Career Area:

Students and Graduates

Job Description:

Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.

When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other.  We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.

Test & Validation Graduate Engineer 

Location: Desford, UK 

Salary: £35,833, £1,500 Sign on Bonus, Annual Bonus, Share Scheme, Pension, and 27 days’ annual leave (plus bank holidays).  

 

Who are Caterpillar?  

We are the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel, natural gas and hydrogen engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. In 2020 our globally respected company and brand invested $1.4B into research and development, leveraging cutting edge technology and decades of expertise to improve our products and services. Our core values of Integrity, Excellence, Teamwork, Commitment and Sustainability are key to our success, and our commitment to sustainability underpins the company's future. Every single employee moves our company forward: piece by piece, part by part, person by person. Join our winning team and help build a better world.

At Caterpillar, you build what matters - whether it’s the career you want, crucial work skills, strong relationships, or new technologies - our work is powered by our people. 

 

What do we do? 

Caterpillar Leicester is part of the Building Construction Products (BCP) division, manufacturing a range of world class Backhoe Loaders, Wheel Loaders, and Telehandlers as part of the wider BCP range.  Products that are reliable, cost effective, versatile, and adaptable. Leicester is more than just a production facility - it is a full product development centre with global responsibility for its products.     

 

The Test & Validation team are a vital part of the product development process, completing instrumentation and testing to ensure our machines meet our process reliability, durability and productivity goals, and are compliant with all the relevant laws and regulations. Your role in the Test & Validation team could include a range of responsibilities including: 

Management of instrumentation and test equipment.  

Trouble shooting instrumentation and setups 

Calibration verification.  

Rig development for verification. 

Database management. 

Assisting in the research and adoption of new technologies and processes (automation, wireless, etc.).  

Planning and improving testing procedures and methods. 

Monitoring results, machine and process capabilities and performance reliability. 

Instrumentation programming (e.g., LabVIEW, PLC, etc) 

 

Working within our Test & Validation team means delivering a quality product to satisfied customers. The department is a critical link between our product development teams, manufacturing, and most importantly, our customers. 

 

Diversity at Caterpillar 

When we leverage our people's experiences, backgrounds, and cultures in an inclusive environment, we enable every individual to achieve their full potential, which drives business success. We are proud to be named in the Forbes list of Best Employers for Diversity (2024), Best Employers for Women (2025) and to be the employer of one of the Women’s Engineering Society top 50 Women in Engineering (WE50 2021). Caterpillar is an equal opportunity employer, and we welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds. 

 

What experiences can we offer you?  

New graduates are critical to the success of our Research & Development engineering teams. From day one you will engage in challenging work, solving real-world engineering problems through collaboration with our global team.  

 

You will begin your time at Caterpillar in a home department which acts as a touch point throughout the graduate scheme. After 6 months in your home department, you will be given the opportunity to complete a further three six-month placements in other departments, with these rotations tailored to ensure you gain a broad understanding of our engineering processes and build the foundations of a successful career. You will get the support, guidance and training you need to be successful at Caterpillar.  

 

Rotation areas and home departments may include: 

Machine Product Engineering 

Use your engineering knowledge to design, analyse and improve components and systems on the products designed and built in the Leicester facility. 

Engineering System Teams (Engine, Hydraulics, Structures, Electrical, Powertrain, Cabs) 

Support the development of specialized systems or components to ensure machines satisfy customer driven performance targets. 

Test & Development 

Get hands-on with our machines to design tests, test rigs, run test programs and analyse the data. Validate that our products are robust to all our customers’ demanding use cases while ensuring our products are durable, efficient, and meet all applicable legislation.  

Manufacturing Engineering 

Develop safe and efficient assembly process for Operations, through close collaboration with the Design Engineering teams. Collaboration with Design Engineering to create standard work and tooling design for manufacturing.  

Supplier Quality 

Collaborating with our Design Engineers and Suppliers to ensure designs are manufacturable, cost effective and quality is built in from design concepts through to Production. 

 

We offer you a mentor to support your professional development and your journey to achieve Chartered or Incorporated Engineer status with your chosen institution. Our professional development scheme is accredited and highly regarded by the IMechE. 

 

We hold a Meet and Greet day for all new UK Graduate and Placement students to provide you with an opportunity to meet fellow new starters before you start your placement. 

 

What happens after the graduate scheme? 

Upon successful completion of the scheme, you will be promoted to Senior Associate Engineer and take up a position within your home department. This gives you the platform to continue your professional development journey and steer your career where you want it to go, be it a leadership role, technical expert, product leader or a commercial role. In a global organisation there are so many possibilities. 

 

Who are we looking for? 

We are looking for people who are open minded, excellent problem solvers and who have an ability to learn quickly.  

Applicants should have achieved or be on track to achieve a minimum of a 2:2 and be studying for a degree in one of the following disciplines:  

Electrical Engineering 

Electronic Engineering 

A Mixed-disciplined Engineering degree with an Electrical or Electronic Engineering focus. 

 

We are looking for talented, ambitious people from various backgrounds who are interested in setting out on the road to success. 

 

Recruitment Process Guidelines:  

Here is a brief overview of what you can expect when applying to our Early Career roles…  

Online Application: The first stage of the process is to complete the online application and attach your CV, this must be done before the closing date of the role that you're applying for.  Once we reach the close date, we will begin reviewing all our applications, this may take a little while and we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know if you have been successful in moving forward to the next stage.  

Stage one – Video Interview: If selected, you will be invited to complete a user-friendly video interview which will then be reviewed by the Hiring Team. At this stage, if you are successful, you will be invited to attend an Assessment Centre which we anticipate will be held on 29th April 2026 onsite at our Desford facility so please try to keep that date free. We would also recommend that you check your spam emails and your Workday account for updates.  

Stage two - Assessment Centre: The Assessment Centre Day will look at a range of behaviours such as teamwork, decision-making, communication, and problem-solving. We aim to make these days fun, inclusive and as relaxed as possible.  

Stage three – Offer: After the Assessment Centre, the Caterpillar team will review the feedback and extend offers to our preferred candidates, we aim to do this as quickly as possible. Graduates will start on 7th September 2026. We look forward to receiving your application to join Caterpillar!  

 

NOTE: Only one application is required, please do not apply for multiple roles. You may be given the opportunity of being considered for other roles/locations at a later stage. 

 

The panel cannot make assumptions when shortlisting therefore please demonstrate your qualifications and experience on your CV relevant to the criteria outlined.   

 

Pending the number of applications, we reserve the right to close the posting early and the criteria for the position may be enhanced to facilitate shortlisting. 

 

This position is required to be onsite five days a week.  

Posting Dates:

February 12, 2026 - March 12, 2026

Caterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  Qualified applicants of any age are encouraged to apply

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