Functional Graduate Programmes
As a global company of 50,000+ employees we rely on the support of our Corporate Functions to keep the business running smoothly and efficiently. These Graduate Programmes will see you become part of one of our core teams - rotating around the key functions to help you understand the people, systems, skills and processes it takes to manage them.
Armed with that knowledge you’ll be in an excellent place to help towards our journey of continuous improvement and to apply your ideas and problem-solving abilities.
The base locations are listed below although as the roles are mostly office based, you’ll find that a level of home / hybrid working can be accommodated.
Update: If you would prefer London as a location then the following roles are now being offered with a London base:
- Finance
- Bidding & Strategic Growth
- HR - Colleague Engagement & Talent/Talent & Organisational Capability
- Legal
- Procurement
Whilst 'London' won't appear in the application form please select 'Hook' on your application form and we can discuss this during the process.
Bidding & Strategic Growth - Hook or London
Winning good business is key at Serco - and to meet our aim of being the best managed business in our sector it’s important we run contracts that are profitable and sustainable. Joining us on the Programme within Bidding and Strategic Growth, you’ll get full exposure to our business lifecycle as we help you build your career. This will include working in a number of areas including Business Development, Bidding, and Commercial. You’ll eventually enrol on either an Association for Project Management (APM) or Association of Bid & Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) qualification depending on your career focus and interest.
Once you complete the programme you’ll be well prepared to take a role in our Growth Function which plays to your strengths and sets you up for a fantastic career.
You won’t need a specific degree discipline to join this programme, but it would suit those with strong business management acumen, along with excellent attention to detail.
Cyber Security - Hook / London OR Solihull
With a business as large and geographically spread as ours it takes a great Cyber Security team to protect our systems, people and data. In this two year programme you’ll first spend your time in our Cyber and Information Assurance team developing your security knowledge and skills on real life projects and contracts. You’ll then transition over to Technical Security and put what you’ve learnt into practice in an Operational Security environment. As well as the grad programme training, you’ll also be encouraged to choose an additional professional security qualification, such as CompTIA Security+ or ISO27001 Lead Implementer.
Given the technical nature of the role you’ll need to hold a degree in Information Security or a related discipline such as Computer Science, Maths or Science.
Finance (3 Year Programme) - Hook or London
Our Finance programme is designed for those looking to gain a career within Finance and gain broad exposure within the internal Finance function of a complex business. Its our only three year programme, and you will get to experience placements across three of the following departments:
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MyFinance/Finance Shared Services
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Group Finance
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Internal Audit
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An operational placement within our Leisure sector
You’ll come away with a Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) accountancy qualification and a wealth of knowledge that will set you up for a career in Finance.
HR: Colleague Engagement & Talent - Hook or London
HR: Operations - Solihull
Our People Operations department provides our international teams with the support they need to manage people across the entire employee lifecycle. On this programme you’ll get the unique opportunity to be involved in and drive service delivery for our Middle East region. This will see you involved with teams such as Payroll, Organisational Management, Benefits and Transactional Services. You’ll come away with a great overview of HR service delivery and a CIPD qualification.
HR: Recruitment & Resourcing - Solihull
The Resourcing team recruit the thousands of people we need to run front line public services and our business every year. Over the programme you’ll experience placements in all areas of the team including:
1. Volume Recruitment for frontline roles
2. Professional / Technical Role recruitment
3. Contingent Labour
4. Recruitment Marketing
5. Executive Hiring
As well as getting hands-on with end-to-end recruitment processes and gaining exposure to all areas of our business, you’ll also be responsible for at least one large improvement project that would benefit the team in the UK and globally. You’ll also work towards a Level 5 HR qualification (if you don’t already have one).
HR: Talent & Organisational Capability - Hook or London
The Group HR team gives our business strategic support that helps us manage the employee lifecycle effectively. In this newly created programme, you’ll spend time with three important departments that contribute to global transformation and change projects:
- Wellbeing
- Organisational Capability
- Internal Mobility & Careers
You’ll also work towards a Level 5 HR qualification (if you don’t already have one) and get to understand the systems, data and processes needed to drive business performance.
IT: Data Analytics - Hook / London OR Solihull
With a business as geographically spread as ours it takes a great MI & Analytics team to provide the accurate data that drives decision making. As a graduate working in our Data Reporting and Analytics Services, you’ll gain exposure and understanding of how analytics enables performance management across a large corporate organisation – as well as developing the hands-on skills you’ll need to thrive in your career.
You’ll be helping to deliver operational reporting services and be getting involved in reporting and analytics for both our internal functions (such as HR, IT, Fleet, Procurement and Finance) and our front-line contracts. You’ll also gain experience in data engineering and product development, using tools such as Microsoft Synapse and Power BI, and working in languages like SQL and DAX.
After the two years are up you’ll be ready to take on a role within Data Reporting and Analytics such as a Data Engineering Developer or Senior Analyst.
You don’t need to have a STEM based degree for this programme but you’ll certainly need an aptitude for numbers and the technical side of the role.
IT: Project Management - Solihull
As a graduate working in IT Services you’ll get to experience what its like to business partner and manage IT projects for our frontline contracts. Over two years you’ll experience at least two business units including:
- Citizen Services BU
- Justice and Immigration
- Corporate
- Health & Transport OR Europe (dependent upon willingness to travel)
You’ll receive a wide range of training, including courses in Process Improvement, People Management, Change Management, ITIL, PRINCE II, Project Management and Security.
Legal - Hook or London
As a company with 500 contracts and over 50,000 employees – we need a great legal team to provide the legal and contracts advice that helps us win bids, keeps us compliant with our obligations, manages risk, and protects our business. Joining our Graduate Programme within our legal department will see you rotate around key teams to get a full understanding of how a global in-house legal team operates. Naturally a law degree would be advantageous for this programme, as would curiosity, enthusiasm and an interest in public services.
Procurement - Hook or London
We spend approximately £1.4bn globally with third party suppliers every year – and it’s our Procurement team that provides the innovative solutions that help us reduce cost, improve service and quality, and protect the business from risk. Working towards a CIPS Level 4 diploma in Procurment and Change Management, you’ll spend time across our key departments, getting exposed to the full procurement lifecycle and understanding what it takes to run a global procurement operation.