SMD urges graduate engineers to join the team!

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

The two-year intensive 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 UK 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.

“We hope to recruit up to four graduates this academic year. Applicants don’t have to be from the North East, as long as they have the right qualifications and a desire to work in an exciting and fast paced environment.

“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.

“For anyone considering relocating to join us, the North East truly is a wonderful place to live and work. House prices and rentals are cheaper, it’s less crowded, and we have vibrant towns and cities like Newcastle, packed with history and entertainment, beautiful coastlines and stunning countryside.”

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.

The company has launched a national search to attract new graduates both online and through regularly attending careers fairs at various universities across the country including Loughborough, Bath and Northumbria University.

Graduates joining SMD 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.

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.

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 and 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 https://www.smd.co.uk/graduate-scheme/.

Location: Wallsend, UK