The job

As an Engineer Officer you’ll receive excellent training and have the opportunity to work with state-of-the-art technology. Depending on your qualifications and capabilities, you can join as either Aerosystems (AS) or Communications/Electronics (CE). Whichever specialisation you choose, being an Engineer Officer is about leadership and management. You’ll be given a lot more responsibility at an earlier age than you could ever expect as a civilian.

Aerosystems

Aerosystems deals with the RAF’s cutting edge – its aircraft and missiles. As an Engineer Officer (AS) you’ll deal with the weapons, avionics and propulsion systems of all kinds of aircraft, their airborne communications and the ground support that goes with them. Early in your career, you could find yourself responsible for keeping a squadron of aircraft serviceable and ready to fly.

Communications/Electronics

Engineer Officers (CE) are responsible for maintaining, and sometimes operating, every form of communications link – tasks that are vital to the effectiveness of air operations. You could find yourself supervising the maintenance of ground radar systems, or looking after the complex ground-based communications networks of the UK’s air defence system. You’ll also have a role to play in networking all our information systems to make sure up-to-the-minute information is always available to our decision makers.

Sponsorship

We may be able to invest in your future by funding your studies until you’re ready to start training as an Engineer Officer.

If you’re in the sixth form, you can qualify for a sixth form scholarship of up to £1,000. The RAF also offers a special sixth form education for future Engineer Officers. You’ll live and work at the Defence Sixth Form College near Loughborough in Leicestershire. There you’ll do your A-levels and take part in a full range of sport, social and leadership activities that will prepare you for RAF officer life. What’s more, it’s available at little or no cost to your parents.

You can also qualify for sponsorship of £4,000 a year through the Defence Technical Undergraduate Scheme (DTUS) if you’re studying engineering or a related subject at the universities of Aston, Birmingham, Cambridge, Loughborough, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumbria, Oxford or Southampton. In return for being offered a DTUS place, we ask you to become a member of the University Support Unit, spending up to 45 days a year with the RAF, which will qualify you for an extra £1,500 training pay, with a £120–£170 bonus if the minimum attendance requirement is met.

As well as financial support, being part of RAF life while studying is an opportunity to get first-hand experience of the challenges you’ll face working with our people, technology and aircraft – and we’ll also give you free flying experience.

To find out more about sponsorship opportunities for potential Engineer Officers contact an RAF Senior Careers Liaison Officer via the careers staff at your school or college – or visit your local Armed Forces Careers Office.

For further information on Welbeck Sixth Form College visit their website or look on YouTube (link opens in new window), and for further information on the Defence Technical Undergraduate Scheme visit their website (link opens in new window).

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