Engineering
Designing power supplies, air ventilation systems, and safe gas and water supplies for secure government buildings. Drawing up floor plans and security systems. Even making embassies and high commissions resistant to earthquakes. It’s all in a day’s work for our Engineering team.
If this isn’t what you had in mind, answer a few questions and we’ll find where you fit.
I’ve been given plenty of opportunities to go on courses to develop my skills, whether it’s gaining the Construction HNC or the NEBOSH Health and Safety diploma. There’s a real commitment to learning here.
When in the UK, you could be based either at Hanslope Park or our King Charles Street office in London.
Travel can be varied and demanding: you might fly out to Santiago, Chile, and return home via another project in Bogota, Colombia.
Our Engineers recently worked to strength the walls and foundations of the British Embassy in Belgrade, supporting it against earthquakes – and protecting a neighbouring kindergarten too.
Alongside the training of the wider FCDO Services team, there are some specific options in place to help our Engineering team excel:
Find out about overall training and benefits on Life at FCDO Services
The vast majority of roles in this team will spend regular time overseas, visiting the buildings and sites they’re designing for. The exception to that is the CAD Specialists. The nature of the job means you won’t need to travel at all, and will be based solely in the UK.
You could be travelling overseas for up to 22 weeks of the year, and you’ll be working in the UK the rest of the time. As a general rule, we try to make sure that your time spent overseas is as efficient as possible, grouping projects together where we can.
When you’re not travelling abroad, you could be based in either Hanslope Park in Milton Keynes, or King Charles Street in London. To find out more about both, see Life at FCDO Services.
We work in 168 countries, and you could well be travelling to any one of them. Your safety is our most important concern though: we’ll never send you anywhere you aren’t comfortable with.
We’ll organise both your travel and your accommodation while you’re overseas, and support you financially.
As much as possible, we’ll aim to spread out your trips so that you get breaks from overseas travel. It means you can balance your home life with your travel abroad, and it also gives you time to properly prepare for each project you take on.
As a general rule, it’s not practical for families to travel with this team, since you’ll be overseas for regular short bursts. In the unlikely event that you do have a longer posting overseas – if you’ll be stationed abroad for two years, say – then we can support your family to move overseas with you, if the role allows for that. This will be well-advertised upfront though, and we won’t ask you to take on a long-term posting if you aren’t happy to.
You’ll be able to stay in touch with your team throughout your time abroad, through our FCDO Services intranet, as well as having a manager who’ll check in on your progress. Plus, if you need someone’s advice on a project, there are always experts on call, no matter the time difference. You’ll also be able to take advantage of our overseas network activity: we offer all sorts of support to our colleagues both at home and abroad, whether it’s wellbeing events like yoga sessions, or chances to socialise with the teams stationed in your location.
Engineering is for everyone and we support people of all gender identities in the profession. But don’t just take it from us: listen to our podcast with just some of the women who work in Engineering at FCDO Services.
Often, our Engineers will see another side to the cities they visit: for instance, to design radio systems, you have to explore the area and find its high points.
Our Engineers can later apply to become Technical Works Officers, posted permanently overseas. Find out more.
Ready to see the work you might do with Engineering? Just enter the embassy and select ‘Designing and engineering the embassy building’ to get started.
We’re a trading fund, so you’ll help make each project you work financially successful.
You’ll be keen to go anywhere you’re needed around the world.
You’re confident in your own skills and experience, even in isolated locations.
Within small teams, you’ve got the confidence to shoulder some big challenges.
Interested in a career in Engineering, but don’t have any experience? Your world just got bigger, with our Technical Engineering Apprenticeship – where you could learn the skills to become one of our radio, CCTV and access control systems designers. Whatever your age, whatever your background, our in-house training and paid qualifications could be just what you need.
Want to join FCDO Services but can’t see a live role to suit you? Great news: you can sign up for job alerts or add your CV to our talent pool and we’ll be in touch when something comes up.