Technical Safety & Assurance Graduate Scheme

Closing date - 26th October 2025

What is NATS?

NATS is the UK’s leading Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP). Every year we handle 2.6 million flights and keep 250 million passengers safe whilst in UK airspace. We provide air traffic management (ATM) services to 15 airports in the UK as well as providing these services around the world spanning Europe, Middle East, Asia, and North America.

We’re shaping the future of ATM through our focus on ‘advancing aviation and keeping the skies safe’ and believe that the size and diversity of our business makes us an exciting choice for undergraduates considering their future careers.

Safety is at the heart of what we do and who we are – every one of us has a part to play in ensuring operational, physical, cyber, and personal safety every day.

The Safety & Assurance team support a wide variety of projects from smaller routine updates to our current in-service systems, to major programmes implementing new technologies.

What will the Technical Safety and Assurance Graduate Scheme involve?

This scheme will be based at our Head Office in Whiteley or our Air Traffic Control Centre in Swanwick (Hampshire) however we have adopted ‘agile working’ which will enable you, where possible, to have the opportunity and flexibility to work in our modern office facilities as well as at home.

The Technical Services Safety and Assurance team provide assurance solutions to give confidence to the business that our technical and engineering practices and systems are fit for purpose and that the changes we are making can be safely implemented.
Working in Technical Safety & Assurance provides a fantastic career opportunity to develop systems safety engineering skills while working in a multi-disciplinary environment. It will provide the opportunity to be part of a team focussed on the development and delivery of a safe service to our ATC colleagues, Airline and Military Customers, and to the travelling public.

Typically, you will be involved in:

• Supporting Safety & Assurance Managers / Lead Safety & Assurance Engineers
• Undertaking Systems Safety activities and assessments
• Contributing to the development of safety assurance cases
• Working in multidisciplinary project teams to identify and manage hazards and risks
• Monitoring of compliance against legislation and regulation
• The NATS Safety Management System

Why choose NATS?

By joining NATS not only will you be working for the UK’s leading ANSP, but you will also be working at the heart of our organisation, alongside other Graduates, Undergraduate Students and Professionals. You will gain valuable insight into our business and make a tangible contribution to our success.    

We are committed to your personal and professional development and will help you achieve your goals. Your placement experience will be unique to you so you can build on the knowledge you have gained at university. We are committed to your personal and professional development and with the support of our skilled advisors, we will help you achieve your goals.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for driven, proactive and committed individuals who will embrace the challenging targets that we have set ourselves over the next few years.  One thing is clear to us; we can only achieve these targets through our people. We will be leading the way technically, operationally, commercially and politically and you can help us shape the future.   

We are looking for individuals who share our passion to advance aviation and keep the skies safe.   We provide answers to the critical issues faced by the aviation industry around the world, such as cost-efficiency, environment and data use and have built our reputation on delivering a first rate, safe and efficient service.    

Desired Skills:

You will have the ability to produce well documented, high quality technical work and judge when work is of a sufficient standard. Effective communication and presentation skills to peers and managers. You will be a clear thinker, who can work within a team, communicate with other team members and also work independently where required, to a project timescale.

Desired Qualifications:

You’ll need to have achieved a minimum of 2:2 in a STEM degree (which could be scientific, technical, engineering or mathematically orientated) within the last 2 years or be on track to graduate in 2026.

You’ll also need to pass NATS pre-employment security clearance checks.

Additional vacancy information:

If you’ve applied and have met the minimum requirements for our scheme, you will be invited to complete a variety of online tests. If you are successful in passing this stage, you may have the opportunity to attend one of our virtual assessment centres!

Assessment centres slots will be available to book onto between the 12th - 14th November. They will be held virtually via Microsoft Teams from the 2nd – 12th December.

What’s in it for you?

Competitive salary - £31,000 per annum + £1,000 welcome bonus

28 days of holiday entitlement plus Bank Holidays

Market-leading defined contribution pension scheme  

For more information on the benefits we offer, please visit https://www.nats.aero/careers/early-careers/

On successful completion of the graduate scheme, you will be appointed to a substantive grade in the Air Traffic Control Engineering career path.

Diversity and Inclusion at NATS

We celebrate the diversity of our colleagues. We thrive because we are all brilliantly different yet united in our passion to advance aviation and keep the skies safe. For more information on our commitment to diversity and inclusion, please visit: https://www.nats.aero/careers/why-nats

If you share our passion to advance aviation and keep the skies safe – we would like to hear from you whatever your age, sex, race, faith, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, visible or invisible disability. Individuals that bring different perspectives, skills, life experiences and backgrounds help us be at the forefront of our industry.

We want you to be able to perform at your best, so please email earlycareers@nats.co.uk if you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments.