Location: Templecombe, United Kingdom Thales people provide armed forces customers with operational advantage at every decisive moment throughout the mission. Defence and armed forces customers rely on us to deliver the full range of defence mission systems solutions at land, sea, and air. Our platforms extend across the battlespace including Above and Sonar, Electronic Combat, and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance systems. Together we offer fantastic opportunities for committed employees to learn and develop their career with us. At Thales UK, we research, develop, and supply technology and services that impact the lives of millions of people each day to make life better, and keep us safer. We innovate across the major industries of Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space. Your health and well-being matters to us and that’s why we offer you the flexibility to do what’s important to you; whether that’s part time hours, job sharing, home working, or the ability to flex your start and finish times. Where possible, we support a working pattern that suits your lifestyle and helps you reach your ambitions. 2025 Manufacturing Apprentice - Level 3 Engineering and Manufacturing Support Technician Start Date: 01 September 2025 Salary: £16,000 (age 16-18) / £21,000 (age 19) per annum Employee type: Permanent Location: Templecombe Working Schedule: 37 hours per week on site (8 hours Monday - Thursday, 5 hours on a Friday) Year 1 Monday – Friday 37 hours a week, moving to 4 day week when 18 years of age after Year 1 is complete Do you have an inquisitive mind? Are you interested in how things work? Do you want to be part of an Apprenticeship Programme that will develop and challenge you? If so, read on to see what Thales has on offer… What the role has to offer: Earn while you learn Job specific training experience Industry recognised qualifications Permanent role from day one Our manufacturing apprenticeship in Templecombe is a fantastic opportunity to learn our business from the ground up, giving you an insight, which will be invaluable regardless of if you chose to stay in manufacturing or if you move into a different function. The programme will allow you to rotate through a series of different placements, so you can see what you enjoy the most and where your strengths lie. Year 1 of the apprenticeship focusses mainly on learning, spending 3 days a week at Yeovil College and 1 day in the workplace, following a set curriculum to give you the skills required for your future career. Year 2 allows you to embed those skills and is predominantly based on site working with our experienced technicians, learning in role while continuing at college on day release to complete a BTEC and NVQ. Year 3 will offer the opportunity to rotate through other business functions while you work your way to end point assessment. Apprentice Programme As a Manufacturing Apprentice, you will enrol onto a Level 3 Engineering and Manufacturing Support Technician Apprenticeship at Yeovil College over a 48 month duration. Requirements: 5 GCSEs grade 9-4 (A-C) including English and Maths Benefits 201 hours annual leave (plus a company day and bank holidays) Company Pension Health Care Cash Plan Life Insurance Discount Portal Performance-related pay uplifts 80 Hours Volunteering (first two years) Please note, assessment centres for shortlisted candidates will be held between February and May 2025. Induction week for all Graduate and Apprentices will take place from Monday 01 September until Friday 05 September 2025. Closing date: Our applications will close at 11.59pm on Sunday 16 February 2025, this is the only time we will be accepting applications this year. Please note, we will be in contact by the end of February 2025 with details of next steps. Recruitment Process: For further information on our Early Careers recruitment process or to speak to a member of the Early Careers Team or a Graduate or Apprentice, please visit Thales Future Talent - Connectr. Due to the nature of the work that we do at Thales, many of our roles are subject to security restrictions. This role requires you to be a sole British National from birth and achieve Security Clearance (SC) without any caveats. It would be advantageous if currently held, however, if not currently held, it is a requirement that the successful applicant undergo, achieve, and maintain SC Clearance prior to commencing employment. Please visit the UKSV website for further guidance. To be eligible for full SC, you generally need to have resided in the UK for the last 5 years. In some circumstances, a minimum of 3 years’ residence in the UK over the last 5 years may be accepted, with additional overseas checks. As part of the vetting process you will be asked to provide evidence of your identity, eligibility to work in the UK, time spent abroad over the last 5 years, as well as employment and/or educational history. For further details of the evidence required to apply for security clearance please follow this link - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels. Thales is an equal opportunities employer and diversity and inclusion are integral to the success of Thales. In line with Thales' Baseline Security requirements, candidates will be asked to provide evidence of identity, eligibility to work in the UK and employment and/or education history for up to three years. Some vacancies may require full Security Clearance which can require further evidence to be provided. For further details of the evidence required to apply for Baseline and Security Clearance please refer to the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting (DBS NSV) Agency. At Thales we provide CAREERS and not only jobs. With Thales employing 80,000 employees in 68 countries our mobility policy enables thousands of employees each year to develop their careers at home and abroad, in their existing areas of expertise or by branching out into new fields. Together we believe that embracing flexibility is a smarter way of working. Thales UK is committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free recruitment process. We will provide reasonable adjustments and support to ensure neuro-diverse applicants or those with a disability or long-term condition can be their best during the recruitment process. To request an adjustment, if you need this job advert in an alternative format or if you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Resourcing Ops for mid to senior roles, or the Early Careers Team for graduate and apprentice roles. Great journeys start here, apply now