Graduate In-Situ Site Engineer

Hiring People
Pa49Rl, Alba / Scotland, PA4 9RL, United Kingdom
Last week
£33,000 – £60,000 pa

Salary

£33,000 – £60,000 pa

Job Type
Permanent
Work Pattern
Full-time
Work Location
On-site
Seniority
Entry
Education
Degree
Security Clearance
Required
Posted
18 May 2026 (Last week)

Benefits

33 days annual holiday 8 public holidays

Reekie Machining is a third-generation Glasgow firm specialising in in-situ machining, precision machining taken to the component, on site, when it can't be moved to a machine shop. Our clients include EDF Nuclear, Babcock Marine, Airbus, Subsea 7 and Saipem, across nuclear, defence, oil and gas, aerospace and petrochemical industries.

We're recruiting two mechanical engineering graduates onto a three-year programme. £33k base salary, rising to around £60k once site uplift is included. Starting on site from week five.

The Work

You go to where the work is, reactor halls, dry-docked warships, offshore platforms, petrochemical plants. Two-person teams, self-supervised, often on the critical path of major shutdowns. You will need to become competent across the full machining toolkit (turning, milling, boring, drilling, line boring) on both manual and CNC machines, and competent with laser trackers and Faro arms for precision setting and surveying.

On these types of projects and our bespoke ones, there can be plenty of surprises and things don't always go to plan. When they don't, that's when your engineering skills can be tested in trying to find a safe and workable solution to the issue faced. You will require to manage overall task delivery efficiency, complete site reports, deal with the customer, and navigate each site's own permits and protocols. Mostly UK based, with some overseas (recent jobs in Greece, Bulgaria, Denmark and Poland).

The Programme

Three years, structured development pathway is longer than most graduate schemes as the wide-ranging skill set takes time to develop.

  • 4-week induction covering the principles, techniques and tooling of in-situ machining
  • ~50% on client sites across the UK as part of a two-person machining team
  • ~50% in our Glasgow workshop: machine tool build and commissioning, CNC and conventional machining, project engineering support
  • Three specialism options at the end: In-situ Machinist, Site Project Engineer, or Project Engineer

Who we're looking for:

This isn't a desk-based role, and it doesn't suit everyone. If you're the type who has always found a way to get hands on - whether that's a car, a project, a machine - and you want to be doing real work from the start rather than sitting in a training room for two years, this role is for you.

  • 2:1 or above in Mechanical Engineering or closely related discipline; electronic engineering modules are a plus
  • A genuine and demonstrable interest in hands-on engineering. This could include workshop experience, motorsport, restoration projects, building things, and fixing things.
  • Comfortable working through problems under pressure without much supervision
  • Clear written communication, site reports and direct customer contact are part of the job
  • Full UK driving licence
  • Prepared to travel and work weekends when the job requires it
  • Eligible to work in the UK and obtain security clearance for defence and nuclear sites

Don't apply if:

  • You want a desk-based graduate role
  • Significant time away from home doesn't work for you
  • You want predictable Monday-to-Friday hours

The Package

  • £33,000 base (38-hour workshop week), rising annually
  • Site uplift (allowances, premium hours and overtime) typically takes total earnings to around £60,000 per year, depending on site mix. This figure will rise in years two and three as your base rises and your site competence increases
  • Good growth prospects, demand is increasing in nuclear decommissioning, defence and aerospace MRO
  • 33 days annual holiday, including 8 public holidays

Interested? To Apply,

Please send your CV and a short covering note explaining why this role interests you.

Closing date: Friday 5th June.

First Interviews: From Tuesday 16th June

Related Jobs

View all jobs

Senior RF Design Engineer | Cambridgeshire |

Morgan McKinley Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
£70,000 – £100,000 pa On-site Clearance Required

Rocket Engine Test Technician

Expert Employment Lower Hartwell, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom
£40,000 – £45,000 pa On-site

Graduate Aerospace Modelling Engineer

ECM Selection United Kingdom
£30,000 – £35,000 pa Hybrid Clearance Required

Graduate Aerospace Engineer, London

IT Search & Select Ec1A1Tr, EC1A 1TR, United Kingdom
£30,000 – £40,000 pa Hybrid

Graduate Aerospace Engineer

IT Search & Select Swindon, United Kingdom
£30,000 – £40,000 pa On-site

Intern – Software Engineer

Honeywell Yeovil, United Kingdom
On-site

Industry Insights

Discover insightful articles, industry insights, expert tips, and curated resources.

Where to Advertise Space Jobs in the UK (2026 Guide)

Where to advertise space jobs UK in 2026: the specialist boards, agency channels and community routes that reach satellite, propulsion and launch talent. The candidate pool spans satellite engineers, propulsion specialists, mission analysts, ground segment software developers, space systems architects and commercial space professionals — a highly specific multidisciplinary community that general job boards are poorly equipped to reach. The strongest space candidates are often embedded in ESA programmes, academic research groups, UK Space Agency-funded projects or established primes, and move between roles through sector-specific networks, industry bodies and conference communities rather than mainstream platforms. This guide, published by UKSpaceJobs.co.uk, covers where to advertise space industry roles in the UK in 2026, how the main platforms compare, what employers should expect to pay, and what the data says about hiring across different role types.

Space Jobs UK 2026: What to Expect Over the Next 3 Years

Space Jobs UK 2026: roles, salaries and the UK space sector hiring trends shaping satellites, launch, Earth observation and space data careers. The UK space sector is in the middle of something that feels genuinely historic. A combination of government commitment, private capital, and technological progress has transformed Britain's position in the global space economy from a capable but secondary player into a nation with serious sovereign ambitions — and a jobs market that is expanding to match them. This is not the space industry of previous generations, defined by a small number of government agencies, a handful of prime contractors, and career pathways accessible only to a narrow band of elite engineers and scientists. The new space economy is broader, faster-moving, and more commercially driven than anything the sector has previously seen. Satellite manufacturing has been democratised by small sat technology. Launch is becoming domestic. Space data is flowing into applications across agriculture, insurance, climate monitoring, maritime, and defence at a scale that is creating entirely new categories of commercial hiring. And the defence and national security dimensions of space have elevated the sector's strategic importance to a degree that is driving sustained public investment in the talent pipeline. For job seekers, the UK space jobs market of 2026 represents an opportunity that is both more accessible and more technically demanding than at any previous point. The candidates who will thrive over the next three years are those who understand where the sector is heading — which programmes are moving from development into operation, which technologies are defining the architecture of modern space systems, and how the definition of a space career is expanding well beyond the spacecraft engineering core toward a much wider ecosystem of roles across the full space value chain. This article breaks down what the UK space jobs market is likely to look like through to 2028 — covering the titles emerging right now, the technologies driving employer demand, the skills that will matter most, and how to position your career at the leading edge of one of the most exciting sectors in the UK economy.