Engineering and technical recruitment in Durham

YP Recruitment is a specialist engineering and technical recruitment agency placing engineers and technical professionals across Durham and County Durham. The county sits between Tyne and Wear to the north and Teesside to the south, giving engineers based here access to two of the North East's largest technical employment markets within a short commute.

The Durham engineering and technical market

Hitachi Rail's Newton Aycliffe plant is the most distinctive engineering employer in County Durham. The facility manufactures intercity trains and requires rail systems, manufacturing, quality, and mechanical engineers. The skills base 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. Construction activity is driven by infrastructure investment and the continued growth of Durham City itself. Caterpillar, NSK Bearings, and Gestamp operate manufacturing facilities in the county. Several national engineering consultancies use Durham as a base for projects across County Durham and Tees Valley.

Manufacturing engineers in County Durham earn £33,000 to £47,000. Rail systems and manufacturing engineers at the Newton Aycliffe cluster achieve £36,000 to £52,000. Civil and infrastructure engineers earn £38,000 to £52,000. Construction site managers command £43,000 to £57,000.

Why engineers choose County Durham

County Durham offers significantly lower housing costs than Newcastle or Teesside while remaining within easy commuting distance of both. Engineers based in Durham can access Nissan's supply chain in Sunderland, Teesside's process industry, and Newcastle's consultancy market within 30 minutes. Hitachi's Newton Aycliffe facility has also attracted precision engineering suppliers to the area, building a small but growing cluster of rail and advanced manufacturing businesses.

Durham University's engineering department and the NETPark science and technology park at Sedgefield add R&D-oriented engineering roles to the county's employment base. The A1(M) corridor through the county supports logistics and distribution engineering demand.

Roles we place in Durham

We recruit manufacturing engineers, rail engineers, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, production managers, quality engineers, site managers, project managers, maintenance engineers, and technical sales engineers across County Durham. Mid-level engineers earn £36,000 to £49,000. Senior engineers command £48,000 to £62,000. Rail systems engineers at Newton Aycliffe achieve £36,000 to £52,000. For a detailed breakdown, use our salary checker.

Key employers

Hitachi Rail Europe at Newton Aycliffe is the anchor employer, supported by Caterpillar, NSK Bearings, Gestamp, and a range of precision and electrical engineering businesses. National infrastructure contractors are active across road, utilities, and public sector construction programmes.

Sectors we cover in Durham

Our engineering recruitment team in Durham covers rail, mechanical, and manufacturing engineering roles. Our construction recruitment specialists work with contractors across County Durham. We also cover manufacturing, property services, technical sales, and executive and leadership appointments.

Browse Durham roles

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