Apprentice Operational Technician - Waste in Birmingham

At Severn Trent, we believe everyone deserves more. More care for the environment, more sustainable initiatives, and more support for the communities we serve. That’s why we’re on a mission to deliver bigger and better things, and we need passionate apprentices like you to help us achieve our goals. Our people and culture are the heart of our success. We’re proud to be in the top 5% of utility companies worldwide for employee engagement and ranked as a Top 50 UK Employer on Glassdoor. With nearly 10,000 dedicated colleagues, we’re looking for more brilliant people who are eager to turn challenges into opportunities for a better future. If you’re excited to learn, and ready to make a real impact, we want you on our team.

Apprenticeship Programmes are a great way to earn and learn! Our Apprentice Operational Technician – Waste Programme offers the perfect blend of personal and professional development, exposing you to the core of our business. You’ll be supported every step of the way. Your role will be to gain practical experience in a few teams developing your knowledge and understanding of Severn Trent and the processes. All of this will allow you to further develop your skills so you can communicate data effectively to a wide variety of stakeholders. Furthermore, you’ll spend time with the different teams within Operations. We welcome all apprentices from diverse backgrounds, as we know diverse minds bring new ideas and a different way of thinking. We are looking for someone who wants to build their career with us and grasp new opportunities, and in return we will support you with varied experiences, training and development to provide a grounding for your future career.

HOW WILL THE PROGRAMME WORK? You will be based at Barnhurst, Wolverhampton, the heart of our patch. Working alongside our waste operational teams, you’ll take, monitor, record and interpret wastewater samples to ensure treatment processes are working effectively. You will also be in charge of reporting faults, issues and concerns you will use your expertise to identify. You will spend your time in waste treatment works focusing on safe effluent discharge and optimising treatment processes and protecting the environment. In your daily work, you may interact with colleagues such as managers, waste process technicians, engineers, maintenance engineers, delivery drivers, contractors, other treatment operatives and customers (internal/external). In this exciting programme, you will have the chance to discuss your development and career ambitions in your 1-1 meetings with business leads, mentors, a study buddy, the cohort leader, and the New Talent Team. As part of this apprenticeship, you will be studying towards a Level 2 qualification in Water Process Operative.

What You Will Learn

• How to carry out routine daily operational tasks on treatment works including treatment processes, security, safety, and housekeeping
• How to treat wastewater to protect the environment and escalating concerns to senior members of staff when this doesn’t happen
• How to carry out first line maintenance and wastewater sampling
• How to work safely and report hazards and/or take appropriate action to resolve
• How to safely operate plant, assets, tools, and equipment, which will provide a reliable environment for wastewater treatment

What We Are Looking For

We want our employees to care and to have a genuine passion for what we do as a business. We need people who want to make a difference in providing a vital service to our customers, now and for the long-term. If you have the passion to succeed that we see in our apprentices every day, you’ll be a great match for our programme. We’d love you to be someone with:

• A ‘can do’ attitude – willing to get stuck in, take accountability for decisions and actions and who takes pride in their work
• A love of variety in a role and ability to adapt to a dynamic, fast-paced working environment
• Ability to quickly prioritise tasks and the initiative to dive head-first into problem solving
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills and enjoy working with multiple teams
• Ability to analyse and interpret information and effectively communicate this to different team members and audiences
• Ability to travel freely across our patch to visit different sites and travel to meetings and training days
• Curiosity to learn quickly in a reactive and dynamic working environment
• Ability to work in all weather conditions to serve our customers and protect the environment

About The Programme

Our New Talent Team will guide you and support you every step of the way. Furthermore, your line manager, mentor and apprentice buddy will be there to help you in making sure you reach your full potential here at Severn Trent.

Location: Barnhurst, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, WV9 5HN

Standard: Water Process Operative

Apprenticeship Level: 2

Apprenticeship Duration: 18 months (excluding EPA)

Starting Salary: £22,500

Entry Criteria: This apprenticeship standard is Level 2 (equivalent to GCSE A-C or Grades 4-9). If you don’t already have GCSEs in English and maths, you will need to take functional skills as part of the apprenticeship, which is an alternative to GCSEs and achieve a Level 1 while continuing to work to a Level 2. This will need to be achieved prior to completion of your apprenticeship.

Driving Requirements: The ability to drive is mandatory for your off-scheme role. You will need to have a full UK Driving licence & access to your own vehicle before you complete your apprenticeship. Please note, some of our sites are in remote locations and not serviced by public transport. It is your responsibility to ensure you can arrive safely at work for your start time each day, so please consider this before applying.

You will be working 37/40 hours per week Monday to Friday, across a 7am – 3.30pm / 7am – 3pm / 8am – 4pm working pattern.

HOW WE’LL REWARD AND CARE FOR YOU IN RETURN

It’s not just a job you’ll get here, you’ll get a career too. We have a range of benefits that reward and recognise great work and award-winning training to ensure you reach your potential. And we’ll also help you play your part in looking after the environment and the community in which we live. With that in mind, here are just some of our favourite perks that you’ll get being part of the Severn Trent family:

• 25 days holiday + bank holidays (and the ability to buy/sell up to 5 days per year)
• Annual bonus scheme (of up to £1,500, which is subject to eligibility)
• Leading pension scheme – we will double your contribution (up to 15% when you contribute 7.5%)
• Sharesave – the chance to buy Severn Trent Plc shares at a discounted rate
• Dedicated training and development with our Academy
• Retail Offers
• Family friendly policies
• Two paid volunteering days per year

As if that isn’t enough, you’ll receive an annual salary increase whilst you’re on programme and you’ll also get an increase when you move into your first job.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

At Severn Trent we are passionate about our people. We want to make sure that we continue to foster a more diverse, inclusive, and cohesive culture that represents the communities and customers we serve. We’re making sure we keep up the progress with our wonderful working groups – LGBTQ+, Women in Operations & STEM, Disability and Ethnicity, who help us with our commitments.

LET’S GO Apply now to build an amazing career and be part of a brilliant team. We can’t wait to hear from you.

Roles close on 16th March at Midday (12pm). Check your diary – face to face assessments will run from through April and May 2026. Estimated start date- September 2026.

In accordance with Home Office guidance successful candidates will be required to evidence their right to work in the UK before commencement of employment. We have assessed this programme and do not consider that we would be able to sponsor a successful candidate under the Skilled Worker route as the role does not meet the relevant Home Office criteria; the successful candidate must be able therefore to demonstrate right to work without Severn Trent sponsorship.