Successful candidates will have achieved (or expect to achieve), a 2:2 Honours Degree or higher in either law or a business discipline or similar. French, German or Italian language skills are also useful, but not essential.
Some work experience would be valuable, but not vital. We would expect to see graduates with the ability to work in a team, or individually, but always with initiative and enthusiasm. You should have the ability to develop strong working relationships with your colleagues and customers, and you will have a business focus, with the drive and determination to succeed.
We would expect to see graduates who are business focused taking a meticulous, determined and results driven approach to their work.
To be successful in this role you’ll need to have the ability to:
• Communicate to customers and internal teams.
• Deliver on your promises.
• Grasp complex information from a variety of sources quickly, and to determine the most commercially advantageous way forward.
• Work in integrated multi-disciplined project teams, and as part of your graduate placement, develop extensive knowledge and hands-on experience.
• Understand bid management, estimates and pricing.
• Be commercially minded with an understanding of financial management, negotiating and influencing.
You can expect hands-on experience in a variety of challenging finance roles:
• Business Strategy – being part of a team who strive to maximise the identified business opportunities
• Business Winning – being a key player within the winning of new work and maintaining the viability of MBDA
• Contract Delivery – playing a vital role within the delivery chain to ensure MBDA meet all its promises to the customer
• Customer Meetings – attending regular review meetings with the customer and your team to provide updates on your projects
It's a challenging environment but the various elements included in your programme will help you to succeed.
• Prior to joining you will be allocated a 'buddy' who will provide you with informal advice and guidance.
• On commencing employment you will attend a comprehensive 3-day induction event that explains the full scope of what we do, and allows you the opportunity to interact with your fellow new-starters.
• Throughout the duration of your programme you will be offered a trained Mentor who will offer support and provide information about MBDA, helping you build your skills and plan your career development for the future.
• Together with significant on-the-job training you will also undertake a range of personal development activities promoting teamwork, communication, presentation and leadership skills.
• We offer competitive salaries with regular reviews, a pension scheme, a private health scheme, and flexible ways of working
How to apply
The following search criteria allows you to find what opportunities are available based on your particular degree and desired programme. You can search our vacancies by selecting your degree subject and development programme of interest below. Please note you can only select one degree subject and one programme, so please choose the options most relevant to you.
Select the vacancy that is most suitable for your background and interest.
Please note, a maximum of two applications will be considered per candidate.
FAQs
All graduates at MBDA are required to hold UK Security Clearance. To gain this clearance you are required to hold a UK passport and to have resided in the UK for the previous 5 years. If your application to MBDA is successful, we'll need to check your eligibility, which means seeing your birth certificate and/or passport. Security vetting will also be undertaken.
We will reimburse reasonable travel expenses dependent on distance travelled by the candidate.
All of our vacancies are based in Bristol, Stevenage or Lostock. You may be required to move for a placement or role, but you would receive some help to do so.
We offer information and guidance on local accommodation, but no financial recompense.
As a graduate within MBDA you will follow a two-year early careers programme for Engineering or Business or three-year scheme for Finance, which will provide you with a series of challenging placement opportunities to develop your key technical skills. A placement will typically last between 6 months and 1 year.
Unlike some graduate schemes in other businesses where you would only be 'shadowing' a worker, you will be given real work. This will enable you to gain experience, but it also means that the company will gain some valid work from you in return.
Training and development of our graduates is very important to us at MBDA. Everyone who joins us as a graduate will follow our accredited professional development scheme with the aim of becoming accredited with the most appropriate professional body.
(Please see the Training and Development section for more details)
We are a European company with customers all over the world and so some of our graduates do have the opportunity to spend a short time abroad, although this doesn't happen for everyone.
Your contract will require you to work for 37 hours a week. The company operates a flexi time system, which allows you to vary your start and finish times.
As a trainee, you will generally not be required to work overtime. There may be occasions however, when a specific task or project requires you to work overtime.
Depends on where you work. This varies from casual to more business dress.
As part of the Graduate programme some graduates have the opportunity to undertake one placement in an external company. Graduate trainees have experienced placements within the MoD and the Royal United Services Institute in London.
Your annual entitlement is 25 days a year plus 8 statutory and public holidays.
Yes of course. Holiday entitlement runs from January to December, so the amount of holidays you get will depend on when during the year you join.
Benefits include:
- Competitive salaries with regular reviews
- Pension scheme
- Private health care scheme
- Sports and social activities
- Flexible working hours
(Please see the Benefits section of the website for further details)
MBDA encourages professional development and some of our employees are supported through higher education. Any request for support for further qualifications will be reviewed in the light of the business need, individual requirements and career development.
All Graduate roles are due to close for applications at the end of November. However, we will close applications early if we have enough successful candidates, so we recommend applying early.
There is no reason why you can't apply again if you were unsuccessful one year, as long as you can demonstrate that something within your application has changed.
At present, we have no plans to make this a standard part of our offering to candidates. We do, however, attend many university career events.
MBDA recruits in excess of 150 Graduates and Apprentices every year.
Yes. If you are successful in the interview process, you will receive a conditional offer, which will outline the minimum degree result you will need to take up the position.
There are no age limits on our graduate programme. The main requirements are that you have the necessary degree qualification and the personal qualities we seek to add value to our business.
