Early careers at BAT
Developing the leaders of the future
It is an exciting time to be at BAT. Our industry is evolving and we are proud to be at the forefront of its transformation.
Key to the future success of our business is being able to attract the best graduate and early career talent.
At BAT, we are able to offer young adults real practical experience as well as training and development to help them improve along the way.
Here’s a snapshot of what BAT has offer people who are starting out on their employment journeys.
Global Graduate Academy
Our Global Graduate Academy provides intensive two-week training as part of our one-year Global Graduate programme. The programme focuses on developing the next generation of diverse leaders and accelerating the development of their commercial leadership skills. It offers graduates a full-time role from day one and gives them access to career and development advice from senior leaders and Management Board members.
Grad Academy
The future leaders of our business completed the first Grad Academy of 2022. The Academy was a busy, inspiring two weeks of virtual classes focusing on boosting the business acumen, interpersonal and leadership skills of 127 grads.
Battle of Minds
Battle of Minds is our global competition focused on finding the brightest early-career business minds around the world – helping to develop the next generation of diverse leaders. Now in its fourth year – and its second in partnership with BAT’s corporate venture unit, Btomorrow Ventures – Battle of Minds seeks to support the best young minds from around the world and their ideas to solve pressing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) challenges. This year’s contest saw more than 4,500 people enter and 750 brilliant ideas submitted over a number of months. After a rigorous set of local rounds, nine teams made it through to the virtual final. The winning team was Team FlexSea from the UK with their proprietary technology enabling them to create a seaweed-derived bioplastic that can be used as packaging for various products, without a downgrade in packaging quality or competitiveness. Their idea has the potential to significantly decrease usage of single use plastic in packaging. Team FlexSea will receive a £50,000 investment from Btomorrow Ventures.
All the way to the top
At BAT we mean it when we say we say we promote from within. And we are proud of the fact that so many of our Management Board members joined the company as either graduate trainees or early career recruits.
Johan Vandermeulen, Regional Director, Europe, says in his Management Board biography: “To make it this far after joining the company as a trainee I hope is motivational for our people. I hope my story inspires others and demonstrates that we mean it when we say we develop people from within.”
Find out more about the people who lead our business in our Meet the Board section.