10 jobs of the future

10 jobs of the future - Just Recruitment

What will the world of work look like in a generation’s time? Sarah Patten explores the careers of the future

The world is changing at an astounding pace, and so is the jobs market. In 15 years or so, many jobs that exist now may be extinct. Meanwhile, new opportunities will have arisen.

To help you work out what’s what, here’s our guide to 10 jobs that you may never have heard of, but will be part of the mainstream employment landscape for the next generation.

    In 15 years or so, many jobs that exist now may be extinct.  

1. Autonomous car programmer

Once the preserve of science fiction, driverless cars are now very much a reality. With the technology predicted to be in mass production by the early 2020s, those who earn a living by driving a lorry or car could be forgiven for feeling nervous.

But it’s not all bad news from a recruitment perspective. Driverless cars rely on artificial intelligence to control them, and engineers will be needed to create and develop the software.

10 jobs of the future - Just Recruitment2. Personalised medicine designer

Precision medicine involves the customisation of healthcare to an individual patient, taking into account their lifestyle, environment and genetic makeup.

Clinical trials have shown that such an approach improves patient outcomes, President Obama has dedicated $215 million to the cause. A budget commitment that has survived the change in administration. As the field continues to grow, there will be a pressing need for biomedical scientists to interpret patient data and customise medical care.

3. Wavepower engineer

Wave technology harnesses the movement of the ocean to generate energy that can be converted into electricity.

Experts say it is a reliable, sustainable, and inexhaustible energy source for the future. That makes it a clear frontrunner in the renewable energy market – meaning there’ll be plenty of jobs devoted to the technology in the coming years.

10 jobs of the future - Just Recruitment4. Drone pilot

The use of unmanned aircraft has rocketed in recent years, with the technology being used in everything from military surveillance to parcel delivery.

As the deployment of drones becomes more widespread, there’s an increased need for remote pilots to operate them. For those who spent their childhoods playing on games consoles or with remote-controlled toys, there can surely be no more appealing career.

5. IT security consultant

Digitisation has brought untold benefits to the modern world. It has increased efficiency and productivity, and improved standards of life.

But with these benefits come disadvantages. Information systems contain huge amounts of sensitive data that hackers are using increasingly sophisticated methods to obtain. Our information is precious, and that means we need expert security specialists to protect it.  

6. Ethical hacker

A new type of computer hacker has emerged in recent years. Rather than being a threat to organisations and individuals, the ethical hacker is an ally. He or she tries to penetrate computer systems and networks on behalf of their owners, to identify potential vulnerabilities.

Which just goes to show: any skill has the potential to benefit society. The only question is how it’s used.  

7. Telesurgeon

Telesurgery enables trained medics to operate on patients remotely, using a robotic surgical system. That means surgeons can deploy their specialist skills worldwide, wherever people need them.

The new technology requires a change in surgical training, and will almost certainly herald a whole new specialism in the medical world.

10 jobs of the future - Just Recruitment8. Commercial space pilot

Heard the one about the eccentric entrepreneurs who want to operate commercial flights to space?

Until now, space tourism has seemed like so much pie in the sky. But companies like Virgin Galactic and Elon Musk’s SpaceX are aiming at carving out a space tourism industry, giving travellers the chance to visit the edge of space. And those rockets won’t fly themselves…

9. Multi-role worker

We are all accustomed to the notion of a portfolio career. But Just Recruitment Ltd’s director, Peter Foy, believes that in another generation this will become the norm.

His view is that the vast majority of the workforce will hold down a number of jobs at once, for the sake of lifestyle, job satisfaction, and the spreading of risk. The result? No such thing as a single career. More a cluster of roles, which together form an interesting way to spend one’s working week.

10. Futurologist

Futurology involves forecasting the future, by reference to current trends.

In our view, the futurologist’s job will always be secure, because people find predictions about what’s just around the corner utterly irresistible. You’re reading this, aren’t you...?

