Engineering graduate programme

We are clear in our ambition to attract the best graduate talent.

Our graduate roles provide the opportunity to gain hands on experience of the oil refining industry. You will undertake rotations in roles and experience different departments within the refinery. The roles we offer allow knowledge and skills obtained from university to be transferred into the workplace environment.

The work is both challenging and interesting and is conducted in an environment where customer demands need to be met. This makes the work very rewarding when goals are achieved.

COMPREHENSIVE AND CAREFULLY STRUCTURED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Our graduate programme offers a comprehensive and carefully structured professional development scheme.

We offer a highly competitive salary and some of the industry’s best training and development opportunities:

  • IChemE, IMechE, IET
    • Approved chartership schemes
    • Mentoring
    • Paid membership fee
  • Departmental rotations including a commercial area
  • Funding for additional training

It is likely that you will work in three roles over a three year period. This will give you direct experience and responsibility in a wide range of roles within operations, maintenance, mechanical, electrical control and instrumentation, inspection and also exposure to commercial areas.

Hear what our recent graduates have to say:

Alice Robinson – Chemical Engineering Graduate

“I am currently working as a unit support process engineer in the catalytic cracking unit at Stanlow. Why did I join Essar Oil (UK) Ltd? Simple really; because of the wide and varied range of process engineering opportunities on offer including roles in areas such as cracking, distillation, extraction, heat integration, product management, safety and environment. Typically my working day involves monitoring process conditions to ensure the plant is running safely and optimally and I’ll work with the other Production Unit disciplines to improve or maintain operation. I have had three roles in my two and a half years at Stanlow. I started in the future projects FEED office, then I worked as a unit support process engineer on oil movements and finally in the catalytic cracking area. My positions so far have been as interesting as they have been varied, it’s been great to have had such a wide range of responsibilities and to work with a wide range of disciplines, from operations to maintenance, to mechanical, power and control and also inspection. Every day presents a fresh challenge and every day I’m learning something new. As I progress, I aim to broaden my range of chemical engineering experience as I work towards becoming a team leader. I also look forward to taking advantage of the opportunity to gain experience in the project engineering and the economic, planning and scheduling departments.”

Stephen Scott - Mechanical Engineering Graduate

"After graduating in 2011, I am currently working as a mechanical engineer on the secondary processes unit at Stanlow which alongside other products manufactures 90% of the diesel in the North West. I joined Essar to work in the oil industry and Stanlow Refinery has one of the best locations in the UK. Chester is the nearest city, but with North Wales, Manchester and Liverpool all a short drive away, it is possible to have a great work-life balance while working in the energy sector on one of the biggest refineries in Europe. Given the products we deal with, it is vital we make the right decisions on a daily basis and maintain a safe environment. The refinery runs 24 hours a day and I work with a range of people from different backgrounds, so good communication is vital. With the opportunity to move around different production units, I have taken on increased responsibility and had lots of support from an experienced engineering team. The variety of work and opportunity to learn practically alongside mentoring support has helped me develop both technically and personally over the past few years."

If you would like to work with us, please submit your CV via the contact page. We will contact you should we have any suitable vacancies now or in the future.