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Graduate engineering jobs

AuthorDaniel Higginbotham, senior editor
Posted on
View all engineering and manufacturing vacancies

If you're considering which area of engineering to specialise in, such as chemical, data, electrical, or nuclear engineering, discover what graduate engineering jobs offer the best career prospects and salaries

Talented graduate engineers are in high demand to help plug the industry's skills gap. The Institution of Engineering and Technology's (IET) Latest UK engineering and technology skills stats 2025 research found that:

  • 76% of engineering employers struggle to recruit for key roles, with technical and specialist sustainability skills topping the list.
  • Automation (38%) and cyber security (38%) are the top digital skills needed for growth, followed by data engineering (34%) and software engineering (33%).

With many of these roles offering competitive wages and excellent chances for progression, find out which job would best suit your skillset.

To discover the career that aligns with your strengths and ambitions, ask yourself:

  • Are you scientifically minded?
  • Do you feel you would excel in a hands-on environment?
  • Is your focus more on consultancy and the broader picture?
  • Would you be willing to continue training to reach the chartered level?

10 top-paying graduate engineering jobs

Here are some of the best-paid engineering specialisms, along with the job's responsibilities and the skills required to succeed.

Aerospace engineer

  • Starting salaries - £25,000 to £34,000.
  • With experience - £30,000 to £50,000.
  • Senior levels and chartered - £45,000 to £80,000-plus.

Within this broad area, you'll be responsible for maintaining and developing:

  • civilian and military aircraft
  • missiles
  • satellites
  • space vehicles
  • weapons systems.

You'll apply excellent technical knowledge and creative thinking to optimise speed, fuel efficiency, and flight safety while reducing costs and risks.

Aerospace engineers are employed by:

  • airline operators
  • the Armed Forces
  • government research agencies, such as the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

While you can start your career at a lower level, you'll require a degree in aerospace engineering or a relevant subject, such as mathematics or physics, to become qualified.

Discover what's involved with the role of an aerospace engineer.

Chemical engineer

  • Starting salaries - £28,000 to £34,000.
  • With experience - £40,000 to £65,000.
  • Senior levels and chartered - £85,000.

Utilising the latest technologies and methods, you'll transform raw materials through chemical processes, such as converting oil into plastic.

The role includes developing new products from trial to commercialisation and improving product lines and systems based on your findings.

You'll need:

  • a mathematical mind
  • expertise in chemistry
  • a firm grasp of health and safety legislation.

A chemical engineering background is ideal for entering this profession, although degrees in process or biochemical engineering are also highly relevant.

As your career progresses, you can earn chartered engineer status through the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE).

Gain an insight into the role of a chemical engineer.

Civil engineer

  • Starting salaries - £26,000 to £35,000.
  • With experience - £35,000 to £45,000.
  • Senior levels and fellows - £60,000 to £80,000.

Shaping both natural and man-made environments, civil engineers connect communities through the design, construction and maintenance of infrastructure.

As a consulting civil engineer, you'll ensure projects are completed safely and on time by:

  • assessing risk
  • drawing up detailed designs and plans
  • investigating sites.

These plans are brought to life by contracting civil engineers. Working primarily on-site, you'll advise clients, coordinate with stakeholders, and make key decisions to keep projects on track from start to finish.

Find out what you can do with a civil engineering degree, and read our tips for getting into the industry.

Data/machine learning engineer

  • Starting salaries - £35,000.
  • With experience - £50,000 to £80,000.
  • Senior levels - £120,000-plus.

Working in this dedicated branch of artificial intelligence (AI), data engineers design, build and maintain the infrastructure that enables organisations to collect, store, and process vast amounts of data.

This raw data is then transformed into a format that allows data analysts and scientists to access and study it.

As a specialist machine learning engineer, you'll create the programs and algorithms that enable computers to learn automatically and improve from experience.

To work with such complex systems, you'll need to have a high level of concentration and attention to detail.

Many employers expect candidates to hold a degree in a relevant discipline, such as:

In addition, a specialist Masters in AI or machine learning can set you apart from the competition. Explore relevant big data courses.

