Apprentice Civil Engineer

About the Borough

This special place in South West London between the capital and the country has been a Royal borough longer than anywhere else - it is where the first kings of England were crowned.

Today it is a vibrant and diverse borough, with a long history and strong cultural and community heritage. Kingston's riverside location, fantastic retail offer, historic market place and church, parks and gardens all make Kingston town centre the vibrant space it is, and each of our district town centres (Surbiton, New Malden, Tolworth and Chessington) have something unique to offer.

Situated in Zone 6, Kingston is among the best-connected town centres in London – with direct train links from Kingston and Surbiton stations to Clapham Junction and London Waterloo, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and Tramlink.

Kingston’s people are innovative and entrepreneurial, and have a strong sense of community pride. The borough has been home to great industry and creativity for many years, reflected in assets such as the Rose Theatre, the International Youth Arts Festival and Kingston University, which boasts more new graduate business start-ups than any other.

We have seen tremendous generosity and compassion within our communities, particularly in response to COVID-19, which is a demonstration of Kingston’s key strength. The council offers a strong level of support to vulnerable groups and those who need additional support, which has also increased significantly as a result of the pandemic. Like most places, the average age of our population is rising as more people are living longer, so we are working closely with residents to help them maintain their independence and further improve the cost effectiveness of our service to meet the ongoing rise in demand.

Kingston is home to people from diverse and interesting cultures and backgrounds, which helps to create the rich sense of community shared across the borough. In particular, Kingston has a large Sri Lankan Tamil community and is home to more people from Korea than any other part of the UK.

About the Service and Team

We are looking for hard-working, motivated and enthusiastic people to join our apprenticeship scheme. Regardless of your age, previous experience or qualifications (although you must be at least 16 years of age and not in full-time education), we’re welcoming applications from those that show potential, determination and a drive to succeed. In return we can give you the opportunity to kick-start your career under the management of our skilled and experienced staff, whilst earning, learning and achieving nationally recognised qualifications at the same time.

About the Role and Our Ideal Candidate

The shared Highways service of the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames (RBK) and London Borough of Sutton (LBS) is looking for a committed person to join our team as an Apprentice Civil Engineer.

This exciting position is over a 5.5 year period and upon completion will attain a BEng(Hons) Civil Engineering and IEng MICE with the Institution of Civil Engineers. The training provider is Kingston University.

This course will develop the necessary Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours to a competent Civil Engineer level.

The apprentice will undertake 1 day a week study with the remaining 4 days work based at the RBK and LBS.

• Demonstrate a commitment to studying towards and achieving a full apprenticeship.
• Interest in Highways & Transport schemes.
• Enthusiastic, hard-working with ambition and drive.
• Commitment to learn day-to-day tasks, to be able to prioritise and to work under pressure both individually and as part of a team.
• Good attention to detail and accuracy.
• Commitment to develop good IT skills (including google and microsoft software).
• Ensure tasks are completed within agreed timescales.
• Demonstrate required office attendance and punctuality.
• Attend and participate in team meetings and 1:1 meetings.
• Attend training as required and complete mandatory e-learning.
• Complete required course and qualification for End Point Assessment (EPA).

Our Offer to You

Have you ever thought about starting a career in highways and transport? We have a great opportunity for someone to join us as an Apprentice Civil Engineer who will benefit from the vast amount of professional expertise and variety of work we have to offer.

No two days are the same in our highways and transport service and with new technology transforming the way we work, you can expect room to grow and develop your skills and opportunities to put your ideas across. With our comprehensive learning and development programme combined with a supportive environment, this is a stepping stone to a successful, enjoyable and rewarding career in highways and transportation.

Year

Activities

Year 1 - 2

Learn the processes of the design management framework.

Undertake site visits to learn and shadow others on scoping schemes, prepare audits and condition surveys.

Become familiar with design standards and guidelines (TSRGD, TSM, DMRB & MfS).

