Member Article

SMD urges graduate engineers to join the team!

Tyneside-based subsea engineering specialist Soil Machine Dynamics Ltd (SMD) is urging North East university students to apply to its Graduate scheme.

The two-year training and development programme aims to cultivate young engineers in a variety of disciplines to work across SMD sites in North East England.

Chloe Hopper, SMD HR Manager, explains: “Investing in young people is vital for the future. We know there’s a skills shortage in the manufacturing sector making vacancies in mechanical and electrical engineering difficult to fill.

“In a highly competitive and specialised industry like ours, recruiting fresh talent through our graduate scheme is crucial in enabling us to develop the skills and talent required to take on these roles.

“Our focus at SMD is personal and professional development with genuine career progression. We take a long-term approach to growing, inspiring and training the business and engineering leaders of tomorrow to future-proof the business.”

SMD is a market leading global company with over 45 years’ experience in the subsea technology sector and a North East engineering success story. The company is widely regarded throughout the international subsea industry for being an excellent employer, attracting top engineering talent locally, nationally and overseas.

Graduates joining the scheme receive theoretical and experiential learning to give them an in-depth knowledge of the business, its divisions and product life-cycle from concept to manufacture, commissioning and customer support.

Andy Buglass, 25, from Stakeford in Northumberland, is an electrical engineer in the SMD Services division based at the Port of Tyne. The company paid for him to study an electrical and electronic engineering degree at Northumbria University.

“I joined SMD as multi-skilled electrical engineering apprentice following the closure of the Rio Tinto Smelter in 2012. SMD is a successful company which really looks after its people and rewards their efforts by promoting from within.

“For someone like me, who is hands-on, keen to develop and carve a successful career, the possibilities are limitless. I’ve worked on a variety of prestigious projects in Oman, Papa New Guinea and all over Europe. I’d urge anyone with a passion for engineering who wants to grow their talent to apply to the graduate scheme,” said Andy.

Benefits of the scheme include a competitive starting salary, support to achieve chartered engineer status and additional training and educational qualifications, overseas travel, private healthcare and a contributory pension.

SMD is exhibiting at the Northumbria University Careers Fair on Monday 6 November. The event attracts over 2,000 students and graduates seeking to meet employers for placements, work experience and graduate job roles.

Dominic Kent, a Northumbria University graduate with a degree in mechanical engineering, said: “When I graduated in 2015 I chose SMD because of the opportunities that were available to me and also because I would be able to rotate around the different areas of the business.

“One of the highlights of my career so far has been working on research and development projects. It is exciting to be involved in new product development because you get to see an idea progress from concept to reality and to know that you have been part of that process is really exciting, not to mention the really good experience it gives you!”

Specialising in the development of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and advanced ploughing, trenching and mining machines, SMD has a global reputation in the design and manufacture of ROVs and subsea intervention solutions within the oil and gas, renewables, telecoms and mining markets. This includes bespoke projects such as the world’s first three deep sea mining machines delivered in 2016.

The company operates three strategic sites in the North East; a head office and heavy production facility at Davy Bank in Wallsend, a manufacturing site in North Shields and a new servicing operations base at the Port of Tyne. SMD is a subsidiary of Chinese parent company CRRC TEC Ltd, the world’s largest provider of propulsion and power control systems. The company continues to expand its global network and is currently investing in a new sales and manufacturing facility in Shanghai. To find out more visit www.smd.co.uk/graduate-scheme/.

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