Simulation and Modelling Engineer - Graduate Programme 2026

Simulation and Modelling Engineer - Graduate Programme 2026

Modelling modern weapon systems comes with many unique challenges. As a model developer, you will be working with highly sophisticated models, built up of multiple interdependent subsystems, to provide an accurate representation of the weapon system being used in real-world engagements. This means you'll often encounter new and exciting problems requiring your intuition and innovation to solve.

Salary: £31,500 plus a £3000 joining bonus

Dynamic (hybrid) working: The majority of your time you'll be working onsite in an office environment with a team of people around you to support you with your work.

Security clearance: British Citizen or a Dual UK national with British citizenship. Restrictions and/or limitations relating to nationality and/or rights to work may apply. As a minimum and after offer stage, all successful candidates will need to undergo HMG Basic Personnel Security Standard checks (BPSS), which are managed by the MBDA Personnel Security Team.

CLOSING DATE FOR THIS ROLE IS MIDNIGHT ON 3RD NOVEMBER 2025

What we can offer you

• 2 year Programme: starting September 2026
• Salary reviews throughout the Programme
• Company bonus: up to £2,500 (based on company performance and will vary year to year)
• Pension: maximum total (employer and employee) contribution of up to 14%
• Overtime: opportunity for paid overtime
• Annual Leave: 25 days plus option to purchase extra holiday
• Flexi Leave: up to 15 additional days
• Excellent career progression and development opportunities
• Facilities: fantastic site facilities including subsidised meals, free car parking and much more…

The opportunity

System modelling is a vital tool used to ensure MBDA provides reliable and cost effective weapon systems to our customers!

We build a variety of dynamic system performance models, embedded systems and real time models for MBDA products. Our models are developed and used extensively throughout the product lifecycle, from concept through to in service support. When used internally our performance models allow our system designers to estimate performance, which they can use to guide the product design. For our customer, performance models provide a method of verifying system performance whilst reducing reliance on prohibitively expensive testing and trials. Our real time models contribute to training environments for pilots and provide a variety of engineering testing capabilities. Once the product is in service, the customer continues to use our models to understand system capability and assist with operator training.

Models of modern weapon systems are made up of a large number of automated subsystems integrated together to provide the overall capability. This provides unique challenges when: developing accurate system - or system of system level - models that are both large in scale and highly sophisticated with many interdependencies; or when developing lower fidelity models designed to run at real time whilst maintaining an accurate representation of the weapon system. As a model developer this means you'll often encounter new and exciting problems which will require you to apply your intuition and innovation to solve.

You'll learn how to build simulation software in programming languages/environments such as:

• Mathworks (MATLAB, Simulink and Stateflow)
• Fortran
• C/C++

Our teams implement Agile working practices and dynamic working across multiple projects to meet demand, aided by the use of collaborative tools. We also work closely with other departments and companies to integrate subsystem models and design data. From these interactions you'll gain a broad understanding of each subsystem that makes up the weapon and how the system architecture makes these subsystems work together to provide an overall capability.

This role is best suited to those interested in mathematical modelling and programming, are passionate about solving complex problems within highly technical teams and enjoy working in a supportive environment.

What we're looking for from you

• Degree qualified in Engineering (incl. General, Mechanical, Manufacturing / Production, Aeronautical/Aerospace, Software), Mathematics, Physics, Computing or Natural Science discipline to minimum 2:2

Application Process

• Submit an application: Our application form contains a few factual questions, some questions relating to the role you have applied for and a section for you to tell us all about you!
• Online assessment - Part One: Next in our process is part one of our online strengths assessment, completely tailored to our business and early careers schemes. After completing our assessment you'll receive a personalised report.
• Online assessment - Part Two: Part two of our online assessments include three video recorded tasks which are authentic work scenario based activities which you could be doing on your programme - we refer to these as job simulations.
• Assessment centre: Our strength based assessment centre is a half day virtual experience! You’ll get to work on a range of tasks, meet current programme members and people from the department you have applied for. All candidates receive feedback on their performance.
• Offer: We’ll call you within a week of your assessment day to talk through your feedback and the finer details of your offer, as well as next steps.

