Our ethos
At Lithos we recognise that our most valuable assets are our staff. We offer a competitive salary with additional benefits, including flexible working, generous pension scheme and a bonus payable twice a year. Development, coaching, mentoring and personal growth underpin everything we do. We offer a formal, progressive training programme from Graduate Engineer to Associate Director, guaranteeing a route to Chartership on the way. You can find our company Vision, Mission and Values here along side our Illustrative Training Programme.
Our rural location just off the Al, means we are an easy commute with free parking, where you can also experience the benefits the countryside can offer. Most of our work is based in Yorkshire or the North of England and so our engineers do not have to spend long periods of time working away from home – our work involves a healthy split between office and site work.
As an SME we can be responsive, flexible and take an individual approach towards our employees. We are an equal opportunities employer. You will not be lost in the crowd but you will be accountable. You will work with and learn from experienced technical experts on projects from beginning to end, but you will also have the opportunity to develop broader business skills; skills that are essential in running a successful and profitable business like Lithos.
The nature of our work, our strong culture and ethos means teamwork, collaboration, communication, mentoring and personal development are fundamental. We’re sociable and supportive and believe this is best achieved by working together. If you prefer to work from home, remotely, then Lithos may not be for you.
Despite being a relatively small business, we invest a lot of time and money in your future development; in return we want you to stick around for at least 2 years. If you see Lithos as a stepping stone or a temporary commitment, then again, Lithos is not for you.
During our recruitment process we take your privacy seriously. We will not pass your details on to any other party or retain your information any longer than we need to progress your application, or to fulfil our legal and regulatory requirements. Further details of our GDPR and privacy policy can be found on this website.
We are a Mindful Employer and this means we’re committed to empowering our employees to achieve better mental health at work.
Lithos – a road to success…
Current vacancies
We currently have no vacancies, but we are always happy to receive speculative CVs. Please note we do not deal with recruitment agencies.
Careers for graduates
Each year we recruit at least one Graduate with a relevant degree. We commit to providing all our graduates with a ‘route to chartership’. This means we provide the training, experience, support and guidance so that our graduates achieve Chartership status with their chosen technical body (typically Geology Society) within approx 5-6 years. Beyond this, our Chartered Engineers are encouraged and supported in developing a higher technical specialism eg: SiLC, RoGEP.
Those who show leadership potential are invited on to our Associate Director Development Programme, which leads to a level 7 Certificate in Leadership and Management.
Geoffrey Warburton - Graduate engineer
Graduate engineer
I joined Lithos in October 2024 after graduating with a degree from Durham in Geology. Within my first few months at Lithos I have gained valuable training on-site and office based. This included shadowing of a range of diverse smaller greenfield projects to more challenging larger brown field sites.
The training programme and opportunity to support more senior engineers with report writing, technical drawings over broad range of sites has been great.
I have now been able to supervise drilling rigs and excavators whilst refining my report writing skills. The added responsibility and challenges have benefited my understanding greatly. Seeing a project evolve from the initial desk study phase through to the final report, encompassing various ground investigation techniques, geotechnical and chemical testing data analysis builds a greater appreciation for site investigation.
Support from the rest of the Lithos team has been fantastic and I look forward to developing further.
Charlotte Copley - Senior engineer
Senior engineer
Charlotte’s journey with Lithos
I joined Lithos as a Graduate Engineer in the summer of 2018 after completing my Geology BSc. Lithos has provided a great training programme that allows me to experience a range of site-work based activities that are supported with writing various reports such as desk studies, site investigation reports and remediation strategies. Even though graduate training typically lasts around 2 years, Lithos continues to support engineers in getting to Chartership.
In 2020 I was encouraged to apply for the Geological Societies National Early Career Award, which I subsequently went on to win. This allowed me to network with other people in the field, and I am now on the Yorkshire Geological Societies Committee, helping to arrange events within the region.
Lithos are also supporting me whilst I undertake a part-time MSc course in Environmental Consultancy which allows me to further my knowledge in my chosen field. Whilst undertaking my studies, I am on secondment to the remediation team which ties in nicely with what I am learning at university. I have recently supervised a drilling and grouting job, undertaken gas protection validations and soil cover validations on site, and written hydrogeological risk assessments, construction and environmental management reports and slope stability assessments.
The support and encouragement given by Lithos helps their engineers develop the right skills and knowledge required to excel in their careers, evidenced by their team of well-respected engineers.
