Job surge in the UK offshore wind sector

The influx of industry talent will support the companies’ explosive growth and the deployment of its high-tech AI and autonomy solutions into offshore wind projects.

“We’re a leading player in high-tech offshore wind solutions, developing autonomous inspection for challenging environments and deploying innovations in crucial areas like AI,” said James Reynolds, head of talent acquisition at Rovco & Vaarst.

“We’ve seen huge growth across our operations over the past couple of years, so we’re excited to bring on some new talent to support and continue our growth.”

Explosive growth

The recruitment is part of broader expansion plans across global markets that will see Rovco & Vaarst recruit around 200 new employees during this period.

Fifty of the roles will sit within Rovco’s sister company Vaarst, launched in 2021.

The specialist tech roles available in the Bristol headquarters cover areas such as machine learning, computer vision autonomy, data, AI and robotics software engineering. These will be at the cutting edge of innovation in the green subsea industry and accelerating the energy transition.

Over 100 roles will also be available at Rovco’s Aberdeen and Edinburgh offices up in Scotland, focused in the company’s innovative hydrographic division which spans wind farm planning surveys, seabed mapping and UXO (unexploded ordnance) surveys. 

Rovco & Vaarst have grown rapidly over the past few years, with operations across the UK & Irish seas, Europe, Japan and the US, working with some of the world’s biggest offshore wind operators.

The job announcements come at a time when Britain’s flagship renewables scheme, Contracts for Difference (CfD), received its biggest ever funding boost from government, with more than £1 billion for its upcoming auction.

The budget for the sixth CfD allocation round – confirmed by the Chancellor at Spring Budget – signals large-scale government backing to drive further investment into the UK’s thriving renewables sector and roll out more clean, secure and affordable energy.

Results of how many bids have been received for offshore wind projects are expected in the coming weeks.