2026 Software Engineering Apprentice - Level 6 Digital and Technology Solutions
Join to apply for the 2026 Software Engineering Apprentice - Level 6 Digital and Technology Solutions role at Portal Londrinatur
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.
Start Date: 07 September 2025
Salary: £24,000 per annum
Employee type: Permanent
Location: Cheadle
Working Schedule: Monday Friday, 37 hours a week (8 hours Monday Thursday, 5 hours Friday)
What The Role Has To Offer
* Fully funded degree
* Competitive salary
* Real world training experience working with a skilled and friendly team
* Permanent role from day one with a career path after graduation
You will be a key member of a diverse team of software engineers, solving the complex challenges our Royal Navy and export customers face in keeping the world a safe and secure place. This will involve working with specialists from across the Thales global business and pushing the boundaries on topics such as Artificial Intelligence and novel computing architectures to enhance our products.
You will be encouraged to own your development plan covering the technical and professional skills needed to meet your ambitions. You will be fully supported by your team to make this a reality. Software engineering has a varied career path and you will have opportunities to gain skills and further qualifications on topics such as architecture, design, coding and testing. You will be a valued member of a software sprint team developing solutions and will work with wider disciplines such as systems engineering to define what is needed and what is valuable to the end user.
Apprentice Programme
As a Software Engineering Apprentice you will be studying towards a BSc in Digital and Technology Solutions, following the Software Engineering Pathway. This is a Gold accredited programme under the Tech Partnership Degrees. For the duration of this 4 year programme you will be given one day per week in which to attend Manchester Metropolitan University. For the other four days you will be working at the Cheadle site, in the business, applying your university learning to real world projects and gaining a breadth of experience with your teammates. At the end of the apprenticeship you will be working as a software engineer within the Thales UK businesses.
Requirements
* 104 UCAS tariff points at A Level (Grades BCC) or an equivalent e.g. BTEC DMM
* 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)
Assessment centres for shortlisted candidates will be held between February - May 2026. Induction week for all Graduates and Apprentices will take place from Monday 7 September - Friday 11 September 2026.
Closing date
Our applications will close at 11.59pm on Thursday 12 February 2026, this is the only time we will be accepting applications this year. Please note, we will be in contact by the end of February 2026 with details of next steps.
Security Clearance
All successful candidates must possess the permanent right to work in the UK and will be required to go through Government security clearance at BPSS Level and to obtain full Security Clearance (SC) in line with the United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) requirements prior to starting with us. 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; if not currently held, the successful applicant must undergo, achieve, and maintain SC Clearance prior to commencing employment.
To be eligible for full SC, you generally need to have resided in the UK for the last 5 years. 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.
Thales is an equal opportunities employer and diversity and inclusion are integral to the success of Thales.
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