Graduate Programme - Local Government; Engineering

Position: 2026 Graduate Programme - Local Government (Engineering)

What if you could do the kind of work the world needs?

At WSP, you can access our global scale, contribute to landmark projects and connect with the brightest minds in your field to do the best work of your life. You can embrace your curiosity in a culture that celebrates new ideas and diverse perspectives. You can experience a world of opportunity and the chance to shape a career as unique as you.

We are looking for Graduates for our Communities Engineering teams, who have a flexible approach and an appetite to learn in a leading Engineering and Professional Advisory services consultancy. We want you to enjoy working in a collaborative environment where you can apply your skills working for a diverse range of clients and projects.

We are recruiting for Graduates in the following services and locations:

• Communities - Lincoln (Highways Engineering)
• Communities - Cardiff (Structures & Infrastructure)
• Communities - Norfolk (Highways and Infrastructure Engineering)

A little bit more about your role and the team…

Across the UK, our communities teams provide local authorities with advice on everything from transport to urban regeneration, and flood risk to securing funding. The Communities teams in which we are recruiting for Civil and Structural Engineers are based in Lincoln, Norfolk and Cardiff. As we work in partnership with local councils, we are unable to offer flexibility on these locations.

We improve our clients’ transport systems, increasing quality, safety, accessibility, and good connectivity to reduce social isolation. We help our clients to address the challenges of net zero and the demand for digital service delivery. We also help to address the intensification of cities and towns while satisfying the need to protect green space. The training you will receive within our Communities teams comprise of an excellent blend of public and private sector skills.

Projects

Our teams work on some notable assignments in the UK, and you will be helping deliver projects such as:

• Lincolnshire County Council
• Norfolk County Council
• Rhondda Cynon Taf Council
• Merthyr Tydfil Council
• Bridgend Council

Our Communities (Engineering) Teams include:
Lincoln (Highways Engineering)

As a graduate you’ll play an important role in supporting the Lincoln team in the delivery of efficient and effective highway schemes. Helping with the design of new, and the maintenance of existing, infrastructure projects from footways and cycleways to major junction improvements and bypass schemes. The development of these schemes will be from concept to completion, including supervision of construction.

Your work will be varied and reactive to the team’s priorities. You will fulfil a pivotal role in completing projects that deliver real benefit to people’s lives.

Day‑to‑Day activities could include:

• Undertaking investigations, site inspections, data collection and analysis, scheme design and development, along with supervision of construction.
• Preparing technical design solutions in accordance with approved design procedures.
• Preparing technical documents and drawings for checking and approval.
• Agreeing delivery targets with senior staff and reporting regularly on progress towards milestones.
• Managing the delivery of your own projects with minimal supervision.

Cardiff – RCT ‘Rhondda Cynon Taf’ (Structures and Civil Infrastructure Engineering)

This Local Government team deliver essential transport and infrastructure upgrades across the region, supporting economic growth, resilience, and sustainability. We are looking for individuals to join our structures and civil infrastructure engineering teams.

As a Graduate focusing on structural engineering within this team, you will be undertaking inspections of infrastructure so that you get a hands‑on appreciation of structures, what makes them “tick” and the sorts of defects to be aware of.

Day‑to‑Day activities could include:

• Inspections of essential infrastructure
• Preliminary design calculations
• Writing up of Optioneering and Feasibility studies
• Gaining hands‑on experience of developing solutions to problems

As a Graduate focusing on civil infrastructure engineering within this team you will be involved in our…