Graduate – Engineer

Hours: Full time, 37.5 hours per week. Monday to Friday

Location: Heathrow

Contract: Permanent

Closing Date: 20th February 2026

At Virgin Atlantic Airways, we believe that everyone can take on the world, and it’s our vision to become the most loved travel company. As we embark on this next exciting stage of our journey, we’re harnessing our spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation to challenge the status quo.

We’re delighted to announce our Virgin Atlantic graduate engineering scheme for 2026, where we seek to appoint four graduate hotshots into our two-year programme, with a permanent job at the end of it and the opportunity to work towards your IEng/CEng professional registration. Through this initiative you’ll experience the full scope of our world-class engineering operation, working with one of the youngest, cleanest, and most state-of-the-art fleets in the skies.

When we say ‘graduate hotshots’, we mean more than just strong academic achievement. We’re looking for people from all walks of life who can think red, make friends and be truly amazing – which are at the heart of our company values. So, if you’re not afraid to push boundaries and reach for the skies (literally), we’d love to hear from you.

To sweeten the deal, after your first 6 months we’ll give you 7 free of fare flights every year, anywhere on the Virgin Atlantic Network. So you can experience New York, Miami, the Caribbean or even that trip of a lifetime to the Maldives.

Join a dynamic, fully immersive two-year training programme based at our Heathrow hangar and airport locations, with a permanent Continued Airworthiness Engineering role on completion.

• Learn first-hand from the best aircraft engineers in the business, while working on our Boeing 787-9s, Airbus A350s and the latest A330neos.
• Experience some of the most exciting areas of aircraft engineering, including managing the continued airworthiness of propulsion, airframe systems, avionics, cabin, structures and reliability.
• Have the opportunity to take a lead on exciting projects and fine tune your commercial skills.

This is a back-of-house engineering placement designed to give you real insight into our Continued Airworthiness Organisation. You’ll rotate through three-month placements, working with Propulsion, Avionics, Cabin, Mechanical Systems and Maintenance Programmes — building a broad understanding of how we keep our fleet safe, compliant and flying at its best.

In addition to the above core placements, we offer a three-month learning placement in our Hangar and Line maintenance facility in Heathrow. Plus, up to three optional placements across any Virgin Atlantic internal stakeholder. This can be anything from Quality Assurance, Supply Chain, Flight Operations Engineering, Asset Management, the choice is yours.

Be a part of our journey to becoming the most loved travel company with Virgin Atlantic.

Application process:

Video interviews will take place in March – a chance to get to know you and understand how you think. Successful candidates will be invited to an Assessment Centre to explore the role in more depth and experience life at Virgin Atlantic. We’ll keep you informed at every stage and aim to make the experience as open, supportive and engaging as possible.

What we’re looking for:

• Are you a recent engineering graduate (or about to graduate) with a keen interest in aviation?
• Do you want to work in a supportive and inclusive environment where your skills and opinions really count?

Qualifications:

• A Bachelor’s or Master’s Engineering degree, 2:1 or above, in a directly related discipline (either obtained or expecting).
• A genuine passion for engineering and aviation.
• A drive to reimagine the world and lead the way with fresh ideas.
• Work experience with an airline or aviation business would be great but isn’t essential.

How to apply:

If this sounds like you, and you would like to unlock your potential with us, we would love to hear from you! We ask that you upload your CV and answer some questions once you click to apply. There’s no need to upload a cover letter or any other documents (unless you really want to). Just think carefully about the questions, keep your answers concise and include the important stuff!

Equal opportunity and accessibility:

Our customers come from all walks of life and so do our colleagues. We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and actively encourage applications from all backgrounds. At Virgin Atlantic, we believe everyone can take on the world - no matter your age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disabilities, religion, or beliefs. We celebrate difference and uphold an inclusive environment in which we can all thrive.

If you would like a little extra help with your application, or have any individual requirements at any stage, please reach out to our recruitment team at recruitment@fly.virgin.com.

At Virgin Atlantic, our leaders empower teams to thrive through collaboration, innovation, and excellence.