graphic design design apprenticeship jobs

You'll play a key role in bringing OCU's brand, projects and communications to life through engaging and impactful visual content. Based in Stockport, you'll work as part of our Marketing and Communications team, helping to create creative assets that showcase our people, projects, services and values across a range of digital and print platforms.

You'll gain exposure to a broad range of design activities, supporting the development of marketing campaigns, bid submissions, internal communications, social media content, presentations, events and corporate branding materials. Working alongside experienced marketing professionals, bid teams, stakeholders and external suppliers, you'll help transform ideas and information into compelling visual communications that support business growth and employee engagement.

As part of the role, you'll assist with creating graphics, illustrations, digital assets, motion content and branded materials while ensuring consistency with OCU's visual identity and brand guidelines. You'll gain experience working across a variety of channels, including websites, social media platforms, email campaigns, presentations, brochures, case studies and recruitment materials. You'll also have opportunities to contribute to photography, videography and content creation projects, helping to tell the story of OCU's work and culture.

Working closely with teams across the business, you'll develop an understanding of how design supports communication, marketing and business objectives. As your skills and confidence grow, you'll take on increasing responsibility, develop your creative and commercial awareness, and become an important contributor to OCU's brand and communications strategy.

Graduates who are passionate about graphic design, visual storytelling and creative communication. You'll be imaginative, detail-oriented and eager to learn, with a strong eye for design and an interest in creating content that engages, informs and inspires audiences.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys combining creativity with problem-solving and is excited by the opportunity to work on a variety of design projects. You'll be keen to develop your skills across digital and print design, branding, content creation and visual communication while collaborating with stakeholders from across the organisation.

You'll enjoy working in a fast-paced environment where no two projects are the same, helping to communicate OCU's achievements, support business development activities and strengthen engagement with employees, clients and communities.

You'll need (or be on track to achieve) a degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communication, Digital Media, Creative Design, Marketing Design or a related discipline with a minimum 2:2 classification.

A portfolio demonstrating creative thinking, design skills and experience across digital and/or print media will be required.

Experience with design software such as Adobe Creative Cloud (including Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign) gained through academic projects, placements, freelance work or personal projects would be advantageous. Experience of motion graphics, video editing, photography or UI/UX design would also be beneficial.

Our 2 year Graduate Programme combines structured training with hands-on experience, giving you real responsibility from day one. You'll learn directly alongside industry experts in a collaborative, supportive environment. We invest in your continuous professional development, giving you the tools, confidence and clear progression path to build a long term career within OCU.

At OCU Group, we don’t just deliver infrastructure - we help power modern life.

As one of the UK’s fastest-growing utility and infrastructure businesses, we deliver complex, nationally critical projects across power, energy transition, water, telecoms, and digital infrastructure. Over the last five years, OCU has grown five-fold to a £1.1bn organisation, expanding both organically and through strategic acquisitions across the UK, Australia, New Zealand and India.

Our growth is driven by ambitious people, operational excellence, and a commitment to doing things properly. We work on projects that genuinely matter by supporting the UK’s energy transition, strengthening essential infrastructure, and helping build more sustainable communities for the future.

Whether you’re an experienced professional looking to take ownership of major projects and influence delivery at scale, or someone starting your career through an apprenticeship, graduate programme, or placement route, OCU offers real opportunity to grow, develop, and make an impact.

We are building a business where high performance, collaboration, innovation, and accountability sit at the centre of our culture. Our people are trusted to lead, encouraged to challenge thinking, and supported to continuously develop their skills and careers.

At OCU, you won’t just join a growing business, you’ll help shape it.

Our Culture & Values

At OCU, our values are at the heart of everything we do. We care about safety, lead with integrity, strive to be better every day, make a positive impact, and deliver to grow, together, as One Company United.

Our Commitment to Inclusion

At OCU Group, we believe diversity, inclusion, and belonging are fundamental to building stronger teams, better ideas, and a more successful business. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to creating an environment where everyone feels valued and supported.

As part of our commitment to fairness and equality, candidates may be asked to complete an equal opportunities monitoring form during the recruitment process. This information is used for monitoring purposes only and plays no part in hiring decisions.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and are committed to offering interviews to candidates with disabilities or long-term health conditions who meet the essential criteria for the role.

To ensure that everyone has a fair opportunity to join our team, please inform us if you require any reasonable adjustments to our recruitment and interview process is, by emailing recruitment@ocugroup.com.