© 2020 Just Recruitment Group Ltd

Published: 10 March 2020

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Jobs currently available

Customer Services Executive
Sector: Customer Service
Salary: Discussed on application
Location: Sudbury, Suffolk
Role: Full Time
Contract: Permanent
Job ref: TB14
About the role

Just Recruitment is recruiting for a Customer Services Executive for a manufacturer based in Sudbury, Suffolk.

As a Customer Services Executive, you will play a key role within the sales and marketing team — delivering exceptional service to both new and existing customers while managing ongoing accounts.

You will answer customer questions, solve problems, and provide information about the company’s products and services — all while building strong relationships and ensuring long-term customer satisfaction.

Key responsibilities include:

  • Assess incoming enquiries from direct communication or the sales team
  • Create quotations and tender documentation
  • Follow up on quotations at appropriate points in the process
  • Manage the CRM system
  • Manage the lead generation tools
  • Processing incoming sales orders
  • Liaise with the order fulfilment team for the smooth supply of products to customers
  • Manage any after-sales requirements
  • Help project manage key projects and clients

Role requirements include:

  • Must possess excellent communication skills, both oral and written
  • Previous experience in a similar role is preferable
  • Experience within the engineering/manufacturing sector is preferred
  • Good knowledge of and proficiency in Microsoft Office and basic database skills
  • Must be able to understand business calculations and be competent to correspond via email in a professional manner
  • Must be an excellent face-to-face communicator
  • Telephone communication skills are of a high standard
  • One of the keys to success is to develop professional relationships with decision makers, and so the ability to ‘connect’ with people and build networks should come naturally
  • You will be based at the Sudbury office, with occasional requirements for site and customer visits

Skills and qualifications to include:

  • A highly capable person with strong planning and scheduling skills
  • Self–driven, results-oriented, and with a positive outlook and a clear focus on high-quality standards
  • An independent person with good organisation and planning skills, who is capable of objectively assessing and improving their own and the department’s performance
  • Must be reliable, tolerant, and be able to work under pressure. The ability to be professional at all times and represent the company in a professional manner is a prerequisite
  • Tenacity and the ability to see things through to the end goal are desired traits
  • Must be able to work alone as well as work within a team
  • When required, able to work extra hours to accommodate the business needs, which may include occasional travel


Just Recruitment acts as an employment agency for permanent roles.
We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from all suitable candidates.

 

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Technical Sales / Applications Engineer
Sector: Engineering and Manufacturing
Salary: £26,000 - £34,000 per annum
Location: Tiverton, Devon
Role: Full Time
Contract: Permanent
Job ref: TB13
About the role

Just Recruitment is seeking a Technical Sales / Applications Engineer for a leading client in Tiverton, Devon — an excellent opportunity for a graduate, higher apprentice, or experienced engineer to develop their career within a technical engineering environment.

Reporting to the Technical Sales Manager, this role will focus on the promotion and sales of company products to prospective, new and existing customers.

Scope:

  • Providing a Technical Sales Service to Customers
  • Dealing first-hand with customer enquiries, by telephone and digital meetings where required
  • Solving Design Problems and providing new design solutions
  • Checking and validating applications, preparing costings and quotations
  • Preparation of drawings
  • Assisting the manufacturing team with design builds

Required qualifications/experience include:

  • Ideally qualified to HNC minimum in mechanical engineering
  • Consideration given to applicants with a Mechanical Design background and good CAD skills
  • Knowledge of Machine and Production processes is advantageous
  • Working knowledge of 3D design tools such as SolidWorks or AutoCAD

 

Just Recruitment acts as an employment agency for permanent roles.
We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from all suitable candidates.

 

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Procurement Manager
Sector: Purchasing and Merchandising
Salary: Discussed on application
Location: Sudbury, Suffolk
Role: Full Time
Contract: Permanent
Job ref: TB11
About the role

Just Recruitment is working with a growing manufacturing business based on the outskirts of Sudbury, in the search for a talented Procurement Manager to join their expanding team.