Chris Ryan - Senior engineer
Chris Ryan - Senior engineer
Chris’ journey with Lithos
I joined Lithos as an Engineer in 2019 after working for a drilling contractor since graduating in 2016. Lithos offered the perfect opportunity for a better balance between sitework and office work because, at Lithos, an engineer will often see a project through from writing the desk study to doing the fieldwork and then to writing the final report. Previously, as a site-based engineer, I would be supervising drilling rigs and logging soils/rock and producing the odd factual report; however the work at Lithos is a lot more diverse and challenging with different problems to solve for every site. Working for Lithos has also allowed me to have a better work/life balance with more time spent at home in the evenings rather than working and staying away every week.
Lithos also encourages SI engineers to work with the remediation team for 6 months to gain experience in the many different techniques and methods used to remediate sites. I have recently had the opportunity to do this and have benefitted greatly from the experience. I have supervised and validated the removal of contaminated material on site, undertaken soil cover validations, and produced remediation strategies and validation reports. This has helped my understanding when completing sitework and writing reports as I have experienced the techniques that maybe recommended to remediate or prepare a site for its proposed end use.
The training and experiences with both the SI and remediation teams have helped me develop and grow as an Engineer and have taken me closer to achieving my aim of chartership in the near future.
George Morton
Principal Engineer
George’s journey with Lithos
I graduated in 2013 with a honours degree majoring in geology and joined Lithos as a Graduate Engineer. In my eight years at Lithos I have gained practical experience in both site-based ground investigations and remediation, plus office-based report writing, contaminated land assessment and geotechnical design. I particularly enjoy the challenges and problem solving required to deliver bespoke and specialist investigations at the quoting, fieldwork and reporting stages of our investigations.
I have been given the training to work in accordance with geotechnical and contaminated land guidance in a safe and effective manner, notably being CSCS accredited to work on construction sites, IOSH accredited to supervise geotechnical investigations and PTS accredited to work on rail projects.
After almost 6 years at Lithos, and thanks to the training and opportunities made available to me, I achieved chartership status in June 2020 and was promoted to Principal Engineer in January 2022.
Going forward I will be developing my commercial and management skills to reflect the change in my responsibilities towards managing a team of engineers over several sites and projects.
George Costley
Student Engineer - 1 year industrial placement
About my year with Lithos
I study Environmental Science at the University of Leeds and have just completed my industrial placement at Lithos. This year has provided me with a deeper understanding of working on-site and being an active, valued member of a professional team.
My responsibilities
• Gas and Groundwater monitoring across various sites
• Compiling and organising data into large Excel sheets
• Pulling together appendices for gas risk assessment letters
Some of my other responsibilities included, taking surface water samples for our remediation team, conducting soakaway tests, and carrying out soil-cover validations. I also spent a lot of time on-site with more experienced engineers observing trial pitting, trenching, probing, drilling and how to ensure safe working practices.
Key skills I have developed
• Communication – by ensuring project managers and other engineers are aware of developments in site conditions
• Organisation – being able to plan and manage my workload has proved vital in making sure jobs are completed properly and on time
• Report writing – Writing front ends of reports and letters
• Training – I have undertaken various toolbox talks / training days this year to make sure I feel comfortable and safe while working independently in a dynamic environment
• Calibrating and looking after equipment – making sure important scientific equipment is properly looked after and calibrated correctly
• Teamwork – supporting other members of the team with different tasks and identifying when I require assistance with my work
Would you recommend us?
The Lithos team is a supportive and friendly company where you can learn and work closely with a wide range of skill sets. I would highly recommend them for a placement year.
Erin Waddilove
Student Engineer - 1 year industrial placement
I have just finished my year at Lithos on an industrial placement from the University of Leeds. I will also be returning to Lithos after I have finished my degree as a graduate engineer in Autumn 2025!
My day to day job as a student engineer included:
- Environmental monitoring – gas & groundwater monitoring
- Handling large data sets in excel – typing up monitoring results in the forms of tables, spreadsheets and graphs
- Various sampling and construction support within the remediation team – including surface water sampling, stockpile sampling and soil cover validations
- Supporting and observing the site investigation team – often helping out with soakaway testing, soil and rock logging and observing trial pitting, drilling & plate load testing
- Report writing – drafting letter reports and writing front ends of reports, particularly gas risk assessments
- Ordering and calibrating of equipment used – ensuring important monitoring equipment is working as it should and calibrations are up to date to ensure accurate and reliable data is being collected
The student engineer role involved being given great responsibilities, which allowed me to develop lots of transferrable skills such as time management, organisation and accuracy. My role involved me working independently for a large part of my week – Lithos were incredibly supportive and I didn’t undertake any task without being appropriately trained and felt both confident and comfortable in completing any task given safely.
