close for applications at midnight on Monday 4th January 2027, but may close earlier depending on application volumes.