Required skills and qualifications:

  • CIPS Qualified - min level 5.
  • Substantial experience in a procurement leadership role within the food, ingredients, manufacturing, or FMCG sectors.
  • Experience in leading and developing high-performance teams.
  • Strong Negotiation and Supplier Management skills.

The key purpose of this role is to lead the delivery of greater strategic and operational value of the procurement function and help to deliver business-critical goals.

This is a hands-on, strategic, and operational role that requires a confident leader with deep procurement expertise and the ability to inspire and develop a team.

You will work closely with the Supply Chain Manager to shape and implement a fit-for-purpose procurement strategy, ensuring alignment with business goals across quality, cost, sustainability, and risk management. This role is pivotal in maintaining robust and value-driven supplier relationships while enabling continuous improvement in all procurement activities.

You will also oversee raw material planning and call-offs, ensuring that the business maintains the right balance between availability and inventory control — essential for production continuity and working capital efficiency.

This role includes direct line management of a Procurement Specialist, supporting their development and day-to-day activity management.

Key duties include:

  • Develop and implement a comprehensive procurement strategy aligned with business objectives, operational needs, and sustainability goals.
  • Identify, evaluate, and manage suppliers across raw materials, packaging, and indirect categories to ensure quality, continuity and cost-effectiveness.
  • Collaborate with the Supply Chain Manager and other departments to align procurement with broader supply chain goals and business plans.
  • Contribute to the company’s sustainability, traceability and ethical sourcing commitments through strategic supplier partnerships.
  • Oversee the procurement of raw materials, packaging, indirect goods and services, and CAPEX items, ensuring optimal quality, cost and delivery performance.
  • Manage tendering processes, contract negotiation and supplier onboarding activities.
  • Ensure the ERP system is updated and used effectively for procurement activities and reporting.
  • Monitor and report on procurement KPIs, savings and supplier performance metrics.
  • Build and maintain strong relationships with key suppliers and service providers, driving continuous improvement and innovation.
  • Lead supplier performance reviews, audits and corrective action processes.
  • Identify and assess risks within the supply base and implement mitigation strategies to ensure business continuity.
  • Lead, mentor and develop the procurement team to achieve high levels of engagement, performance and professional growth.
  • Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous learning within the team.
  • Support the wider Supply Chain team by contributing to cross-functional initiatives and projects.
  • Ensure adherence to company procurement policies, financial controls and ethical standards.
  • Support internal and external audits with relevant documentation and compliance reporting.
  • Drive process improvement initiatives and embed best practices across the procurement function.

Build and nurture key working relationships with Production, Quality Assurance, Finance, Warehousing, Sales and Commercial Teams, Suppliers, Logistics Providers and Regulatory Bodies.

This is an excellent opportunity to drive change within a business — offering a great working environment.

Working hours for this role are Monday to Friday, 8am - 5pm, although some flexibility is required.

Please note that due to the location of the business, you must have access to your own transport.

Just Recruitment acts as an employment agency for permanent roles.
We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from all suitable candidates.

 

Read more
Purchasing Supervisor
Sector: Purchasing and Merchandising
Location: Ipswich
Role: Full Time
Contract: Permanent
Job ref: JC24
About the role

Just Recruitment is partnering with a growing, industry-leading organisation in Ipswich to recruit a Purchasing Supervisor.

Working collaboratively within a fast-paced, team-oriented purchasing function, you will take responsibility for taking the highly successful Purchasing Team to the next level of procurement. Reporting to the Purchasing Manager, the emphasis of the role is to work with existing team members to build key skills and to improve current processes. It will involve resolving daily issues, building and maintaining supplier relationships and helping to build the future purchasing team.

Duties include:

  • Primary responsibility for the daily management of specific team members.
  • Provide structured training and guidance to proactively encourage individual and team development, ensuring team succession planning.
  • Empower the team to take ownership of their roles/responsibilities.
  • Responsible for managing up and organising updates/meetings with the Team Manager.
  • Actively work with other supervisors and management to ensure a consistent approach within the department.
  • Resolution of daily issues—including data collation of issues.
  • Manage supplier relationships and performance.
  • Lead on supplier lead time reviews and relevant internal updates.
  • Present data on monthly spend and KPIs, and non-conformance tracking.
  • Lead on-demand planning, working with the external Sales Team and suppliers to provide forecasting.
  • Participate in pricing reviews.
  • Deliver guidance and training daily to the team.
  • Proactively work on team engagement through coaching, mentoring and regular 1-2-1s.

