Manufacturing Engineer - Composites weave & Textiles

Rolls-Royce are currently developing manufacturing methods, processes and materials for their composite fan systems. We are currently going through an exciting phase of growth as we deliver composite components and manufacturing programmes across a range of products for Civil Aerospace and Defence divisions.

This is an excellent opportunity for two Manufacturing Engineers to work within the Composite Technology Facility (CTF) as part of our Engineering, Technology and Safety business. This work will involve:

• The hands-on development of the 3D Weaving manufacturing process for a novel fan system or creation, verification and optimisation of programmes to develop preform designs for a range of preforming methods but predominantly for 3D Weaving.

The roles will be based in CTF Bristol on the Filton site and involve visits to our offsite facility, working closely with other parts of the business including Rolls-Royce Derby, external suppliers and the National Composites Centre (NCC).

These roles will give the chosen applicants an opportunity to develop within Rolls-Royce manufacturing function and enable them to influence the creation and delivery of the next generation composite fan system. The successful candidates will manage packages of work within the CTF and be responsible for delivering results across a cross-functional team from Design Engineers, Technical specialists through to Operations and Quality.

What you will be doing:

• Develop and deliver composite preform processes including 3D Weaving for the latest fan system providing a capable method to the Operation Team in the facility. Ensure the preforming process techniques meet our customer's requirements for Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery and Lead time. Develop the Technical Package (Equipment Specification, TI's, PFMEAs, Tooling, Equipment and HSE documentation) to define the manufacturing process and control it effectively. Identify opportunities for new or improved process using statistical process control (Ppk and Cpk) to meet current or future requirements whilst sharing best practice across the community.
• Drive the composite process to Zero Defects through cost and quality waterfalls, owning the technology plan and strategy as we head towards industrialising the fan system.
• Develop preform designs and equipment programmes for a range of composite preforming processes for the latest fan systems providing a capable method to the Operation Team in the facility. Verify and test the programmes with a hands-on approach on the shopfloor. Integrate with specialists both internally and externally, being the focal point in the Design for Manufacture process for your area of expertise.
• Understand the manufacturing process such that the programming supports the equipment and software being used whilst looking to optimise the process working within the Rolls-Royce Production System.
• Ensure the machine programmes and products meet our customer's requirements for Safety, Quality (Zero Defects) and Cost through cost and quality waterfalls, Delivery and Lead time, contributing to the Technology Readiness Level and Industrialisation journey.

Who we’re looking for:

To be successful in these roles you will need to:

• Engineering or relevant discipline degree, HND or HNC with Manufacturing Engineering experience.
• Knowledge of and previous work experience in 3D weaving and processing of 3D woven preforms or similar textile manufacturing processes. Understanding of technology readiness levels (TRL) (or similar processes such as MCRL) and driving processes to maturity.
• Understanding of the manufacturing engineering toolset to improve processes in our route to zero defects.
• Experience working to aerospace management systems and following process controls.
• Experience in (composite) textiles design and/or manufacture, e.g. 2D/3D Weaving.
• Be aware of or understand the fundamentals of weave design and programming, i.e. creating bitmaps, JC5 files, programming software packages.
• Preferred experience in CAD/CAM modelling, e.g. CATIA or Siemens NX.
• Experience in coding using Python, C# or similar of advantage.
• Develop and simplify the preforms for the components manufactured in the CTF within our digital toolsets and systems.

We are an equal opportunities employer. We’re committed to developing a diverse workforce and an inclusive working environment. We believe that people from different backgrounds and cultures give us different perspectives which are crucial to innovation and problem solving.