Summer Placement

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 Water team in Bath or London for an 8-week summer placement.
Join our Water team
From the projects you will work on to the clients we work with. From career-defining opportunities to an inclusive and diverse practice where we all contribute to a more equitable world. We have a hybrid working policy in place for all staff members, the successful candidate can be based in our London or Bath office. We have an exciting opportunity for a talented student to join our Water Group.
Water is one of our planet’s most precious assets and our engineers ensure that this finite resource is managed in the most sustainable way possible, whether it is at a building, city or regional project scale. We specialise in identifying innovative solutions to ensure maximum, sustainable performance. Practising expertise in cloud-to-coast engineering, we deliver sustainable civil engineering solutions across the globe, from the earliest stages of project feasibility, through to planning and delivery through detailed design and site supervision.
To find out more about the Water discipline, please click here .
What sort of projects will I work on?
The Water Group works at a range of project scales; from feasibility studies at project inception to detailed design and site supervision, practising our expertise across the UK and also the Middle East, North and South America, Africa and Asia.
We practise our expertise in the following core areas of the water sector:
Flood Risk Management
Water Resource Management
River Engineering
Our team has delivered an enviable range of projects of varying scale and complexity. In London, the team has helped to deliver some of the most high profile riverside developments on the Thames including Lots Road Power Station and Battersea Power Station redevelopment. Since 2005 we have been “water” at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park , taking responsibility for site wide flood risk management, drainage strategy, water strategy and the waterspace masterplan. Outside of London our engineers have delivered lasting, sustainable transformation of the area around Folkestone Harbour. The Water Group works across the globe and is able to create lasting change through climate change adaptation and providing resilience to Cities. The Wadi Hanifah project in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, an exciting and challenging environment for water engineers, is a project that has rehabilitated the wadi, provided resilience in terms of flood risk management and transformed the relationship between the cities inhabitants and the natural environment. This project has spawned a host of projects in the region that build on the success of Wadi Hanifah and further establish our reputation as industry leaders on the region.
The members of the Water Group have a range of educational backgrounds. Civil Engineering is a common degree but by no means required. Whatever your degree subject you should be able to demonstrate a passion for sustainable approach to water.
You may also have basic CAD and/or GIS skills.
You will be a self-motivated, have a keen interest in sustainable engineering, an understanding of climate change adaptation and a desire to learn within the context of a strong, highly skilled team.
A plethora of interesting and challenging projects to stretch your professional skills, a friendly and close knit team, flexible working and a competitive reward package. The opportunity to work on multidisciplinary projects aside a range of specialist engineers, scientists and designers both within Buro Happold and our collaborators.
Please see our Early Careers Candidate Pack for further guidance and information.
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.
Buro Happold values an individual's flexible approaches to working patterns as an important part of how you work and achieve balance. Our exceptional portfolio of projects is the result of the diversity of thought, identities, backgrounds, and experiences that shape us. We are working to change the lack of representation of marginalised groups in the built environment.