Engineering & Technical Recruitment in Durham

County Durham sits between the Tyne and Wear conurbation to the north and Teesside to the south, giving engineering professionals based here access to two of the North East's largest technical employment markets within a short commute. The county also has its own manufacturing and infrastructure engineering base, with Hitachi Rail's Newton Aycliffe facility as the most significant single employer and a range of smaller manufacturing, construction, and utilities businesses spread across the county.

The Durham engineering market

Hitachi Rail's Newton Aycliffe plant, which manufactures Azuma intercity trains for East Coast Main Line services, is the most distinctive engineering employer in County Durham. The facility requires rail systems, manufacturing, quality, and mechanical engineers, and the skills base it draws from overlaps with the automotive and aerospace disciplines found elsewhere in the North East. Beyond Hitachi, Durham has a manufacturing base in food, packaging, and general engineering, alongside construction activity driven by infrastructure investment and the continued growth of Durham City itself. Several national engineering consultancies use Durham as a base for projects across County Durham and Tees Valley.

Manufacturing engineers and production specialists in County Durham earn £33,000 to £48,000. Rail systems and manufacturing engineers at the Newton Aycliffe cluster achieve £38,000 to £55,000. Civil and infrastructure engineers working on county projects typically earn £40,000 to £58,000.

Key employers

Hitachi Rail Europe at Newton Aycliffe is the anchor engineering employer in County Durham, supported by a small supply chain of precision and electrical engineering businesses. Caterpillar, NSK Bearings, and Gestamp also operate manufacturing facilities in the county. National infrastructure contractors are active across road, utilities, and public sector construction programmes throughout County Durham.

Browse Durham roles

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