Project Management Graduate Programme Derby 2024

Taking care of ‘one of life’s essentials’ – it’s our purpose and we want you to be part of it. Supplying wholesome drinking water, treating wastewater and recycling this back to the environment responsibly is no mean feat. We serve around 8 million people across the Midlands and Wales and unlike other businesses, our delivery is non-negotiable. It’s a matter of life.

Many of our employees are also our customers, so we truly take pride in what we do! Employing people from across our communities and beyond, Severn Trent is an exciting and inclusive place to work – a place where you can be curious, can be ‘Wonderfully You’ and where you can truly make an impact to our environment, now and for future generations.

Let's tell you more

Our Project Management Graduate Programme in Engineering Delivery offers the perfect blend of personal and professional development, exposing you to the frontline and the core of our business.

Being part of the programme will enable you to spend time in different areas of our capital delivery and engineering teams through 3 inspirational placements. Covering all areas of project management such as the end-to-end process of project and programme life cycles, water/waste networks design and delivery, and water/waste treatment asset design and delivery.

As a graduate project manager, you’ll build your experience and knowledge. Guided and mentored by expert industry professionals, you’ll explore the full lifecycle of project delivery, planning and management.

You’ll get an insight into our water and wastewater treatment, learn about different aspects of our business whilst working on a range of projects which will help address real life challenges and drive tangible change.

We’re not seeking technical knowledge, we’re after the right people. We’re after those with drive, a get up and go attitude, a willingness to learn, passion, and pro-activeness.

What you will learn

You will expand your knowledge of project and people management, including learning how to effectively manage and influence stakeholders. You’ll also gain a strong business and commercial acumen, developing your ability to plan strategically with time, cost, and quality in mind, and how to deliver this message successfully to a range of stakeholders.

You’ll gain a deeper understanding of why and how we make sure we deliver with our customers at the heart of what we do, and how we communicate this message across our communities. You will learn the following either directly from placements, or through supplementary training or project work:

• Demonstrate a pro-active attitude to deliver project outcomes – lead meetings, capture outputs and actions, engage project teams and contractors to deliver outputs as outlined in your project plans and lead from the front
• Identify solutions to problems on your projects - seeking to gain support from management as required
• Proactively progress and close project actions - within the required timeframes to progress projects to completion
• Complete contract actions within timescales stated
• Demonstrate and provide confidence to management – in control of your projects, status and planned actions to deliver positive outcomes
• Demonstrate the ability to understand and process technical and non-technical issues, producing plans with clear actions to overcome issues.
• Build a driven mind-set working to overcome challenges seeking solutions - using project stakeholders and your network
• Build personal resilience, robustness and maturity in dealing with unfamiliar or complex situations or with challenging stakeholders.

Typical off-scheme role

This can vary depending on your personal career ambitions and the business needs at the time. However, roles such as Assistant Project Engineer, and Assistant Engineering Project Manager are examples of some of the roles our past graduates have landed after the scheme.

Our New Talent Team will guide you and support you every step of the way. Furthermore, your line manager, mentor and buddy will be there to help you in making sure you reach your full potential here at Severn Trent.

Entry criteria

There is no specific degree.

Travel is required, therefore if you don’t currently have a driving licence and access to your own vehicle we ask that you are willing to obtain within 12 months of starting the role. In the meantime most of our main sites are accessible via public transport.

Typical contracts are 37 hours per week, however there may be flexibility around the structure of your working hours, team and line manager dependent..

What we're looking for

We want our employees to care and to have a genuine passion for what we do as a business. We need people who want to make a difference in providing a vital service to our customers, now and for the long-term. We’d love you to be someone with:

• A ‘can do’ attitude – willing to get stuck in, take accountability for decisions and actions and who takes pride in their work.
• A love of variety in a role and ability to adapt to a dynamic, fast-paced working environment.
• Ability to quickly prioritise tasks and the initiative to dive head-first into problem solving. No two days are the same on the front line and not every day goes to plan, so you’ll need to be quick on your feet to respond!
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills and enjoy working with multiple teams.
• Ability to analyse and interpret information and effectively communicate this to different team members and audiences.
• Ability to travel freely across our patch to visit different sites and travel to meetings and training days.
• Curiosity to learn quickly in a reactive and dynamic working environment, and capable of looking forward to pre-empt challenges and issues
• The care to look out for, and be an inspiration to your colleagues.
• Pride to see every moment of every day as an opportunity to show how good we are.

Diversity and inclusion

At Severn Trent we are passionate about our people. We want to make sure that we continue to foster a more diverse, inclusive, and cohesive culture that represents the communities and customers we serve. We’re making sure we keep up the progress with our wonderful working groups – LGBTQ+, Women in Operations & STEM, Disability and Ethnicity, who help us with our commitments. 

How we'll reward and care for you in return

It’s not just a job you’ll get here, you’ll get a career too. We have a range of benefits that reward and recognise great work and award-winning training to ensure you reach your potential. And we’ll also help you play your part in looking after the environment and the community in which we live. Here’s some of our favourites:

• 28 days holiday + bank holidays (and the ability to buy/ sell up to 5 days per year)
• Annual bonus scheme (of up to £2,225 which is subject to eligibility)
• Leading pension scheme – we will double your contribution (up to 15% when you contribute 7.5%)
• Sharesave – the chance to buy Severn Trent Plc shares at a discounted rate
• 10% monthly discount with Busy Bees Nurseries, and one-week free childcare
• Dedicated training and development with our Academy
• Electric vehicle scheme and retail offers
• Family friendly policies
• Two paid volunteering days per year

As if that isn’t enough, you’ll receive an annual salary increase whilst you’re on programme and you’ll also get an increase when you move into your first job.

Let's go

Apply now to build an amazing career and be part of a brilliant team. We can’t wait to hear from you.

• Roles close on 29th February 2024.
• Check your diary – face to face assessments will run from 8th - 26th April 2024.

To find out more about working with us, search#LifeatSevernTrent on social media.