Energy jobs in Newcastle upon Tyne and Tyneside

From coal and ships to cables and turbines

For more than a century the Tyne was known for coal, shipbuilding and heavy electrical engineering. The yards and pits have gone, but the skills, quaysides and engineering culture they left behind now support offshore wind, subsea technology, power networks and marine services.

Power engineering has deep roots here. Charles Parsons launched his steam turbine ship Turbinia at Wallsend in 1894, and the Reyrolle switchgear works opened in Hebburn in 1901, so designing and building electrical and marine equipment is nothing new on the river.

Newcastle itself is the office and services centre, while much of the hands-on work happens downstream in Wallsend, North Shields, Hebburn, Jarrow and South Shields. Add Blyth to the north and Teesside to the south, and Tyneside sits in the middle of one of England's busiest offshore energy coastlines.

The river as an employer

South Shields and the Port of Tyne

The Port of Tyne is a trust port with its headquarters at Tyne Dock in South Shields. It is home to the operations and maintenance base for the Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which lies more than 130 km off the north east coast. That base employs wind turbine technicians, marine coordinators, warehouse and logistics staff and control room teams, and supports crew transfer and service vessels. On the north bank, North Shields has a ferry terminal at Royal Quays with a daily sailing to IJmuiden in the Netherlands, and a working fish quay.

Wallsend and the north bank yards

Wallsend's riverside, once the home of Swan Hunter, has kept its link with heavy fabrication, with work shifting from ships to offshore structures. Yards and engineering firms along this stretch of river build and assemble large steel components and subsea equipment for oil, gas and offshore wind, and they need welders, platers, fitters, painters, riggers and quality inspectors.

Networks and city-centre offices

Northern Powergrid, the electricity distribution network operator for the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire, is headquartered in Newcastle. Grid upgrades and new low-carbon connections drive steady recruitment of engineers, craftspeople, planners and control staff. The city centre also has engineering consultancies, energy suppliers' teams and project developers, which take on design, commercial and analysis roles.

Roles in demand on Tyneside

Wind and marine

• Offshore wind turbine technicians and supervisors
• Marine coordinators and vessel crew
• Warehouse, stores and logistics coordinators at port bases
• Blade, rope access and inspection technicians

Fabrication and subsea

Expect regular demand for coded welders, platers, pipefitters, mechanical fitters, NDT technicians and quality engineers. Subsea firms recruit electrical, hydraulic and controls engineers, ROV technicians and test engineers to build and maintain trenchers, ROVs and other equipment.

Grid and electrical

Northern Powergrid and its contractors hire electrical engineers, authorised persons, cable jointers, overhead linespeople and apprentices, while electrical contractors install heat pumps, solar and electric vehicle charging across the region.

Changing career into energy

Tyneside employers often recruit people from shipbuilding, automotive, rail and the armed forces, because mechanical, electrical and marine skills transfer well. If you are moving across, list your trade tickets, safety training and any work at height or in confined spaces near the top of your CV, then add the energy-specific certificates an employer asks for.

Colleges and universities on Tyneside

Newcastle College runs an Energy Academy in Wallsend that trains people for the offshore wind industry, alongside its main Rye Hill campus near the city centre and a Rail Academy in Gateshead. South Tyneside College shares its campus with South Shields Marine School, one of the UK's largest merchant navy training colleges, which teaches navigation, marine engineering and electro-technical officer courses and has a marine simulation centre. The college's campus on Wapping Street provides offshore safety training.

Newcastle University teaches engineering and has long-standing marine technology expertise; its Emerson Cavitation Tunnel, used to test propellers and water turbines, now operates from Blyth. Northumbria University also offers engineering degrees, giving graduates a local route into consultancies and network operators.

Moving around Tyneside

The Tyne and Wear Metro yellow line links the city centre with Wallsend, Howdon, Percy Main, North Shields and South Shields, and the green line runs to Newcastle International Airport. The Shields Ferry crosses the river between North and South Shields, and the Tyne Tunnel and A19 connect both banks for drivers.

Newcastle Central station is on the East Coast Main Line, so Edinburgh, York and London are within easy reach for meetings and training. Port-based wind roles often run on shift rotas that follow vessel schedules, while offshore oil and gas jobs usually mean travelling to Aberdeen for flights.

Searching and applying

Start on the Energy Jobs Board vacancy list and search for Newcastle, Wallsend or South Shields, then filter by salary, employment type and working pattern. For focused lists, try wind energy jobs or the electricity networks and utilities section.

You can build a free candidate profile to upload your CV, save jobs and keep track of what you have applied for. Each advert is checked by our team before it appears. Neighbouring areas have plenty of work too, so look at energy roles in Blyth and vacancies across Teesside.