Benefits & Rewards

• Annual Bonus: Every year in February, we reward our dedicated employees with an annual bonus. Exact amounts and percentages will vary by job grade and on business performance. This can be discussed/explained further with a member of the Resourcing team during your application process. We are proud to say that we were able to award our annual bonus to employees even through tough economic times in recent years, when other employers were less fortunate.
• 25 Days Annual Leave (plus holiday purchase): Employees receive 25 days of paid annual leave per calendar year, in addition to all statutory and public holidays. After 5, 10 and 15 years of service, an additional day of annual leave is added to your allowance at each of these milestones. You can also enjoy more time off by purchasing up to an additional five days holiday through payroll.
• Dynamic Working: We trust our people to agree, within their teams, where and when they can be most effective. Our Dynamic Working policies allow individuals great levels of flexibility around the hours they work and where they work. Depending on your role and function, this may include options for paid overtime, dynamic leave (time in lieu) and more. When applying, please check the job advert for details, then make sure to discuss what to expect with your recruiter.
• Enhanced Parental Leave: We recognise that having or adopting a child is a significant life event for our employees and as a family friendly employer we offer a range of enhanced family leave provisions to support employees before, during and after a period of leave. Our enhanced parental leave offers up to 26 weeks for maternity, adoption and shared parental leave. Enhancements are available for paternity leave, neonatal leave and fertility testing and treatments. We also offer 2 weeks enhanced pay for paternity leave, and neonatal care leave for up to 12 weeks where a period of extended hospital care is required after birth. Employees also have access to support whilst undergoing fertility testing and treatments.
• Lifestyle - Discounts & Vouchers: Discounts – The Discounts platform includes a great range of features such as: discounts, instant vouchers, reloadable cards, easy saver cards, cashback, mobile app and Wellbeing Centre. Costco - Permanent employees of MBDA qualify for Costco’s individual membership. Technology Vouchers – Purchase the latest gadgets and white goods up to the value of £2,500 and spread the cost over 12 months. Charity Donations - Donate up to five charities each month, with full tax relief on all donations. MyCar Scheme – The MBDA MyCar Scheme offers employees the opportunity to access up to two new vehicles via a salary sacrifice arrangement including an all-inclusive package. Holiday Purchase – Purchase up to 5 days' extra holiday whilst making tax and National Insurance savings, spreading the cost over 12 months.
• Gyms & Social Clubs: Healthworks Gym Membership - The Healthworks on-site gym at our Stevenage site offers a range of facilities and equipment, alongside a variety of classes available during the week. Annual Gym Membership – Take advantage of discounted membership at over 3,600 of the UK's leading gym chains, leisure centres, hotel health clubs, independent gyms, boot camps and yoga studios. The Club –The Club provides a fantastic opportunity to enjoy great social activities - from theatre trips, days out, to sporting activities.
• Pension & Finance: Our MBDA Retirement Savings Plan is a 'Defined Contribution' plan in the Mercer Master Trust, administered by Scottish Widows. The standard contributions are 4% of an employee's base salary and 6% employer contributions. You can increase both employee and employer contributions by up to 2%. Financial Awareness – Employees have access to free financial webinars hosted throughout the year, along with access to a financial education website which provides plenty of useful hints, tips and guidance on managing financial wellness. Share Incentive Plan - Acquire shares in our UK Shareholder, BAE Systems PLC, the scheme is tax efficient on shares purchased. Mortgage Advice – As part of our financial wellbeing initiative employees can access free of charge mortgage advice and webinars. Season Ticket Loan – Employees can borrow the value of public transport season ticket for bus or train journeys to and from work and spread the cost over 12 months. Critical Illness – To help reduce the financial impact after being diagnosed with a critical illness, employees receive a tax-free lump sum payment that can be used for any purpose including covering medical expenses, adjustments to lifestyle and more.
• Share Incentive Plan: The Share Incentive Plan (SIP) is available for you to join and reinforces our commitment to long-term share ownership amongst our employees.
• Free Financial Advice: We know money matters in life, so we want to make sure our employees are both paid what they deserve, and also have access to resources that can help them plan for the future. Through selected partnerships, we offer a range of free seminars, held throughout the year, to help you make good financial decisions for now and the future.
• Extracurricular Learning Budget: You can receive up to £150 towards the cost of approved courses each year including group language lessons.
• Health and Wellbeing: Employee Assistance Programme - The Employee Assistance Programme is free, independent, confidential and is available 24 hours a day/365 days a year. Employees have access to short-term counselling (which includes up to 8 structured face to face, telephone or virtual sessions). Voluntary Private Medical Insurance – Private Medical Insurance offers three healthcare plans to suit your individual requirements for you and your family. Funded Private Medical Insurance - Eligible employees (Grade C & Above) are enrolled as standard into the company funded Private Medical Insurance benefit. Dental Insurance – The Dental Insurance benefit provides the option to claim cash back on everyday dental expenses such as, minor treatments, routine examinations, restorative treatment and more. There are six levels of cover available, with each level providing increased claim limits. Healthcare Cash Plan - The Healthcare Cash Plan benefit provides the option to claim cash back on everyday healthcare expenses such as optical, dental, health and wellbeing and more. There are six levels of cover available, with each level providing increased claim limits. Healthcare and Leisure – The Healthcare and Leisure benefit provides the option to claim cash back on everyday healthcare expenses such as medical fees, dentist fees, opticians and also provides access to special deals and concessions on sporting and recreational facilities.
• Employee Assistance Programme: Our employees' wellbeing is our priority. That's why everyone at MBDA UK can access free, confidential advice on a range of financial, personal and workplace issues, available 24/7.

Information

Training and Development

You’ll be able to choose between a variety of online learning platforms such as Percipio, YouLearn, Career Builder and Video Gateway. Each one is tailored to a specific type of learning. Speak to your line manager to find out more. We encourage new learning and will provide up to £150 in financial support per year if you wish to participate in further study in your own time. You’ll have access to our Learning Gateway, which hosts the formal course catalogue and is where you can select the right training for your role and future development. The catalogue displays which courses are being delivered virtually or are classroom based. If you want to lead a team, you might be interested in our management training, designed for people of all experience levels.

Dynamic Working

The way we work is changing and your schedule will reflect that. For non-executive employees, we have a flexi-time scheme that allows you to choose, within certain parameters, when you start and finish each day and how you can use time you have accrued. If you have worked the time, you are also able to accrue and take up to 15 days of Flexi-leave per annum, in addition to the 25 days of annual leave provided and bank holidays.

Security Clearance

All employees at MBDA are required to hold UK Security or BPSS Clearance. For further information, please view our Security & Vetting page.

How to apply

To apply for this role and to find out more, please click on the apply button. Please note that applications may close before the application deadline, so apply early to avoid disappointment.