Read more about working as a machine learning engineer and how to get a job in AI.

Electrical or electronics engineer

  • Starting salaries - £25,000 to £33,000.
  • With experience - £30,000 to £50,000.
  • Senior levels and chartered - £45,000 to £75,000.

An electrical engineer helps keep the country connected by managing, maintaining, and developing broadcasting, transportation, and power channels.

On a smaller scale, electronics engineers design, develop and test equipment, such as resistors, transistors and other electronic components.

For both these roles, it's common to hold a degree in electrical or electronic engineering.

Engineering geologist

  • Starting salaries - £25,000 to £30,000.
  • With experience - £40,000 to £60,000.
  • Senior levels - £120,000.

This role focuses on identifying and addressing geological factors that could affect engineering works.

Before construction projects begin, you'll evaluate the integrity of soil, groundwater, rock, and other natural conditions to ensure that any site developments are safe, stable, and sustainable in the long term.

Discover the skills you'll need to become an engineering geologist.

Marine engineer

  • Starting salaries - £25,000 to £35,000.
  • With experience - £35,000 to £50,000.
  • Senior levels - £60,000 to £80,000-plus.

As a marine engineer, also known as a naval architect, you'll build, maintain and repair ships, submarines and military vessels.

Some aspects of the job, such as on-ship inspections, involve working in high-pressure, physically demanding environments. Meanwhile, the design and research elements of your work will take place in an office or laboratory, where you'll combine practical engineering with technical innovation.

A relevant engineering degree is required, and a BEng or MEng in naval architecture is the most direct path into the field.

Nuclear engineer

  • Starting salaries - £22,000 to £30,000.
  • With experience - £35,000 to £50,000.
  • Senior levels - £65,000-plus.

This role requires knowledge of complex instrumentation, electrical, and nuclear systems. You'll work with highly technical systems to ensure safe and efficient operation.

There are plenty of opportunities to specialise. For example, you could become a specialist hydraulic engineer, develop expertise in reactor design or use your chemical, electrical or mechanical engineering knowledge to support nuclear projects.

Explore where a career as a nuclear engineer could take you and find out how to get a graduate job in nuclear energy.

You can also consider nuclear engineering courses.

Petroleum engineer

  • Starting salaries - £25,000 to £45,000.
  • With experience - £55,000 to £100,000.

Much like a drilling engineer, this is a broad and varied engineering role that involves work across almost every stage of oil and gas field evaluation, development, and production.

You'll be responsible for drilling efficiently, maximising production from underperforming or older wells, and resolving any operating issues that arise.

Limiting the environmental impact of extraction will also be a core part of your responsibilities, ensuring drilling activities are carried out as safely and sustainably as possible.

Jobs are available both on land and offshore, including work on platforms or mobile drilling units. Frequent travel is common.

Studying a physical, mathematical or applied sciences and engineering subject can strengthen your chances of securing a job after graduation.

Read more about the role of a petroleum engineer.

Structural engineer

  • Starting salaries - £27,000-plus.
  • With experience - £45,000.
  • Senior levels - £80,000-plus.

As a structural engineer, you'll design structures to withstand stresses and pressures imposed by environmental conditions and human use, ensuring they remain stable and secure. You'll also examine existing buildings to test if they are structurally sound.

To succeed, you'll need:

  • a grasp of physics
  • good analytical and problem-solving skills
  • strong mathematical ability.

An accredited degree from The Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) in either civil or structural engineering can help get your career off to the best possible start.

Discover what you could earn as a structural engineer.

Other engineering careers to consider

While engineering starting salaries can vary by sector, company size and location, High Fliers' research into The Graduate Market in 2025 revealed that those working for the UK's leading employers can expect to earn £32,000 per year, with only the public sector and the media offering lower amounts.

Despite this, many engineering jobs give workers the opportunity for high earnings further down the line, as you gain experience and chartered status with one of the main professional bodies. Read more about these organisations as you discover how to become an engineer.

Here are some additional job examples illustrating the potential earnings of an engineer.

