Undergraduate Systems Design Engineer Review

As a systems engineer your work is varied and multi-disciplinary. On a daily basis you will cooperate with multiple different experts to deliver unique objectives. Due to the number of projects and products at MBDA you can work on a large number of elements and find what you want to do! On a day-to-day there is organised communication between teams, managers, and higher-ups giving a great sense of company cohesion. A systems engineer looks truly at the high-level meaning you get to see the whole project come together.

MBDA places a great deal of responsibility in your work. You may not be able to make the big decisions but the work given is of clear importance within the overall project. They trust you to deal with sensitive information and handle yourself responsibility in and out of the workplace. I am particular pleased with being able to deal with global teams and not just my office colleagues.
In addition to this I am given my own responsibility of work and feel free to ask for more or less depending on my stress levels.

Learning how to work in a defence company is a skills in itself. They are very unique and have complex relationships with suppliers, governmental bodies and the public. Being my first placement it is a big introduction to the professional work place and how to be truly independent in your work. A large difference to that of university work but not necessarily a bad one. Skills learnt include: Being accountable for your own work, teamworking online, communication to people with little to zero technical knowledge and more!

MBDA gives you multiple levels of support on the Technical, Project, HR and Wellbeing sides. I would almost go as far to say that there is too much! It can be hard to know exactly who to ask as there is many. There is a clear aim within the company to enable you to get the most out of your role and the company clear invests lots of resources into your guidance and support. I feel very welcomed at MBDA UK.

As a large majority of MBDA UK employees come from the Early Careers programs there is a very welcoming nature. You are not treated as the office lackey and also not expected to know everything. This gives the office a chill feel and the amenities offered on site make working very comfortable.
There is a clear standard of high moral responsibility and company together-ness. I feel not just part of my team but a key part of MBDA as a whole.

At my current time in my placement I am enjoying the new environment and exciting opportunities. With the company being so large and international I feel there are many opportunities ahead and I can truly choose what interests me.
I feel already prepared to come back to my university with a new set of skills and better understanding of how engineering impacts our society. The opportunity to take a look into the defence world is rewarding and highly highly enjoyable.

Yes