Career opportunities

From vehicle manufacturers to world class suppliers and design consultancies, there are openings at all levels in the industry. Every day in the UK there are men and women designing and engineering cars and parts and assembling them into finished products for sale at home and abroad. Many of these employees made their first tentative steps with training and educational courses based in UK colleges and universities.

In collaboration with the City of London Livery Company, the Worshipful Company of Coach and Harness Makers, the SMMT Charitable Trust (SCTF) has developed a careers guide to provide information and assistance for young people considering their career options.

Aimed at school and further education students, the guide covers the wide variety of careers across the automotive sector, including sales, manufacturing, design, marketing, engineering, communications, finance, legal, HR and all other relevant disciplines within a modern business.

The guide helps show the next generation of school leavers the breadth and depth of career opportunities offered by the automotive sector, to attract a workforce that even more effectively reflects our society.

It tracks the journey of a vehicle, from when it leaves a dealership back all the way to the first step of utilising decision-making systems and processes, through which a manufacturer decides to launch a new product.

Involving a wide array of disciplines and a variety of manufacturing and logistics management requirements across the supply chain and manufacturing, the guide involves the following services and functions:

  • Accounting & finance
  • Community, charity & CSR
  • Communications, incl. Marketing & Public Relations
  • IT, incl. hardware, software and system engineering
  • Manufacturing, incl. Design, Aerodynamics & Engineering
  • Fashion, incl. practicality in design, fabrics and aesthetics
  • Business Management & Administration, incl. Human Resources & Legal
  • Product development, incl. CAE
  • Public Relations
  • Sales