Mechanical Engineering Internship

Who are United Utilities?

United Utilities is responsible for water and wastewater services in the North West of England. From 2025-2030 we will undertake the largest investment in water and wastewater services in the North West in 100 years - that's more than £13 billion worth of investments. Now, more than ever, we need inspiring future talent to help make the North West stronger, greener, and healthier.

Whatever area of our business your interests lie in, our internship will give you first-class training and support, together with an in-depth understanding of your chosen business area – so that you can develop the skills you need to progress your career as you make a real contribution to the communities we serve. You might enter our organisation as an intern, but one thing's for sure, if you perform well, you may well be leaving with a graduate offer before you have even returned to university.

Whichever internship you join, you’ll be at the heart of bringing innovation and positive change to the water industry. Ready to flow into your future with us?

The Role

In the Engineering department you will join a large team working on real business projects, carrying out a variety of engineering tasks.

This is an opportunity to develop your mechanical engineering skills whilst gaining real world experience working alongside technical specialists and operational engineers solving problems that will impact customers and the environment.

You will gain an understanding of a wide range of projects in water and wastewater, supporting one of our Mechanical engineers in a projects and area deployed role. You will be working in a multidisciplinary team of engineers who support live operations across Merseyside, Manchester, Cheshire and Lancashire with a core team of Mechanical engineers to provide you with support in day to day projects.

Throughout your placement, we will provide you with an overview of the water, wastewater, and bioresources processes and the engineering challenges they face. We aim to show you how we treat water for drinking, treat wastewater in order to release it safely back into the environment, and how we generate biogas from waste solids. You will work on live projects aiming to improve our works and gain a deeper understanding of the mechanical principles applied to the work we do.

You will benefit from the shared knowledge within the UU Mechanical Engineering & Operational Teams and expertise of working with colleagues across the wider Engineering disciplines. We will help you develop your own specialist skills whilst providing a valuable contribution to the team.

You will also get the opportunity to mix with our current graduates who can share experiences, tips, and guidance with you for the next steps in your career. Working alongside other graduates you will see how United Utilities operate their accredited IMechE MPDS scheme and how we support your development towards chartership.

What we are looking for

United Utilities are looking for undergraduate Engineers in their penultimate year of studying a mechanical engineering or relevant engineering degree.

To apply you need to:

• Have researched and have knowledge of United Utilities' engineering activities.
• Be working towards at least a 2:1 in an IMechE accredited Mechanical Engineering or relevant engineering degree.
• Have a strong foundation of maths and science A-levels.
• Have good IT skills particularly in Microsoft Office.
• Be motivated and enthusiastic, an excellent team player, possessing ambition and drive.
• Possess good written and interpersonal skills and have the ability to communicate and influence across all levels.
• Be able to be comfortable working flexibly across a range of tasks and activities to deadlines as well as being able to prioritise your time.
• Have conducted a fluid dynamics / thermofluids module or similar at university
• Being able to drive and having your own car is advantageous but not required*

*You will be based out of Lingley Mere Headquarters, Warrington with days working on site / other office hubs as required. Some office days may be at other hubs but this will be down to line manager and workload discretion – flexibility is essential.

• Hub offices: Offices based in Lancashire, Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire as required
• Site based work as required across Lancashire, Merseyside, Manchester & Cheshire
• Role is hybrid working, with 3 days per week on site / in office and remaining 2 days working from home. More / less than 3 days per week may be required as workloads change. To be agreed with line manager during on boarding process.
• There will be a need to travel to rural sites throughout this placement.

Additional Information

Our recruitment process requires you to complete:

• An Online application form
• An in-person interview and presentation

Please note that you must be available to attend an in-person recruitment stage during the period 17th November – 19th December

We are an equal opportunity employer committed to creating a diverse environment. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or age. If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout your recruitment journey, please let us know. If you are offered a job with us, a number of pre-employment checks need to be carried out before your appointment can be confirmed. Any offer of employment with United Utilities will be subject to a satisfactory checking report from Disclosure and Barring Service/Disclosure Scotland.

Application deadline: 13th October 2025 – please apply early as deadlines are subject to change

Based on current immigration guidelines this role is not eligible for visa sponsorship