Level 3 Apprentice Field Service Engineer – Mechanical (Water) in Chester

Are you ready to live your future? Do you want to be part of building a greener, healthier, and stronger North West? Come and join us! With a range of award-winning roles on offer, you’re sure to find your perfect career here at United Utilities. We’ll provide you with industry-leading skills and the experience you need to succeed in your chosen field.

Who are United Utilities? United Utilities is accountable for water and wastewater services in the North West of England. From 2025-2030 we will undertake the largest investment in water and wastewater services in the North West in 100 years — that’s more than £13 billion worth of projects. Now, more than ever, we need inspiring future talent to help make the North West stronger, greener, and healthier. Whatever area of our business your interests lie in, our award winning apprentice programme will give you first-class training and support, aligned with an in-depth understanding of your chosen business area – so that you can develop the skills you need to progress your career as you make a real contribution to the communities we serve.

Life as a United Utilities Apprentice: Our apprentices are well looked after, with a generous salary, 26 days of leave (excluding bank holidays), a £500 contribution towards learning to drive, and many more benefits. You’ll have a dedicated mentor and manager to support you every step of the way. All we ask is that you’re willing to learn, work well as part of a team, and manage your time and workload effectively.

As an apprentice, you’ll learn how to:

• Maintain, refurbish and replace our mechanical equipment, ensuring our water assets are available and working correctly to keep services running smoothly for our customers.
• Work as part of a dedicated team focused on ensuring our plants continue to operate at maximum efficiency.
• Work with a wide range of equipment, identify faults and carry out routine maintenance, following the company’s rigorous health and safety standards.
• Schedule maintenance activity and organise your workload effectively.

Your apprenticeship will last 48 months, and successful apprentices will achieve a Level 3 Water industry asset maintenance technician (mechanical) standard, endorsed by the Institute for Apprenticeships. During your first year, you’ll spend 3 days per week over an 8-month duration during term time at the Bolton Technical Training Centre. If you do not live nearby, accommodation will be reimbursed/provided by United Utilities during this period, excluding weekends.

Once you’ve completed your apprenticeship you’ll be asked to join part of a formal standby rota, which may require you to do some out of hours work. Training will prepare you for this, but we advise applying for a vacancy that’s easy for you to get to, as we would need you to travel to the site easily. You will need to be mobile in this role; we’ll contribute up to £500 towards driving lessons and tests to help you get on the road.

We’re looking for someone keen to gain hands-on experience, develop practical skills, and achieve the standards needed to succeed in this role. You’ll live and breathe the water industry, so it’s important you’re willing to learn and gain an understanding of how we provide clean water for our customers.

You’ll be expected to:

• Manage a work/college balance.
• Work and communicate within multiple teams/work areas.
• Take responsibility for your own learning and workload.

You’ll need to have:

• 5 GCSEs or equivalent, grades A-C or 9-4, including Maths, English and a Science or Technology subject.

Why choose us to kickstart your career?

• Secure your future – Every apprentice is guaranteed a permanent position at the end of their scheme.
• A springboard to your career – Structured training, a dedicated mentor, and high-quality learning.
• Inspire the next generation – Represent United Utilities at key events across the region.
• Reward and benefits – Competitive starting salary of £20,000, increasing with performance.
• Be part of the UU family – Network, bond, and learn from colleagues and fellow apprentices.

We need fantastic people to help us deliver a great service to the public. We are committed to reaching and recruiting from every community, supporting our employees to achieve their full potential, and ensuring everyone feels valued and included, regardless of gender, age, race, disability, sexual orientation, or social background.

Please check and ensure that you are comfortable with the following points before you apply:

• Live within a reasonable commuting distance of the base location of your apprenticeship.
• As part of your induction, you will attend a five-day residential trip to the Lake District with accommodation and boarding provided.
• During your apprenticeship, you may need to travel to your place of study. If you’re not local to your place of study, accommodation will be provided or reimbursed by United Utilities during this period (excluding weekends).
• Depending on the role, our recruitment process may require you to complete: Online application form, Online tests, An in-person interview (and presentation) or assessment centre, A technical test.

If you are offered a job with us, pre-employment checks will be carried out before appointment. Any offer will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure Scotland/Disclosure and Barring Service check.

Please only apply for one apprenticeship role. Part of the assessment will detail why you have applied for your selected vacancy. Please note that we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role. You must have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least three years before starting the apprenticeship.