Summer Placement - Sustainability Engineer

At a Glance

• Tasks: Join our Sustainability team to create impactful, eco-friendly design solutions.
• Company: Buro Happold, a leader in sustainable engineering and design.
• Benefits: Paid summer placement with competitive salary and flexible working options.
• Why this job: Make a real difference in sustainability while gaining hands-on experience.
• Qualifications: Ideal for students in engineering, environmental science, or urban planning.
• Other info: Diverse and inclusive workplace with excellent career growth opportunities.

The predicted salary is between 20000 - 25000 £ per year.

From helping shape entire cities to adapting infrastructure to deal with the climate emergency, a career at Buro Happold presents the chance to make a difference. This is an exciting opportunity to join our Sustainability team in either our Bath, London, Leeds, Manchester or Edinburgh office for an 8-week summer placement.

Sustainability engineering can be extremely broad; however, we tend to split this down into Building Performance Engineering, Environmental Design Engineering and broader Sustainability Consulting.

Building Performance Engineering includes energy modelling, advanced simulation, micro-climate analysis and parametric modelling. Sustainability consulting includes embodied carbon analysis, sustainability assessments (BREEAM, LEED, Living Building Challenge etc), building performance (e.g. post occupancy evaluation), social value, health & wellbeing and circular economy.

Wherever you would like to focus, you can have high-value, low environmental impact solutions that meet sustainability objectives while creating comfortable, productive and effective environments valued by the people who use them. The team works across a range of scales and project types from policy, strategy and masterplanning through to building design, soft landings, monitoring and management.

Our clients and collaborators include world leading corporates, developers, institutions, architects and government across a wide range of sectors including commercial property, higher education, arts and culture. Our team of sustainability experts are responsible for some of the UK's highest-rated sustainable buildings, such as Apple HQ at Battersea Power Station and London College of Fashion, Stratford, both recently achieving a BREEAM Outstanding.

We work extensively with C40 Cities to generate original research, thought leadership, tools and methodologies and pilot these with cities across the world. Our team led a major two-year programme of technical assistance to 25 global cities to assess the air quality, health and economic benefits of climate action. Our sustainability consultants also led a study into the multiple benefits of deep retrofit, including job creation, as well as reduced energy poverty, asthma and cold mortality.

• Advise clients, engineers, architects and urban planners on sustainable measures for buildings, masterplans and strategic consultancy projects.
• Undertake research to develop design solutions, such as:
• Climate change resilience
• Health, wellbeing and productivity
• Embodied carbon strategies to reduce whole-life impacts
• Circular economy strategies within building design
• Undertake assessments to help Clients achieve sustainable certifications
• Prepare reports on sustainability, whole life carbon and circular economy to accompany Planning Applications.

We welcome people into our team with a broad range of experience. Typical degrees include:

• Architectural Engineering
• Sustainable Development
• International Development / Urban Planning
• Environmental Design / Science / Management
• Building Services / MEP Engineering
• Civil Engineering
• Water Engineering

Please note, this is a highly competitive placement role. With that in mind, we request that you articulate a clear interest and understanding of the role in both your CV and a concise cover letter. You will have the option to upload additional documents during the application process, this is where you can upload a copy of your cover letter and portfolio if applicable to your course type.

The recruitment timeline can vary depending on the role and team you are applying to. Successful applications are progressed to interview stage within 2-3 months from the closing date of the advert. We will endeavour to keep you informed throughout the time that your application is being considered, however, due to the volume of applications received and the size of our team, we are not able to respond to individual requests for status updates.

This is a paid role for current university students for an 8-week placement taking place during Summer 2026. Exact dates can be flexible depending on candidate and team availability. The annual salary for this placement will be in-line with the UK Real Living Wage.

Buro Happold values an individual's flexible approaches to working patterns as an important part of how you work and achieve balance. We welcome applications from those who are seeking flexibility in their careers. Our exceptional portfolio of projects is the result of the diversity of thought, identities, backgrounds, and experiences that shape us. Appreciating each other's differences is key, we want employees to feel they don't have to mask elements of their identity to thrive. We are working to change the lack of representation of marginalised groups in the built environment. We are particularly keen to hear from anyone who feels they are underrepresented in the industry. We have much to learn from one another. Embracing differences allows us to develop the most innovative and elegant solutions.

Please let us know if there are any adjustments we could make to the application process to make it easier and more comfortable for you. Contact [contact hidden] so we can work with you to support you throughout your application.