£18,983 plus and location allowance (£5,000 for London or £1,750 for Milton Keynes) and excellent benefits
Based at King Charles Street, London or Hanslope Park, Milton Keynes
For a placement year commencing September 2021

At FCDO Services (formerly known as FCO Services), we protect information, assets and people for government bodies worldwide. Whether it’s building and repairing embassies, delivering diplomatic goods across borders, or installing secure IT for government buildings, our vital work is vast and highly impactful – and our Building Services team sits right at the centre.

Are you studying Building Services Engineering or an equivalent degree discipline, with a year in industry as part of the course? Our year-long programme will see you reach new heights as you work on buildings from overseas embassies to government buildings right here in the UK. In short, in just one year, you’ll gain practical experience, a competitive salary, and the chance to go from student to respected professional – all before graduating.

Work that’ll benefit your career – and our planet
Your work will be varied and exciting – from retro fitting solar panels to embassies around the world to designing the electrical or heating systems that keep secure residential and office buildings up and running. With the choice of being based at our London on Milton Keynes sites (with potential travel between the two), you’ll experience all kinds of projects – with the scope for onsite visits both in the UK and abroad, dependent on COVID-19 restrictions. Whatever you turn your hand to though, you’ll be part of maintaining our high standards, with a promise to be reliable, responsive, and build relationships with customers and colleagues at all levels.

Throughout your year in industry, you’ll work on live projects alongside our government customers, taking on increasing levels of responsibility as you go. And you’ll collaborate with all kinds of teams on projects with a lasting impact. Whether that’s professional Engineers, Surveyors or Project Managers, you’ll work with them to pick up skills in everything from utility design for 18th century embassies, to gas and electrical inspections, to lift maintenance and upgrades for modern sky rises, to the air conditioning unit requirements for secure government server rooms. Not to mention that you’ll learn how to deliver it all – end-to-end.

Solve problems as a team, then grow as an individual
Who are we looking for? Well, you’ll be at least two years into your BSc in Building Services Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or Electrical/Electronic Engineering, and you’ll be ready to take on a year in industry before heading back to graduate. You’ll be an excellent communicator who lives and breathes collaboration – and, of course, you’ll have the organisation skills to match. What’s more, impeccable numerical and analytical skills are needed as you’ll be tackling complex problems and creating solutions for government buildings around the world.

Then there’s the technical bit. Knowledge of design software, such as AutoCAD and REVIT would be highly beneficial. Plus, you’ll have a keen eye for distinguishing between different coloured electrical wires, so please note that candidates invited to the assessment centre will be asked to undertake a colour blindness test.

Get your career off to a flying start
At FCDO Services, you won’t just do work with global impact, protecting information, assets and people all over the world. You’ll also gain experience that will make a real difference to your final year at university – not to mention to your career when you graduate. All that opportunity packed into just twelve months; it’s your future – bigger.

As we work to protect government buildings and data, all our employees have to undertake a Security Check (SC) before joining us. This is nothing to worry about, it’s simply to give assurance to our customers that we can be trusted in all we do. Then, if you’re offered a permanent position at the end of your placement, you’ll be required to go through Developed Vetting (DV). You can find out more about vetting here.

Want to see your future team’s work in action? Step into our Virtual Embassy and
select a guide – we suggest ‘designing and engineering the embassy building’ – to take you round, to see how the team delivers for government customers and how you could help. Explore the embassy now at virtual-embassy.fcdoservicescareers.co.uk


FCDO Services are regulated by the Civil Service Commission.