JLR military hires top 1,500

As the nation honours Armed Forces Week, its Armed Forces engagement programme manager Stephen Lees explained: “JLR has a rich history of employing people from military backgrounds, actively encouraging and supporting other companies."

The luxury car maker, which combines Jaguar and Land Rover, has its electric propulsion manufacturing centre at Wolverhampton.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of JLR signing the Armed Forces Covenant and 10 years of working in partnership with Mission Motorsport, the Forces’ Motorsport Charity, leading to it recruiting an average of 150 veterans a year

Last year, JLR engaged with over 500 service leavers and hired more than 180 former service personnel as part of a programme to help armed forces leavers to find employment opportunities and maximise their transferrable skills.

The transition into civilian life after finishing a forces career can be challenging, as civilian recruiters may not always fully appreciate military CVs and their unique skill sets.

JLR supports veterans by employing a dedicated Armed Forces engagement manager, running an Armed Forces community support network, providing CV and interview advice and offering prospective employees site visits.

M Lees said: “As well as technical skills many service leavers and veterans have, we also recognise the exceptional project management, leadership and organisational qualities and unique experience military candidates bring. JLR provides a sense of belonging that individuals have held so dear throughout their military service in shared common values and ethos through JLR’s company purpose.”

Lead engineer and Army veteran Peter Whittenbury comes from a deep-rooted family history in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. Both his grandfathers were founding members of the REME.

Having originally joined up in 1988, he went onto serve a full career as a regular soldier in REME until November 2012. Since then, he has served as an Army reservist.

He is now playing a key role in the JLR’s electric future at Gaydon, warwickshire, where he is responsible for JLR’s environmental test management supporting on all the testing for powertrain and more recently, the new Range Rover Electric.

“It was through one of the many careers events that JLR attends that I managed to get my role within the company and I’ve never looked back. I’ve been able to fulfil my Reservists career alongside my engineering one,” he said.

“JLR has embraced my military background and with policies in place to support my time serving, I’ve found that I've got the best of both worlds with the added understanding from my employer.”