Edinburgh’s engineering economy is less visible than its financial and technology sectors, but it is broad. The city and the Lothians host defence electronics and photonics manufacturers, life sciences research and production, a large base of building services and civil engineering consultancies, and the engineering teams behind major infrastructure and energy projects in the east of Scotland.
Industrial estates and science parks around the city carry most of the hands-on engineering work. Sighthill and Newbridge on the west side have manufacturing and distribution sites, Loanhead and the Midlothian Science Zone host technology and research businesses, and West Lothian, with Livingston at its centre, has a long history of electronics, life sciences and precision manufacturing. On the waterfront, the Port of Leith is part of the Forth Green Freeport and is being developed for offshore wind.
Across the Forth, Rosyth builds frigates for the Royal Navy, and Fife has further fabrication and energy work within reach of the city. Employers in the east most often look for electrical and controls engineers, building services engineers, process and validation engineers for life sciences, and quality engineers for defence and precision manufacturing.
Engineering skills in the east are fed by Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh Napier University and the University of Edinburgh, along with Edinburgh College and West Lothian College for apprenticeships and technician training. Employers here often combine graduate intakes with experienced hires from defence, energy and building services.
We recruit engineers for employers across Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife. Many engineers here commute between the city, West Lothian and Fife, so we search across that whole area rather than just the postcode on the job.
How we work with employersWhere the engineering work is in and around Edinburgh
See every sector we cover on our engineering sectors page.
Livingston, Dalkeith, Musselburgh and Dunfermline all sit within commuting distance, and engineers regularly cross the Forth between Fife and the Lothians for work.
We also recruit engineers in Falkirk, Stirling and Glasgow. Every area we cover is listed on our engineering recruitment locations page.
Call 01698 464 099 or email info@engineeringrecruitscotland.com, or use our contact page.
Browse our live engineering roles in Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife, or send us your CV and we will be in touch when something fits.
Talk to us about the role. We will tell you how the local market looks for that skill set and how we would find the right person.
Most engineering assignments take 4 to 6 weeks, depending on how complex the role is. Recent examples include a Maintenance Engineer placed in 3 weeks and a Quality Manager placed in 6 weeks. We give you an honest view of the likely timescale when we take the brief.
Every engineer is interviewed by phone and on a Teams video call before you see a CV. Each CV comes with a written summary of the engineer's background, why they are looking and their salary expectations, so you only see people with the right skills, experience and motivation.
We agree terms for each assignment rather than publishing a standard rate, because the right structure depends on the role and how you want to hire. Terms include a free candidate replacement guarantee. Call 01698 464 099 to discuss your vacancy.
Quality, design, manufacturing, maintenance, estimating, project, electrical, mechanical, process, automation, civil and structural engineers, along with engineering managers and directors.
Yes. We recruit engineers for employers across Edinburgh and the rest of Scotland from our office at Strathclyde Business Park, Bellshill, and search our network of engineers across the area, including people who are not actively looking.
Engineering Recruit Scotland was set up in 2020. Our directors have spent 25 years recruiting engineers for employers across Scotland.
Send us the details and a senior consultant will call you back to talk through the role, the market and how quickly we can find the right engineer.
Prefer to talk it through? Call 01698 464 099.
Call us or tell us about your vacancy, and we will give you an honest view of how quickly we can help.
