Graduate - Natural and Built Environment (Birmingham)
High Speed Two (HS2)
At HS2 we offer a two-year rotational graduate programme, providing you with the opportunity to stretch and challenge yourself across various topic specialist related placements. This programme is designed around enabling you to get as much environmental experience as possible across different teams within HS2.
We have a graduate opportunity available in Birmingham, which will require travel to various site/ HS2 Office locations across the HS2 line of route. The opportunity will be available across a variety of HS2 teams including but not limited to those listed below.
The role will support the Natural and Built Environment team, working in collaboration with the supply chain as well as HS2 colleagues to ensure our environmental and sustainability commitments are delivered.
The Natural and Built Environment Directorate sits within the Railway Directorate. The Railway Directorate is critical to the successful delivery of the HS2 project and is responsible for unifying specification, integration and operational of the end-state capabilities of the new high-speed railway.
The role will include working with a wide range of stakeholders including contractors as well as government decision and policy makers.
Your placement will include rotations across the teams that make up Natural and Built Environment Directorate at HS2 which include areas such as carbon management, climate change, biodiversity, town planning, landscape design or water and hydrology, to name but a few. You will also have opportunity to work within other parts of the business such as construction delivery teams or procurement. (Please note the rotational placements may vary and are subject to business requirements).
About the role:
- Assist in the communication of HS2 environmental initiatives like biodiversity management and the communication of HS2 environmental policies and commitments
- Work closely with the subject matter experts to provide supporting information for meetings with stakeholders including statutory bodies
- Support in the planning of assurance activities and audits on contractors sit management plans and their implementation
- Reviewing contractor scope documents and method statements
- Produce programme of sites to be visited liaising with the contractor to arrange access
- Support Environment Managers to identify environmental risks and implement mitigation and remediation measures for the operational running of the railway
- Working towards membership of relevant environmental/built environment body (e.g. IEMA, IES, RTPI, etc.)
- Actively promote and embed Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all your work, and support and comply with organisational initiatives, policies and procedures on EDI
Skills:
- The ability to organise and manage competing priorities.
- Ability to coordinate and deliver multiple tasks and responsibilities in accordance with agreed deadlines.
- Ability to communicate effectively with diverse teams and stakeholders
- Ability to convert technical information into a format that is understandable to a variety of non-technical audiences in a persuasive and engaging way.
- Ability to understand complex issues to carry out problem solving.
- Ability to work collaboratively across a multidisciplinary team.
Knowledge:
- At least a 2:2 Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in a subject related to the environment.
- Knowledge of environmental issues.
- IT knowledge including Word, Excel, PowerPoint or equivalent.
Does HS2 offer sponsorship if I do not have the Right to Work in the UK?
To be eligible to apply to the HS2 Graduate scheme for our September 2025 in-take, any applicant will need to already have the on-going Right to Work in the UK, that is not time-bound in any way.
Due to the nature of our organisation, HS2 are not able to sponsor any applications as we do not hold the required sponsorship license from the UK Home Office and candidates are not allowed to sponsor themselves.
We appreciate the Right to Work question can be complex to understand, so if you are unsure of your Right to Work status in the UK, please email us at HS2Jobs@hs2.org.uk and we will be happy to advise further. Please note, to enable HS2 to comply with UK Home Office policy, your Right to Work status will be checked early in the recruitment process.
Our graduate programme salaries:
Salaries are currently pending pay review however please see below figures based on 2024;
Outside of London
Basic £23,750 + 15% Flexible allowance
Please note the rotational placements may vary and are subject to business requirements.
