A global engineering and consulting company with more than 6,000 people at about 15 core offices across the UK, working on rail, roads, water, energy and cities.
Jacobs is a large engineering and technical consulting company. In the UK it advises clients, designs projects and helps manage their delivery in areas such as transport, water, energy and power, and cities and places. Its UK page says it works for public and private clients on infrastructure and development programmes that support economic growth and long-term resilience, often in complex, highly regulated settings. It names two flagship UK projects: the Elizabeth Line, described as one of Europe's largest rail programmes, and the Queensferry Crossing, which it calls Scotland's largest infrastructure project in a generation.
The company's stated purpose is to create a more connected, sustainable world, and its global site describes a focus on sustainability, resilience and lower carbon and environmental impact. Earlier material quotes the mission as making the world smarter, more sustainable and more connected. A third-party profile says the culture rests on four progressive values, but we could not find them listed, so we have not named them. Jacobs says it has nearly eight decades of history and, in the UK, a combined heritage of more than 150 years because of the firms it has joined with over time.
Jacobs said in July 2026 that it employs more than 6,000 people across the UK, working from 15 core offices and more than 35 other sites. Its UK page lists 16 office locations: Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Peterborough, Reading, Stockton on Tees, Warrington and York. In 2019 it opened a European flagship office at the Cottons Centre by the Thames in London with room for up to 1,000 people. Recent UK work includes three National Highways commissions announced in July 2026, covering design work on the M32 Eastville Viaduct in Bristol and the M5 Wynhol Viaduct, and a project management role on a framework of at least 15 road schemes. In February 2025 it was named technical services integration delivery partner for Network Rail's TransPennine Route Upgrade, the 70-mile line between York and Manchester via Leeds and Huddersfield.
On culture, Jacobs' global careers pages list programmes for inclusion and belonging, learning, wellbeing, volunteering and STEAM outreach to schools, including one called the Butterfly Effect Program. These are the company's own descriptions. In 2019 its leaders described Britain as a critical market, and a physicist, Professor Brian Cox, attended the London office opening and praised the firm's STEM outreach to young people.
The people in a firm like this include civil, structural and rail engineers, water and environmental specialists, designers, planners, project and programme managers, cost and commercial experts, data and digital staff, and the finance, legal and human resources teams who support them. Students who enjoy maths, physics, geography, design and technology, computing or problem solving can all see a route into this kind of work, either through engineering degrees or through business and project roles.
Website: www.jacobs.com
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