Graduate Engineer 2027 (Structures)

Location: London (office based)

Salary: £34,000. In addition, we currently offer an annual tapering uplift to the base salary of £3,000 to assist with the cost of living in London.

Employment: Permanent (Starting autumn 2027)

Hours: Full Time (37.5 hours per week)

Who We Are

The Useful Simple Trust (UST) consists of three professional design and consultancy practices: Expedition Engineering, Useful Projects and Useful Studio. We share innovative ideas, space and knowledge, and collaborate on a range of high impact projects in the UK and internationally. Our breadth of experience and industry network gives us a depth of inter-disciplinary thinking rarely found in the industry. The company has 80+ talented and committed civil and structural engineers, architects, strategists, designers, and sustainability & innovation consultants who work side-by-side creating positive outcomes for our changing environment following our key company values Work for Good, More with Less, Restore and Adapt and Get, Set, Zero. As a Social Enterprise, B-Corp™ and Employee Benefit Trust, we do things differently. Our people are highly motivated and committed, in part because our structure and values mean that our combined success is shared equitably. We share part of our profit and re-invest the rest in learning, research, social and environmental projects. We deliver purposeful projects that we believe have a sustainable impact on our clients and the wider human and natural environment.

Expedition Engineering is an award-winning engineering consultancy responsible for designing iconic structures such as the Velodrome, the cable car and Chiswick footbridge in London. Recent projects include repair works of existing buildings and footbridges, as well as the new Eden Project in Dundee, Scotland which is a brilliant example of regenerative design with a focus on circular economy and low carbon solutions. We work at all scales of project and stages of construction, including early-stage advice on standardisation, modularity and constructability as well as involvement in post-completion phases providing forensic engineering to determine root causes of defects. In addition to structural engineering, Expedition is involved in masterplanning and civil engineering projects, as well as leading on innovation to challenge traditional methods of construction, such as in the AVA footbridge design. Our construction engineering approach supports clients unlock challenges across their portfolios.

We focus on projects that we believe can have a high impact on society, in line with our regenerative commercial principles – doing purposeful work for profit that is then reinvested in purpose. This can be from small scale interventions through to working with large clients on high level strategic thinking pieces. We aim to blaze a trail with our projects and are constantly curious about evolving what it means to be an engineer in the modern world.

What we are looking for

We are seeking talented and enthusiastic structural engineering graduates to join our growing engineering design team. The role would involve:

• Structural design engineering and analysis.
• Design optimisation and digital engineering.
• Parametric design, coding and emerging uses for AI.
• Research activities in low-carbon materials and circular use for regenerative design.
• Contribution to strategic advisory roles with a focus on construction engineering processes.

You would be part of a dynamic Structures team and working across a range of projects, both within structures and the wider Trust. We are looking for graduate engineers who are keen to develop their engineering skills as part of innovative ways of working and on creative engineering solutions. An experience and interest in the use of evolving AI tools in design is desirable, with a willingness to be part of the continued development of novel and scalable approaches across the Trust.

Attributes

Professional qualifications and core knowledge are expected to include:

• Relevant degree accredited by either the Institution of Civil Engineers or the Institution of Structural Engineers and graduating in 2027, Master’s preferred.
• Knowledge in Structural Engineering, including:
• Understanding of and ability to describe structural behaviour,
• Ability to analyse structures through a combination of hand calculation and software.
• Hand sketching skills
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint, or equivalent.
• A curiosity in different digital and AI tools, including an interest in how these can be applied to everyday tasks and workflows within structural engineering.

Personal Attributes

• Passion for engineering, and for building a better future.
• Committed, hardworking and proactive approach to tasks.
• Flexible, organised and good communicator.
• Happy to contribute and get involved in different types of projects and initiatives around the office.
• Enjoys working in a team.

What we offer

We believe in investing and growing our people as much as we do our business. We foster talent, equal opportunity, diversity, inclusion, and wellbeing to develop a high performing and sustainable workforce.

Working for Expedition as a graduate structural engineer you will have the opportunity:

• To assist on an interesting range of projects.
• To work alongside and learn from our talented and passionate engineers.
• Be part of a culture of innovation and pushing the boundaries of sustainable and regenerative design across numerous sectors.
• Join our ICE Training Scheme and help with working towards your professional Chartership.

The package comprises:

• Discretionary allowance referred to as 'Adjustment Above Real London Living Wage' which for this role would be £3000 paid monthly.
• We can offer support with relocation to London if required with an advance payment from the first years’ salary of up to £1.5K.
• Significant training time and learning opportunities with our “future skills” development programme.
• Thriving Trust wide social scene including charitable activities and regular team events.
• Professional Memberships.
• Exposure to a variety of business sectors and range of responsibilities developing and delivering challenging projects.
• Flexible and hybrid working including the possibility to work a compressed 9-day fortnight.
• Service Recognition Awards.
• Private Medical Insurance.
• Annual Eyecare Plan.
• Life Assurance scheme.
• Company pension scheme.
• Cycle to work scheme.

Diversity statement

The Trust strives to be a diverse and inclusive place where we can all be ourselves. We are working to change the lack of representation of minority groups and are particularly keen to hear from anyone with relevant skills and experience who feels they are underrepresented in the industry. We encourage people from culturally diverse backgrounds, women, people with different abilities, LGBTIQ+ community, gender, all age groups, and those with intersectional or multiple diverse characteristics to apply. We know that diversity makes us stronger, and we are committed to creating a working environment that is inclusive and ensures everyone can be heard and valued for their contribution.

Application Guidance

Sections not marked as mandatory are optional to complete and we do not require replication of information otherwise on your CV. When answering the questionnaire, there is no strict word limit or minimum requirement, but we suggest that your answers to all 4 questions combined are around 500 to 1,000 words.