Women in Defence

A career with impact, opportunity and support: Made possible

Whether you’re an experienced professional, returning to work after a career break, changing industries or taking the first steps in your career, Babcock offers opportunities to work on some of the UK’s most complex and meaningful projects.

From maintaining the submarines that help protect the nation to delivering critical engineering programmes, developing new technologies and supporting defence operations around the world, our people work on projects that make a real difference.

Just as importantly, we believe talented people do their best work when they feel valued, supported and able to be themselves. That’s why we’re committed to creating an environment where women can build rewarding long-term careers, develop their skills, take on new challenges and progress into leadership roles.

Getting started at Babcock

If you’re ready to start your job search now then click here to be redirected to our vacancy search page.

Discover some of our professional career pathways by visiting our career areas page.

If you’re just starting your career or are looking to re-train then visit our Emerging Talent section to discover graduate and apprentice programmes.

If you want to find out about our alternative recruitment programmes then visit our other routes in page.

Not sure where to apply your skills? Register your CV and our team will be in touch.

Women in Defence: Meet our people

Ellie

Julie

Brendan

Laura

Amy

Building careers where everyone can succeed

Improving gender balance isn’t just about attracting more women into defence. It’s about ensuring everyone has the support, opportunities and flexibility they need to build long-term careers.

To help achieve this, we have a range of initiatives and benefits designed to support colleagues throughout their careers.

This includes:

Women in Defence Charter

Babcock actively supports initiatives that aim to increase representation, share best practice and create a more inclusive future for defence.

As a signatory and proud Pankhurst partner for the Women in Defence Charter we’re committed to playing our part in improving gender balance across the UK’s defence sector.

As Babcock Chair and Industry Patron of the Charter, Ruth Cairnie highlights the value of inclusive workplaces:


“Diverse voices and diverse perspectives are critical for better decision making. Inclusion means a culture where people are really valued, listened to and therefore they can contribute.”

Why gender balance matters

The challenges facing the defence industry are becoming increasingly complex. From protecting critical national infrastructure to maintaining submarines, delivering engineering solutions and developing future technologies, success depends on bringing together a broad range of skills, experiences and perspectives.

Research across the defence sector highlights the value of diverse teams in reducing groupthink, improving decision making and driving innovation. Creating more balanced teams helps organisations solve problems more effectively while strengthening their ability to attract and retain talented people.

“I’ve worked across a lot of different teams and organisations, big and small, and Babcock has been a breath of fresh air. It doesn’t seem to have that unquestionable hierarchy where somebody’s job title means you can’t challenge their way of thinking. I found that it’s the opposite. Leaders and people in more senior positions encourage you to challenge them and ask questions and bring a different perspective. They listen to your ideas and they treat you as an equal in the conversation. That makes a massive difference as an engineer because asking questions and challenging assumptions is a big part of the job”

Abigail, Supportability Engineer

Read more about Abigail’s story.

Gender Balance at Babcock: By the Numbers

We’re proud of the progress we’ve made. While there’s more to do, we’re committed to continuing this progress and achieving our ambition of at least 30% female representation across the business by 2030.

Find out more about how we’re building an inclusive and diverse workforce.

Read our latest gender pay gap report.

Defence is evolving. The skills, experience and perspectives needed to solve tomorrow’s challenges are becoming more diverse than ever. If you’re looking for a career where you can make a difference, develop your potential and help create a safe and secure world, we’d love to hear from you.

Any questions?

Got something specific you need an answer to? Then check out our Experienced Hires, Graduate, Undergraduate and Apprenticeship FAQs.