Engineering Apprentice Manager at British Airways

The role:

Engineering Apprentice Manager

A unique strategic leadership role at the heart of our engineering talent pipeline. As the Engineering Apprentice Manager, you’ll lead a team responsible for setting the direction for how we attract, develop, and inspire our future engineers.

Working in a complex, safety critical environment, you’ll balance people leadership with strategic planning and operational delivery, ensuring a high quality apprentice experience that embeds health, safety, wellbeing, and professional standards. You’ll influence the long‑term apprentice and talent pipeline strategy, drive consistency and quality across programmes and collaborate with senior leaders, safety teams and training partners to develop confident, capable engineers for the future.

What you’ll do:

• Accountable for the technical, quality and airmanship standards of all engineering apprenticeship programmes in delivering against future resource requirements, making recommendations through clear, actionable areas for improvement.
• Act as the central point of contact for apprentices, business stakeholders and external providers, resolving issues where appropriate.
• Responsible for ensuring a safe working environment with professional standards for apprentice placements across the UK and overseas supported by a strong mentor network.
• Drives engagement and builds effective relationships with trade unions, colleagues, senior stakeholders up to Director level and partners by role modelling and embedding leadership and brand behaviours.
• Understands colleague performance, setting and managing to clear expectations.
• Develop apprenticeship skills, capabilities and qualifications to support learning objectives and business requirements in order to successfully transition into permanent roles.
• Leads induction activities, sourcing and allocation of placements, development interventions, community forums and apprentice exchange programmes.
• Bring cohesion and consistency across Engineering for all apprenticeship programmes to build a strong, networked and interdependent apprentice community.
• Responsible for the development of mentors and consistent development of the support network and safeguarding of work experience students and apprentices through communication and training.

What you’ll bring to British Airways:

• Evidence of leading people, consistently delivering and developing high performance teams
• Use of proven communication skills, engaging and influencing to deliver business objectives
• Coached and identified development areas for self and others
• Ability to develop, inspire and guide teams to deliver to their full potential
• Demonstrates structured problem-solving skills to make fact-based decisions in a complex environment.
• Good technical knowledge to challenge the status quo, implement new ideas
• Self-aware and emotionally intelligent
• Understands own development needs and when to ask for help
• Ability to adapt leadership style to different situations
• Uncompromising in safety, security, process and regulatory requirements
• Drives the internal business stakeholders and the Global Learning Academy to plan and deliver successful apprenticeship programmes that meet business objectives,
• Enables, empowers and embeds continuous improvement that delivers value added change
• Passionate about the development of the future talent pipeline, developing the outreach strategies and work experience programmes, growing diversity and attracting new talent into engineering.

Your experience:

• Detailed knowledge of aircraft engineering principles and airmanship (Essential)
• HNC/D in Engineering, Aircraft Maintenance Licence or suitable experience (Essential)
• Working knowledge of CAA Regulations, BA policies, procedures and technical documentation (Preferred)
• Working knowledge of Health and Safety legislation (Preferred)
• Working knowledge of apprenticeships (Preferred)