Apprentice (Scientist)

Summary

Do you want to be part of building a greener, healthier, and stronger North West? Come and join us! With a range of award-winning roles on offer, you’re sure to find your perfect career here at United Utilities. We’ll provide you with industry-leading skills and the experience you need to succeed in your chosen field.

Wage: £20,000 a year
Minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)
Training course: Laboratory scientist (degree) (level 6)
Hours: Monday to Friday, shifts to be confirmed
37 hours a week
Possible start date: Wednesday 3 September
Duration: 5 years
Positions available: 3

Work

As an apprentice, you’ll work at a company and get hands-on experience. You’ll gain new skills and work alongside experienced staff.

What you’ll do at work

As an Apprentice Laboratory Scientist, you’ll learn:

Key scientific skills and how to ensure that the water that comes out of the tap is of the highest quality. Therefore, ensuring our water is of the quality our customers have learnt to expect
How to work as part of a dedicated team focussed on ensuring our water quality stays at the highest level
How to work with a wide range of equipment and systems, as well as follow the company’s rigorous health and safety standards

Where you’ll work

Lingley Mere - Laboratories, Lingley Green Avenue, Great Sankey, Warrington

WA5 3LP

Training

An apprenticeship includes regular training with a college or other training organisation. At least 20% of your working hours will be spent training or studying.

College or training organisation

MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY

Your training course

Laboratory scientist (degree) (level 6)

Equal to degree

Course contents

Identify and use the scientific approaches appropriate to one specialist discipline required to solve problems, support new investigations and follow-up experiments in the laboratory.
Appraise scientific experimentation, independently design and implement new processes according to relevant literature and other data sources interrogated using data mining techniques and input from colleagues.
Support appraisal of scientific experimentation with numerical and statistical analysis.
Work autonomously to analyse, interpret and evaluate scientific data and present the results of laboratory work and problem solving clearly and concisely in written and oral form.
Comply with regulations including compliance with business rules pertaining to record keeping, data integrity, traceability & confidentiality.
Promote and ensure the application of quality standards, safe working practices and compliance with risk management systems relevant to the workplace in own work and the work of others.
Use creative thinking and problem solving techniques such as root cause analysis, to challenge assumptions, innovate, make new proposals and build on existing ideas.
Autonomously plan and prioritise tasks, review and evaluate progress against objectives and investigate alternative scenarios.
Contribute to the development of specific technical projects across multi-disciplinary teams.
Ensure that targets are met and maintained, within own area of responsibility, whilst complying with defined company procedures and legislative requirements.
Lead continuous performance improvement within the scientific and technical environment using process mapping & analysis and root cause analysis that is informed by other appropriate principles, such as lean, six sigma, project and change management.

Your training plan

Your apprenticeship will last 60 months, and successful apprentices will achieve a Laboratory Scientist (degree), Level 6 standard, endorsed by the Institute for Apprenticeships.

No two days are ever the same in our science department. Our talented team are always on the go as they work to ensure that the water that reaches our customers is always of the same high standard.

You’ll have the chance to join the team and learn key scientific skills, while studying and working towards a rewarding career in the water industry.

You’ll get to grips with lots of different systems and activities that take place in our science department, including Ion Chromatography, Colorimetry and Spectrometry.

More training information

We’re looking for someone keen to gain hands-on experience, develop practical skills, and achieve the standards needed to succeed in this role.

Requirements

Essential qualifications

GCSE in:

5 subjects incl. Maths, English & Science/Tech (grade A-C or 9-4)

Other in:

- (grade equivalent A-C or 9-4)
A-level, Apprenticeship/BTEC inc. chemical science (grade totalling 104 UCAS points)

Let the company know about other relevant qualifications and industry experience you have. They can adjust the apprenticeship to reflect what you already know.

Skills

Communication skills
Attention to detail
Organisation skills
Problem solving skills
Analytical skills
Team working
Initiative

Other requirements

During your apprenticeship, you may need to travel to your place of study. If you’re from outside the area, accommodation will be provided by United Utilities during this period (excluding weekends). *As long as you meet all necessary standards and behaviour criteria throughout the programme.

About this company

United Utilities is responsible for water and wastewater services in the North West of England. Our purpose is to provide great water and more for the North West. We deliver 1.8 billion litres of water a day to more than 3 million homes and businesses in the North West, as well as treating all the wastewater which disappears around the U-bend. Keeping the region flowing relies on a vast behind the scenes operation, involving hundreds of reservoirs, treatment works and pumping stations; thousands of kilometres of water pipes and sewers and a 5,000 strong workforce.

Disability Confident

A fair proportion of interviews for this apprenticeship will be offered to applicants with a disability or long-term health condition. This includes non-visible disabilities and conditions.

You can choose to be considered for an interview under the Disability Confident scheme. You’ll need to meet the essential requirements to be considered for an interview.

After this apprenticeship

Your apprenticeship will last 60 months, and successful apprentices will achieve a Laboratory Scientist (degree), Level 6 standard, endorsed by the Institute for Apprenticeships.

Ask a question

The contact for this apprenticeship is:

MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY

UUEarlyCareers@uuplc.co.uk

03301754408

The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC1000298207.

Apply now

Closes in 6 days (Wednesday 19 February)

When you apply, you’ll be asked to sign in with a GOV.UK One Login. You can create one at the same time as applying for this apprenticeship.

After signing in, you’ll apply for this apprenticeship on the company's website.

Company’s application instructions

If offered a job, pre-employment checks are required before confirmation. Employment with United Utilities is subject to a satisfactory report from Disclosure Scotland/DBS. Apply for one apprenticeship only; you'll need to explain your application. Visa sponsorship is not available for this role.

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