Key skills/qualifications required include:

  • CIPS level 4 achieved or prepared to undertake.
  • Leadership skills.
  • Ability to develop and maintain commercial awareness, internally and industry-wide.
  • A proactive approach with a “can-do” attitude and the ability to motivate others.
  • Analytical skills with strong problem-solving ability.
  • Proven negotiation skills.
  • Good understanding of supply chain procedures.
  • Proven advanced level of Computer literacy - Microsoft Excel/Word/Access.
  • Sound Administrative experience. Knowledge of ERP.

Hybrid working will be available after successful completion of the probationary period (min. of 3 days in the office, up to 2 days at home).

 

Just Recruitment acts as an employment agency for permanent roles.
We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from all suitable candidates.

 

Read more
Brand Coordinator
Sector: Purchasing and Merchandising
Location: Braintree
Role: Full Time
Contract: Permanent
Job ref: JC23
About the role

Just Recruitment is delighted to be supporting a well-regarded business based in Braintree who are recruiting for a Brand Coordinator to add to their team.

As a Brand Coordinator, you will manage the entire process from product development to customer delivery, including:

  • Product development and follow-up in collaboration with customers, Sales and Business Development Managers, and your international colleagues
  • Daily contact with customers
  • Daily communication with colleagues across multiple production sites
  • Creating and maintaining master data
  • Inventory planning
  • Monitoring KPIs such as delivery times and coverage

Role requirements include:

  • Strong commercial skills
  • Proactive, action-oriented and self-motivated
  • Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and maintain an overview
  • Service-minded and skilled at building and maintaining good relationships
  • Working systematically and structured
  • Desire to advance your career within the company and build long-term relationships with customers and colleagues
  • Have more than 2 years of experience in purchasing or as a purchasing assistant

Working hours: Monday to Friday 8.30am - 5.00pm

Just Recruitment acts as an employment agency for permanent roles.
We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from all suitable candidates.

 

Read more
Sales Office Coordinator
Sector: Public Service and Administration
Location: Ipswich
Role: Full Time
Contract: Permanent
Job ref: JC22
About the role

Just Recruitment is recruiting for a Sales Office Coordinator to join a well-established company based in Ipswich.

You’ll be working within a busy, fast-paced, team-oriented, customer-focused Sales Office. The main emphasis of the role is to manage customer expectations by organising the pricing of materials to meet project deadlines. Previous experience in processing quotes, sales, purchase orders, and invoices is preferred.

The ability to problem solve and seek solutions is essential, as is the ability to control workload with varying demands, whilst applying attention to detail with a diplomatic and proactive approach. You will possess previous experience within a similar role.

Duties include:

  • Preparing project quotations.
  • Processing sales and purchase orders.
  • Preparing/checking customers' invoices.
  • Data validation/attention to detail checking customer purchase orders/project information.
  • Proactively managing customer relations with both approved contractors, suppliers and external sales teams.
  • Managing inter-departmental communications relating to project quotes/orders/deliveries/invoicing.
  • Co-ordination of project pricing, deliveries and problem-solving customer queries.
  • Ability to adapt communication style/approach to manage a diverse range of tasks throughout the project process.

Key experience required includes:

  • Previous experience in high-level administration, with strong attention to detail and excellent customer service skills
  • Experience within a sales support function would be advantageous.
  • A proactive approach to workload, rather than reactive.

Hybrid working is available after successful completion of the probationary period — a minimum of 3 days in the office and up to 2 days working from home

Hours: Monday – Friday (9:00am - 5:00pm).

Just Recruitment acts as an employment agency for permanent roles.
We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all suitable candidates.

 

Read more