Apprentice - Engineering Services & Maintenance Apprenticeship in London

The Royal Ballet and Opera continues to lead the way in opera, ballet, music and dance both live on stage and through multiple digital platforms, from live streaming to worldwide cinema screenings. Our Covent Garden theatre has been at the heart of London and British cultural life for three centuries. We are home to two world-class Companies: The Royal Ballet and The Royal Opera.

The Royal Opera House describes the place we work, not who we are. The whole is always more than the sum of its parts – we may be a House, but three quarters of our audiences experience what we do outside this building. While our Covent Garden theatre is the nerve centre, the impact and influence of the organisation can be felt in every corner of the country, and around the world.

Estates & Facilities Engineering Service and Maintenance Engineer Apprentice (4 Years)

Starting September 2026

Salary: £26,436.80 per annum

40 hrs per week

Based in: Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

We are one of the busiest theatres in the world, delivering more than 400 performances each year and our backstage teams are some of the best theatre craftspeople in the world. We want to encourage fresh, passionate new talent into the building and our apprenticeship scheme plays a big part in that!

An apprenticeship gives you the practical skills and knowledge that will underpin your professional development and access to a network of people who can guide and support you during your career.

What our apprentices say: "It has taught me invaluable on-the-job experience to start my career in a unique job role."

The role is on a fixed-term contract for 4 years, full-time (40 hours per week) and based at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. During the Apprenticeship you will work within the Estates & Facilities team in Covent Garden. You will work towards a Building Services Engineering Service and Maintenance Engineer Level 3 Apprenticeship which will be delivered by Choice Training in Dagenham.

Will I be paid?

Yes! You will earn National Living Wage, after successfully completing your first year this will rise by 2.5%. Apprentices are expected to use this to pay for their own travel to work and college. College fees will also be paid by the Royal Ballet and Opera.

Am I eligible?

• You must be 18 years old or over by 7th September 2026.
• You must have work authorisation for the UK.
• You must have been ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom for at least the past three consecutive years prior to the start of the programme. This is a mandatory requirement in line with apprenticeship funding regulations.
• You must not have completed a degree or equivalent level qualification in the UK or elsewhere, regardless of subject.
• You must not have experience (over six months) of working in a similar role as your skill level will be above the apprenticeship level.

How to apply

To apply, please click on 'Apply' and answer the application questions outlining how your experience demonstrates the essential criteria in the job description. Download and read the Job Description, as well as the full Job Pack, it includes some handy guidance for submitting your application. Please read these in addition to the guidance document; for example, our job pack emphasises the need for demonstrating interests/experience in the question section of the online application and the guidance document notes that the shortlisting panel is not able to view covering letters or CVs and that a CV is only used to pre-populate parts of the application form.

The Royal Ballet and Opera is one of the UK’s leading arts organisations and our aim is to inspire imagination, ignite emotion and make the extraordinary for everyone. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion underpin all that we do. We want our people to be representative of the diversity in the UK. We understand the creativity and innovation that diversity can bring and strive to create an inclusive environment in which everyone can thrive.

We encourage applications from people with a wide range of backgrounds, experiences and skills to join our teams. We particularly welcome applications from those who are from a global majority background and/or those who are disabled, as they are under-represented within our organisation.

We are a Disability Confident Employer, which means that we are actively working to ensure that candidates with disabilities and long-term health conditions feel supported, engaged and able to fulfil their potential in the workplace. We will endeavour to offer an interview to candidates who tell us they wish to participate in the scheme and who demonstrate in the application that they meet the essential criteria for the role, though sometimes due to the volume of qualified candidates with declarations this is not possible.

The RBO is also committed to safeguarding and protecting all children, young people, and adults and we implement robust safer recruitment practices. Due to our safeguarding promise, certain roles will be subject to a DBS check before commencing employment with us, which will be indicated in the advertising.

Closing date for applications: 3rd August 2026, 11:59pm. To ensure a fair process, late applications will not be considered under any circumstances. Applicants must have work authorisation for the UK. No agencies.