Biomedical engineer

  • Starting salaries - £30,000 to £36,500.
  • With experience - £37,000 to £45,000.
  • Senior levels - £46,000 to £53,000-plus.

The role involves combining engineering principles with medical and biological sciences to develop technologies that improve patient health. You'll design and optimise medical devices, create diagnostic equipment, develop biomaterials, and work on systems used in hospitals and healthcare settings.

Strong conceptual thinking and commercial awareness are required to ensure the projects you're working on are profitable and beneficial to patient care.

You can work in various settings, including:

  • hospitals and trusts
  • medical equipment manufacturers
  • research departments.

To become a biomedical engineer, you'll need a degree in a related field, such as:

Learn more about becoming a biomedical engineer.

Broadcast engineer

  • Starting salaries - £22,000 to £28,000.
  • With experience - £30,000 to £60,000.

It's your job to ensure that television, radio, and other media programming are broadcast on time and of the highest quality.

For this media role, you'll need excellent IT skills and a keen eye for detail to spot and solve problems efficiently.

As broadcast engineering is a competitive field, pre-entry work experience is essential.

Read about the qualifications you need to become a broadcast engineer.

Land-based engineer

  • Starting salaries - £28,000 to £30,000.
  • With experience - £35,000 to £45,000.
  • Senior levels - £55,000 to £65,000-plus.

You'll develop specialist equipment and conduct environmental impact assessments while designing, testing, and developing agricultural, construction, and other off-road vehicles.

Many land-based engineers have an agricultural engineering degree or farming experience, while the following skills can help you progress in your career:

  • ability to record and analyse data
  • awareness and understanding of the end user, e.g. farmers and horticulturalists
  • creativity to invent new designs or solutions
  • strong business and management skills.

Explore the role of a land-based engineer and read about other graduate opportunities in agriculture.

Manufacturing engineer

  • Starting salaries - £25,000 to £30,000.
  • With experience - £30,000 to £45,000.
  • Senior levels - £45,000 to £65,000-plus.

As a manufacturing engineer, you're responsible for turning designs into high-quality products at scale, ensuring the process is both efficient and cost-effective.

You could work in:

  • biotechnology
  • food and drink
  • pharmaceuticals
  • plastics.

Responsibilities include operating manufacturing machinery, organising equipment maintenance, and repairing faults promptly to ensure production runs smoothly.

Consider becoming a manufacturing engineer.

Mechanical engineer

  • Starting salaries - £26,000 to £30,000.
  • With experience - £35,000 to £40,000.
  • Senior levels - £45,000 to £65,000.

If you're mathematically minded, comfortable collaborating with a range of people and able to perform well under high levels of pressure, a career as a mechanical engineer could suit you.

Mechanical systems power almost all products and services. You may find yourself working on cutting-edge projects, such as developing smartphones or spacecraft.

In more senior positions, your role will likely involve overseeing the manufacturing process and ensuring that products are built to the highest standards.

Learn more about becoming a mechanical engineer and see what you can do with a mechanical engineering degree.

Technical brewer

  • Starting salaries - £24,000.
  • With experience - £35,000 to £50,000.
  • Senior levels - £60,000-plus.

You'll help maintain a consistently high production standard by overseeing the brewing and packaging processes for beer, ensuring every batch meets quality expectations. You may also be responsible for developing new recipes and ensuring the safety of the plant and machinery.

To succeed in this role, you'll need:

  • a keen eye for detail
  • confident decision-making skills
  • the stamina to handle the physical demands of brewery work.

Find out what it takes to become a technical brewer.

Water engineer

  • Starting salaries - £22,000 to £30,000.
  • With experience - £30,000 to £40,000.
  • Senior levels - £55,000 to £70,000.

Your priorities lie in helping communities adapt to challenges such as global warming and population growth by:

  • ensuring the safe disposal of wastewater
  • protecting communities by preventing flood risk
  • providing reliable access to clean drinking water.

You can enter this field at the technician level with an HND or foundation degree, though having a degree in a related field will give you a strong advantage.

Read about the key responsibilities of a water engineer and discover other environmental jobs.

Explore more graduate engineering jobs

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