Produce drawings using software such as AutoCAD, including add-ons AutoTurn, KeySigns & KeyLines.

Familiarise with Google workspace including google sheets to undertake calculations.

Contribute to preparation of initial cost estimates.

Understand the H&S documentation and legislation.

Understand the all team processes including permitting TMO, Planned Maintenance and Vehicle Crossovers.

Year 3 - 4

Assist Engineers in the delivery of full packages of highways and transport schemes.

Development of software knowledge of AutoCAD.

Prepare packages of design stages (Feasibility, Concept, Prelim & Detailed Design).

Undertake research tasks and gather information to inform design decisions.

Undertake full site visits to scope schemes and identify hazards.

Develop a good understanding of relevant design standards, regulations (e.g., DMRB), and health & safety procedures.

Prepare TMOs.

Year 5 - 6

Undertake design drawings with minimal supervision.

Productive in drawing completion for a full detailed design package.

Involved in meetings with the C&C teams and Contractor.

Able to manage the delivery of small schemes on time according to scope of the brief.

Able to refer to standards and guide other junior members of the team.

Completion of EPA.

In this role a bespoke training package will be available to ensure you become qualified to work as part of our Highways and Transport team, learning different roles within the team which will include Design of a range of highway & transportation schemes, surveys, data analysis, traffic management orders, and planned maintenance. Including conducting site visits, safety reviews and condition surveys. You’ll also be part of our wider Highways and Transport Service and work closely with other teams including Highways operations and Client & Commissioning, who lead on a number of exciting projects.

We’ll teach all you need to know about how to succeed in this role, but in return we are looking for someone who has the ability to think creatively, can demonstrate excellent communication skills and who’s eager to learn.

In addition we offer a number of staff benefits including 23 days annual leave plus bank holidays, flexible working arrangements, local discounts for shopping, eating out and leisure activities, new modern technology and office working environment, Local Government Pension Scheme, Cyclescheme - enabling you to get a brand new bike and safety equipment for your commute / access to our Pool Bikes Scheme, childcare vouchers, and access to our Zipcar scheme for work use and discounted rates for personal use.

Starting Salary is £25,999 and will increase in increments over the 5.5 years. The annual increase will be in line with the London Living wage.

We’re extremely proud of our apprenticeship scheme and the achievements of our apprentices, many of whom have secured permanent employment with the Council and continue to excel in their careers.

Application Process

Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role and for our apprenticeship scheme. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.

We are committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) so all personal information that can identify job applicants e.g. name, title etc is completely anonymised during the shortlisting process. Our hiring managers review applications based on the knowledge, skills and experience demonstrated in your application, and how well these match the job profile. Our HR Shared Service with Sutton Council was recently recognised nationally for having the ‘Best Inclusion and Diversity Programme’ at the PPMA Excellence in People Management Awards 2023, something that we’re incredibly proud of.

Hiring managers are encouraged to ensure that their interview panel is diverse, and representative of a range of protected characteristics, to help remove unconscious bias and ensure candidates are treated fairly during the selection process. Some characteristics may not be obvious, but our panels are diverse wherever possible. We have a number of measures in place to inform and support our approach, including mandatory EDI and unconscious bias training for all staff, safer recruitment training for diverse panel members, engaging with our staff networks and encouraging allyship. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

More information about apprenticeships can be found on theNational Apprenticeship website.

Additional Information

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough. Our aim is to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and staff feel a sense of belonging. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, particularly Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, and disabled candidates, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce.

As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to thinking differently about disability and taking action to improve how we recruit, retain and develop disabled people. We guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role.

We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are an accredited London Living Wage Employer and this means that everyone working at the Royal Borough of Kingston, regardless of whether they are permanent employees or third-party contractors and suppliers receive the London Living Wage. The real Living Wage is higher than the government’s minimum, or National Living Wage, and is an independently calculated hourly rate of pay that is based on the actual cost of living.

The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.