Description

Ready to own your future? At Scottish Water, our Summer Internship programme empowers you to gain hands-on experience, tackle real challenges, and contribute to shaping Scotland’s future. This isn’t just a summer job – it’s an opportunity to make a real impact. As part of our team, you’ll play a key role in delivering essential services and infrastructure that help Scotland flourish every day.

You’ll be joining us at a fascinating time, as we transform into a more agile, innovative organisation that delivers outstanding service, delivers great value for money, and works in an environmentally sustainable way that goes beyond Net Zero.

Graduating in 2026? Kickstart your career with a 12-week summer placement and start building your future today.

What you’ll do

From Shetland to Stranraer, our operations span the length and breadth of Scotland, generating a wealth of commercial, property, compliance, and regulatory work that keeps our in-house Legal team busy.

Our team provides comprehensive legal and secretarial advice to all areas of Scottish Water and oversees a panel of 11 framework law firms. The goal, of course, is to ensure that Scottish Water remains legally compliant and effectively manages risk across the business.

Each year, we handle around 1,300 requests for legal advice. Last summer, our intern made a significant impact by helping research some of the more unusual and complex queries we received, contributing to our new Legal Horizon Scanning initiative, now a core part of our operations. This showcases the vast range of legal areas our team is responsible for, from regulatory compliance to intellectual property.

Over the past 18 months, we’ve embraced Lean principles to enhance efficiency and effectiveness, with several improvement projects underway. As an intern, you’ll have the opportunity to be part of these initiatives, gaining insights into modern, agile ways of working and contributing to meaningful change.

By the time you join, our team will include 11 lawyers and paralegals, providing a supportive environment with a wide range of expertise. We’re also flexible, tailoring your experience to match areas of law or business operations that interest you most. You’ll work on a variety of projects, from research to operational improvements, giving you practical experience to prepare for the next stage of your career.

This is a paid summer internship with an hourly rate of £12.60, aligned with the Real Living Wage. This is typically a full-time position (35 hours), but we’re open to discussing flexible working patterns where possible to suit your needs. For a 35-hour week, the equivalent annual salary would be around £23,020, pro-rated for the length of the internship.

What you’ll need  

You’ll be in the penultimate year of university, or maybe about to do a Masters. Either way, you’ll be on course for at least a 2:2 degree. And it goes without saying that you will be available for the full placement time: 12 weeks.

You will be studying towards a Law degree (LLB) or a Diploma in Legal Practice.

While our Legal team doesn’t currently offer traineeships, this placement provides a valuable learning experience for those considering an in-house role in the future.

In terms of essential requirements? That’s it.  

But here’s the thing: We get thousands of applications for our internships each year. What makes the best candidates stand out? 

 

Here are a few things we love to see:  

  • CVs that tell us more than what grades you earned over the years. Show us what you’ve learned. What you love. What your aspirations are. 
  • Cover letters that tell us why you’re interested in Scottish Water (and our Legal Internship in particular). 
  • People who use their application to demonstrate that they are Bold, Responsible, Inspiring and Caring.   

What happens next?  

The closing date for applications is midnight on Sunday 9th of February. Please provide a Cover Letter (max. 500 words), alongside your CV – multiple attachments can be uploaded at the application stage.

If you’re shortlisted, final face-to-face interviews will happen during February. Where you can give us a good grilling too.  

If you accept a place on the programme, you’ll go through some pre-employment screening during the Spring, including a criminal record check.  

All our new Interns will start together at the beginning of June for a 12-week Summer Internship, finishing at the end of August. You’ll learn more about the organisation, meet our leaders, visit some of our operational sites, start making friends, and have a lot of fun.