Engineering and technical recruitment in Derby

YP Recruitment is a specialist engineering and technical recruitment agency placing engineers and technical professionals across Derby and Derbyshire. Derby is one of the UK's most engineering-intensive cities, home to Rolls-Royce's global civil aerospace headquarters, Alstom's rail vehicle manufacturing facility, and Toyota's UK car manufacturing plant at Burnaston.

The Derby engineering and technical market

Rolls-Royce's Sinfin campus is the defining employer in Derby's engineering market. The site develops and produces civil, defence, and marine gas turbine engines, employing aerothermal, stress, systems, and manufacturing engineers across the full product lifecycle. Rolls-Royce's graduate intake and apprenticeship programmes feed a regional talent pipeline that the supply chain also draws from.

Alstom's Litchurch Lane facility produces rolling stock for UK rail operators, requiring mechanical, electrical, and production engineering. Toyota at Burnaston employs manufacturing and quality engineers across two production lines. This concentration of tier-one employers has built a deep supply chain of precision machining, composites, and testing businesses across Derbyshire.

Aerospace engineering salaries in Derby are among the highest in the Midlands. Graduate engineers at Rolls-Royce start at £27,000 to £34,000. Experienced aerothermal, structures, or systems engineers earn £49,000 to £63,000. Principal engineers achieve £63,000 to £80,000. Contract day rates for aerospace engineers run £400 to £600.

Roles we place in Derby

We recruit aerospace engineers, systems engineers, mechanical engineers, manufacturing engineers, production managers, quality engineers, rail engineers, project managers, and technical sales engineers across Derby. Mid-level engineers earn £37,000 to £50,000. Senior engineers command £49,000 to £63,000. For a detailed breakdown, use our salary checker.

Key employers

Rolls-Royce, Alstom, and Toyota Burnaston form the primary employment pillars, supported by a tier-one and tier-two supply chain including Meggitt, GKN Aerospace, Pattonair, and numerous precision machining and composites businesses across Derbyshire.

Sectors we cover in Derby

Our engineering recruitment team in Derby covers aerospace, mechanical, electrical, and systems engineering roles. Our manufacturing recruitment team places production managers, quality engineers, and lean specialists across Derbyshire's industrial base. We also cover construction, property services, technical sales, and executive and leadership appointments.

Browse Derby roles

View current engineering and technical jobs in Derby, or register your CV to hear about roles before they are advertised. Derby sits within our East Midlands region.