Are you a Level 8 mechanical engineer looking to make a smart move into a sector set for massive transformation? Then Bus Éireann wants you to hop on board.
It operates bus and coach services in cities and towns across Ireland, providing 90 million passenger journeys a year.
As Ireland’s green transition to net zero emissions gathers speed, its buses will play a central role, with the entire fleet due to move from diesel to zero emissions technologies.
It’s a massive, exciting and unprecedented opportunity for mechanical engineers with a passion for transport.
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Bus Éireann is leading the way. It has successfully piloted the introduction of an electric bus fleet in Athlone and is gearing up to roll EVs out in towns and cities across the country. The company is also piloting hydrogen powered buses, as part of its future proofed fuel mix.
Now well on its way to zero emissions, Bus Éireann has become an employer of choice for engineers.
“We are looking for qualified mechanical engineers with Level 8 degrees and knowledge of mechanical, electrical and electronic systems, preferably with relevant experience,” says Linda Allen, Bus Eireann’s senior talent and diversity manager.
Future proofing the future – and your career
Bus Éireann offers engineers an opportunity to be part of this major initiative, working on both battery- and fuel cell-powered EVs and thereby helping to displace fossil fuelled vehicles on our roads.
It is supporting its engineers with opportunities to train and upskill on its expanding fleets of hybrid and battery electric vehicles, as well as its hydrogen fuel cell trials.
Successful candidates will be contributing to Ireland’s vehicle emissions reduction challenge in a company that is leading the way in sustainability at multiple locations across Ireland.
“We’re also a company with an excellent flexible working policy, and that takes pride in looking after the health and wellbeing of our employees, says Allen.
Harnessing the benefits of diversity
Bus Eireann employs 3,000 staff and while its gender pay gap studies show the gap works in favour of women, with lots of women in management roles, its engineering teams remain quite male. The company wants more women engineers on board, to balance that up.
“It’s not just women. We have 40 plus nationalities working for us which is great because we welcome everybody and want the best candidates possible, with the ambition to take their career in an interesting and rewarding direction,” she says.
“There’s a vibrancy that comes with diverse teams, an energy, and the value of different perspectives. Given the scale of what we are about to deliver, if we don’t have the diversity of people we need to ask questions and challenge assumptions, we’re not going to get the best results.”
The company offers engineers a competitive salary and benefits package, with clear progression paths, study schemes and training opportunities, as well as perks such as career breaks and discounted overseas travel.
“It’s also a very nice place to work, with a collaborative culture and a friendly feel,” says Allen, who joined just over a year ago.
“We want to attract people with a real passion for this sector, with a continuous learning ethos, and who of course, are driven to achieve success in the projects on which they work.”
Denis Rushe, executive engineer, technical engineering team tells his story
“I studied mechanical and manufacturing engineering in Trinity and graduated in 2017. I joined Bus Éireann in 2021. Before that I was on a professional development programme with medical devices company Abbott which was amazing but I wanted to work on the mechanical side and wanted something related to sustainability and the environment.
I applied to Bus Éireann because the bus industry has a huge leap forward to make. For the past 100 years public transport has been predominantly powered by fossil fuels and the future engineering challenge is in the transition to zero emission road transport.
But now buses and the systems behind them have begun a huge transformation that will continue over the next decade and beyond. It’s an exciting time to be in the sector and everybody in the industry feels it.
The environment is important to me. I’m aware there’s only so much you can do and I wanted to do my bit.
I like the idea that what I’m doing at Bus Éireann is making such a difference environmentally. The electric fleet in Athlone alone will reduce CO2 tailpipe emissions by 400 tonnes a year, and more towns and cities will follow.
Anyone who fits the job description can do this role. In a predominantly male field, different insights and angles, and fresh perspectives to problems could be critical going forward, especially with the exciting challenges we have coming up.
This is not a static industry anymore and I’m developing too. Bus Éireann is supporting my studies in a Level 7 degree in sustainable resource management at the University of Limerick.”
Stephanie Maher, energy senior manager, charts her path
“I studied mechanical engineering at Munster Technological University and graduated in 1998. I then travelled to Australia and Japan for a couple of years and joined Bus Éireann when I returned. I moved to Sweden, and rejoined Bus Éireann when I came back, a decade later in 2018.
When I was in transition year I wanted to be a pilot but when I underwent careers guidance, the counsellor advised I should be building planes not flying them.
There were three women in my class in college. The fact that mechanical engineering was so male dominated has never been a problem for me. I never took any notice but I’m a doer, I get stuff done.
When I started, I recall that some of the staff had never heard of a female mechanical engineer before. Now we have female apprentices coming through which is fantastic but we’d like to see more female Level 8 mechanical engineers coming in too.
I’ve had varied positions in my career with Bus Éireann, and studied while working - there are lots of opportunities for career progression and personal development in the company.
In my role I look after anything energy management related, from fleet to buildings. With 1,200 buses on the road the fleet is the biggest energy consumer by a long way. The electric bus project in Athlone has been a huge success and the future will possibly see a mix of battery and hydrogen EVs.
There are exciting challenges ahead in rolling them out, including charging infrastructure, and the fact that coaches and city buses are very different vehicles operating in very different environments. But engineers love challenges, we just want to make stuff happen.”
If you have what it takes to help drive Bus Eireann’s journey to net zero, see here