Arm
Chip architecture powering most of the world's smartphones — designed in Cambridge.
About Arm
Arm designs the processor architecture licensed into billions of devices a year. It is a design and IP company, not a fabricator — so the work is silicon design, verification, compilers and low-level software rather than manufacturing.
Cambridge is the centre of gravity, with growing hardware teams in Manchester and Sheffield. Early-career hiring is smaller and more competitive than at a big consultancy, but the technical depth is unusual for a first job.
Arm runs a degree apprenticeship in electronic engineering alongside its graduate intake, so you can enter straight from A-levels or a BTEC.
Expect a genuinely engineering-led culture: code review, formal verification and a lot of reading of specifications.
Why work here
- You work on hardware/software boundaries that very few UK employers touch — RTL, verification, toolchains, kernels.
- Interns and apprentices get committed work, not shadowing. Your verification tests ship.
- Strong hybrid working and a Cambridge campus culture that is quiet and focused rather than corporate.
- Narrow specialism is a risk: if you decide silicon is not for you, some of the skills are hard to transfer.
STEM roles they hire
Entry routes
Electronic Engineering Degree Apprenticeship
- Starts
- September
- Duration
- 4 years
- Degree needed
- No
- Salary
- £22,000 rising yearly
Graduate Engineer
- Starts
- September
- Duration
- Permanent with 12-month ramp
- Degree needed
- Yes
- Salary
- £38,000–£45,000
Summer Internship
- Starts
- June
- Duration
- 11 weeks
- Degree needed
- Preferred
- Salary
- ~£2,200/month
Salary and benefits
- Restricted stock units from day one on graduate contracts
- Fully funded degree on the apprenticeship route
- Generous hybrid policy and a four-week 'work from anywhere' allowance
- Strong pension match and private medical cover
- Dedicated learning budget and conference attendance
Application tips
- 1.Show low-level curiosity: an Arduino/FPGA project, an emulator, a toy compiler. Web-app portfolios land less well here.
- 2.Brush up C and basic digital logic — interviews test binary, timing and pointers, not framework knowledge.
- 3.Apply in September/October; internship and apprenticeship places are filled well before Christmas.
- 4.Read one Arm architecture blog post and reference it. Interviewers notice specificity.
- 5.If you are rejected from graduate roles, the internship route is the strongest back door — most interns are offered a return place.