I received an extensive range of both internal and external training and have learnt so much about an industry I previously knew very little about. The site work in particular is something I thoroughly enjoyed and now feel much more confident in doing, and I am really looking forward to re-joining the company next year on the graduate scheme and further expanding my knowledge and skills as a Geo-Environmental engineer.
Everything you need as a student engineer is provided for you, including a company van, phone, laptop, all the PPE you need. Based just outside of Leeds, in a small and friendly working environment, I feel that joining a smaller consultancy really benefitted me as working closely with the most senior and qualified engineers and directors first hand here means you learn so much more.
Lithos is a really great company to work for and I couldn’t recommend them more to choose for a year in industry placement.
Cameron Daniel
Graduate and student engineer - geography graduate
I am a geography graduate and spent a year with Lithos on a student placement from Leeds University. I graduated in July 2023 and have since joined Lithos as a Graduate engineer.
As a student engineer, my main roles and responsibilities were:
- Gas and groundwater monitoring – this was my primary responsibility.
- Site investigation assistance – often responsible for soakaways and also involved in trial pitting and borehole drilling.
- Construction support – soil cover validation, stockpile sampling, surface water
The student placement was highly relevant because:
- I am interested in the environment – specifically: geology, soils, groundwater, environmental processes and management.
- I am interested in construction – the planning phase and environmental regulations.
- I enjoy working outdoors – the majority of your time will be spent on site in all weathers.
- I am comfortable with lone working – being able to use your own initiative and self-motivate is crucial.
- I am willing to learn – you may not have learnt much about Geoenvironmental Engineering in your degree so will be taking on lots of new information throughout the year.
The skills I developed during my student placement:
- Organisation – planning and managing my own workload, with jobs across the North of England. Also learning to be flexible to rearrange work around high priority jobs.
- Communication – developed my skills in communicating clearly with colleagues, clients, contractors and members of the public.
- Practical skills – with no prior experience in the industry. I learnt many industry specific skills including gas and groundwater monitoring, soil classification, rock core logging and soil and water monitoring.
- Report writing – assisted in writing gas risk assessments.
- Excel – Inputting and organising large amounts of data within Microsoft Excel.
Next steps: Graduate engineer
Having known very little about Geoenvironmental consultancy before beginning my placement, I found that I really enjoy it. I have since returned to Lithos after my final year of university and joined their graduate training scheme – Route to Chartership. It’s still early days but so far I’ve been on lots of internal an external training. I’ve also spent a lot of time out on site with more senior engineers, learning on the job. The role is a good mix of site and office work (report writing). Being at Lithos, I know I won’t spend months on end working away from home so the work-life balance is good. I’m really pleased I joined a smaller consultancy; the opportunities to work closely with and learn from experts in their field is brilliant.
Rhianne Hughes
Student Engineer - 1 year industrial placement
My experiences with Lithos were both memorable and valuable and I am very proud of what I achieved throughout the year. I learned a great deal about myself, and working in the professional world. Furthermore, Lithos were very sensitive to my needs – I will always be most grateful for their support.
The placement year enabled me to successfully apply geological skills learned during my undergraduate degree in a business environment. I was exposed to different types of geological jobs in the three departments: site investigation, remediation and contaminated land, and I particularly enjoyed the wide variety of work this provided.
My main tasks were to monitor gas and water boreholes, conduct water sampling and soakaway tests, and assist the engineers when needed. I also observed engineers perform soil cover validations, CBR testing, trial pitting, drilling and rock coring. I helped organise equipment calibration and ordering of new supplies. My administrative tasks included handling large data sets in Excel and writing front ends to gas reports and water letters. In addition, I learned how to put work plans together and execute them effectively. Furthermore, the job responsibilities allowed me to develop life skills such as independence, time management, organisation and accuracy, and the importance of seeking appropriate advice when needed. I also had to problem solve in real life situations and learn how to effectively communicate with people.
Lithos were really supportive and made sure I was fully confident and understood my job. Above all, they ensured I received all the right support to get through the year. Prior to my placement, I knew little about a geologist’s role in the construction industry, but I am now aware of the wide range of geological jobs available. I would highly recommend a placement year or career working for Lithos to any geology students.