We are a team of remarkable people achieving extraordinary things, with some of the most advanced research and production facilities in the world. At AWE, it’s not just a job, it’s far more than that. Our shared purpose is to protect the UK through nuclear science and technology, and our mission is to design and manufacture warheads and provide nuclear services to meet the needs of defence
Whether you’re an engineer, scientist, business services professional or starting out in your career at AWE as a graduate or an apprentice, you could find your opportunity to join us and play your part.
Information Services and Security (IS&S) have a vital role to play in our mission. There to enable the organisation to deliver through the use of technology. Our IS&S team offer a comprehensive IT business support function to the whole of AWE. Our workforce ranges from Data Administrators & IT Support Engineers to Financial Functional Consultants and Business Analysts.
We know that creating a diverse workforce is critical to our future, and we are committed to a positive and inclusive environment.
Our employee-led working groups, representing the diversity within our company, have been integral to the progression that we have made.
There has never been a more exciting time to join AWE. We’re going through a significant programme to design and produce, the replacement warhead for the UK’s continuous at-sea deterrent, and to manage hugely important infrastructure projects that will deliver cutting-edge facilities across a unique estate spanning over 1,000 acres.
If you’re looking for a role that will intrigue and excite you time and time again, then look no further. From science, engineering, to manufacturing, and business services – it’s highly likely we’ve got a role to suit you.
We’re proud to have been recognised across several categories in the Best Companies to Work For awards. These accolades are based entirely on employee feedback, and we’re grateful that our people value life at AWE enough to share their experiences.
We’ve also achieved ENEI Gold status (Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion). Our progressive flexible and smarter working policies give our people greater choice in where, when and how they work, depending on the task at hand. This flexibility helps them balance their work and home lives more effectively.
We couldn’t achieve what we do without the pride and commitment that our people have in doing the job they do.
At AWE, we are passionate about developing talent. We aim to build and maintain a culture of high performance, providing continuous development to give people – whatever stage they are at in their career – the support they need to thrive and reach their full potential. We believe in supporting our people through long-term investment in learning and development. Alongside in-house and on-line training capabilities, we support membership of professional bodies.
We also focus on building and developing leadership skills, in pursuit of our best-in-class ambition. We do this through tailored leadership development programmes, accredited by the Chartered Management Institute, designed to equip our leaders with the skills to drive performance and bring out the best in their teams.
Making a real difference, both nationally and locally, and giving back to the community is a strong part of our culture. We have a long history of supporting charities and, as one of the largest STEM employers in the local area, through our award-winning schools outreach programme we support schools across West Berkshire and North Hampshire (Reading, Newbury, Basingstoke).
Our award-winning benefits scheme offers a wide range of lifestyle, financial and wellbeing services, including Cycle to Work and an Employee Discount scheme for savings on your everyday spending.
We believe in ‘A Fair Deal’ for all our employees by offering a competitive , consistent and sustainable approach to reward across our business.
We use an independent company to benchmark our salaries, to ensure they’re competitive against industry standards. And we also conduct regular performance-related pay reviews. We offer Company Performance Pay to all employees below senior management grades, funded by employee-generated efficiencies.
The working structure at AWE differs from other companies. We operate a 9-day working fortnight, which means our sites close every other Friday.
What does this mean? Our working pattern operates on a 2-weekly cycle, so:
You can also choose full or part-time hours to fit around your family and we are open to flexible working arrangements.
Because our working pattern differs from that of other companies, we calculate our annual leave in hours. We’ll give you time to recharge your batteries with 270 hours of holiday each year for a full-time employee; that’s equal to at least 25 days plus bank holidays. Holiday hours are pro-rata for part time employees. This is in addition to our 9-day fortnight.
There are also options for special leave, bereavement leave, time off for public duties and for armed forces reservists and for taking a career break.
AWE is absolutely committed to supporting working parents.
We have made enhancements to Maternity Leave and eligible employees now receive full pay for the first 39 weeks of leave. Similarly, those on Shared Parental Leave will now receive full pay for 39 weeks, if leave is being taken within 39 weeks of the primary carer starting their Maternity or Adoption Leave.
We have also introduced Returners’ Leave which allows employees returning from Maternity or Adoption Leave the option to have 6 months’ of working Fridays as paid time off.
We have enhanced our Paternity Leave entitlement too, from 2 weeks to 4 weeks leave at full pay and increased the flexibility around how our employees take this leave (it no longer has to be taken in one block).
We also provide a life insurance benefit for all employees, aged up to and including 74.
This mean that, in the event of your death, the Company would pay a lump sum death-in-service benefit of four-times your salary.
Upon being enrolled in the pension scheme, you’ll pay a percentage of your salary into the pension scheme each month, added to which the Company makes generous contributions. It’s flexible, so you can increase or decrease the amount you pay into the scheme at any time.
Understanding and taking care of your money is incredibly important. There’s access to financial information online plus you’ll receive regular informative communications from our financial education partner.
To help spread the cost of environmentally friendly transport, we offer interest-free loans for cycle purchase and for buying a rail season ticket.
For those wishing to save, we provide access to a Stocks and Shares ISA and a Fund & Share account. And there’s also access to a discounted will writing service.
We’re passionate about looking after our teams, ensuring they can perform their roles to the best of their ability. We want to ensure that every employee is recognised and rewarded for their contribution.
On joining us, you’ll receive:
We’re always keen to speak to candidates with unique skills and diverse experiences. The nature of our work, in a high-security environment, does mean you’ll need to be a British citizen to join AWE. You’ll also need to have resided in the UK for the past five years in order to apply for SC (and ten years for DV) clearance.
If you’ve lived outside of the UK for less than a year during the last five years, or less than two years during the last ten years, we may be able to consider your application – so please do apply if you wish to express your interest.
What we do is vital to national nuclear security. Keeping our nation, our environment, plus everyone and everything around us safe and secure is our top priority. So, as you would expect, that brings with it a high level of safety and security that you will see across our sites and in how everyone who works here operates.
Before joining AWE, successful candidates will need to be granted security clearance. This will include a Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) and, dependent on the nature of the role, either Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV). Clearance can take several months and each element is carried out by independent organisations – Sterling for BPSS, and UKSV for SC or DV.
Ready to kickstart your career with purpose? Evolve is our flagship graduate programme designed to launch future leaders, innovators and change-makers.
You’ll be working on real projects that support the UK’s nuclear deterrent – think cutting-edge science, advanced manufacturing and planning infrastructure that’s shaping the future. We can’t spill all the details to you (top secret stuff), but trust us when we say that you’ll be working on some of the most unique projects in the country while working with the most respected experts in their fields.
This is a two-year scheme with placements across the business, providing hands-on experience across the pathway you choose, whether it’s Engineering, Science, Safety, Health, Environment & Quality (SHEQ), Human Resources (HR), Project Management or Corporate and Operations.
This is where your ideas matter. Where you’ll make a difference every day. Where you’ll work alongside world-class experts in nuclear defence. From pioneering research to safeguarding the UK’s future, every project you touch will have real-world impact.
As an apprentice, you’ll get hands-on experience in cutting-edge facilities while learning from some of the brightest minds in the business.
Whether you’re into problem-solving, project planning, or precision engineering, we’ve got a path for you, from Level 3 (Advanced) to Level 6 (Degree) apprenticeships. From day one, you’ll be part of something bigger.
