2026 Summer Placements - Infrastructure Investment & Economics Advisory

What if you could shape a career as unique as you?

At WSP, you can access our global scale, contribute to landmark projects and connect with the brightest minds in your field to do the best work of your life. You can embrace your curiosity in a culture that celebrates new ideas and diverse perspectives. You can experience a world of opportunity and the chance to shape a career as unique as you.

Led by technical specialists with experience of infrastructure funding and transactions and backed by WSP’s engineering and science-based in-depth technical insight, our Infrastructure Investment and Economics Advisory team brings that clarity through technical assurance on investment and divestment in complex infrastructure, property, core+ sectors and economic development projects. We deliver this technical, due diligence and economic expertise for our clients to help them make informed decisions, creating, protecting and unlocking value at every stage of the investment cycle, from acquisition, and through operations to divestment. Our clients include local and national government, institutional investors, asset managers, private equity firms, and industrials, helping them identify and mitigate risk, support long-term asset performance, and align global portfolios and development projects with evolving international, national and local stakeholders, economic trends, and regulatory expectations.

Join us for a Summer Placement at WSP and you’ll work alongside leading engineering, advisory and science professionals on real projects. You’ll put your academic knowledge into practice, gain hands on experience, and explore a variety of career path, helping you make confident decisions about your future.

As a summer placement student within this team, you will have the chance to be exposed to tasks such as:

• Support teams on live projects across the investment lifecycle, including greenfield investments, economic growth plans for regions and cities, lending, acquisitions, asset management and divestments. You will gain exposure to how technical, commercial and ESG considerations are brought together to inform public and private investment decision‑making.

• Assist with technical and commercial research tasks on due diligence activities, including desktop reviews of technical, environmental and operational information, benchmarking asset performance, and helping to identify key risks and opportunities for investors.

• Contribute to economic focused market and sector research across infrastructure and core+ sectors, such as transport, energy, utilities, social infrastructure and the built environment. This may include reviewing industry reports, regulatory frameworks, policy, and emerging trends (e.g. decarbonisation, resilience, digitalisation) and summarising insights for internal and client use.

• Support the development of client deliverables, including technical notes, presentations and sections of due diligence reports, helping to clearly communicate complex technical issues in a concise and investor‑focused way.

• Support in research on economic growth plans and development projects for local and regional bodies, aiming to encourage growth, development and prosperity across some of the UK key cities and towns.

• Support business development activities, including assisting with the preparation of marketing materials, credentials and bid submissions. This may involve researching client bodies and market context, helping to draft proposal content, and contributing to presentations that support winning new work.

• Work alongside engineers, economists, accountants and sustainability specialists across WSP, gaining an understanding of how multidisciplinary technical expertise is applied in an investment and advisory context.

• Participate in internal team meetings, knowledge‑sharing sessions and training, building an understanding of infrastructure funding, transactions and the role of technical assurance in investment decisions.

• Develop core consulting skills, including problem solving, professional communication, stakeholder awareness and an understanding of client expectations within a fast‑paced advisory environment.

• By the end of the placement, you will have gained hands‑on experience of how technical advisory supports infrastructure investment and economic growth decisions, exposure to real client projects, and a solid foundation in infrastructure and core+ sectors within a leading global consultancy.

You will be embedded in an enthusiastic, friendly and supportive team working closely with our engineers and advisors. Providing you with a challenging and fulfilling placement. You will have the opportunity to deal with internal and external stakeholders, collaborate with colleagues and adapt to dynamic project environments.

Scholarships at WSP

At the end of a placement, both students and their hosting teams will be invited to share feedback. If the experience has been positive and you are keen to return, WSP may offer a scholarship to support the remainder of your studies.

Upon graduation, students who have successfully completed their placements and received great feedback you will be considered for a permanent graduate role, subject to availability. Successful students will then join WSP’s structured 2-year Graduate Development Programme.

Graduate Development Programme

Our two-year Graduate Development programme is designed to support personal and professional development and growth through an engaging blended learning experience. The programmes include core business and professional skills training, career development workshops and resources, valuable networking opportunities, mentoring for professional registration and a breadth of on-the-job experience.

Our teams are dedicated to supporting your career growth from the very beginning. Some employees have started as placement students and progress to graduate level and have later successfully advanced within the company. We encourage our graduates to achieve chartered status with professional bodies such as the ICE and IStructE making their development a priority. Upon becoming a graduate, you will be fully supported through enrolment in a professional institution’s training agreement, guiding you towards chartered status.

What we will be looking for you to demonstrate

We are looking for candidates who come from degree backgrounds such as Civil/Mechanical/Chemical/Process Engineering, Quantity Surveying, Economics, Accounting & Finance or other relevant degrees. Excellent working knowledge of Microsoft 365, especially Excel and PowerPoint, is desirable.

• Candidates must complete the application form in full answering all specific questions. This requirement applies to all candidates, inclusive of their background. Successful completion of this stage is mandatory. Candidates who pass this initial stage, will then be required to complete an online skill enabler assessment. Both the application form and the skill enabler assessment are essential parts of the early career’s recruitment process.

• You'll be looking to start your placement in June/July and be available for 6-8 weeks.

• You’ll have a passion for Sustainable Engineering, Planning and / or consulting solutions.

• You’ll have an enthusiasm for creativity and a drive to solve problems.

• You’ll want to inspire us, sharing new ideas you have.

Don’t quite meet all the criteria? Should you have the right qualifications for our positions, apply and we can see how your experience aligns to these roles and other opportunities we have available.

We review applications for our Early Career opportunities on a rolling basis, which means we begin progressing some candidates to the final stages before the application closing date. To ensure your application receives full consideration, we recommend submitting it as early as possible.

Imagine a better future for you and a better future for us all.

Work on landmark projects around the world and embrace opportunities to make an even bigger impact in the communities you care about. What if you could do the best work of your life and create a legacy for yourself?

With us, you can. Apply today.