Deputy Maintenance Manager in Oxford

About AHUK Airbus Helicopters is the world’s largest helicopter manufacturer and the company’s site at Oxford Airport is Britain’s civil helicopter hub. AHUK offers considerable experience in helicopter sales, bespoke completions, maintenance and spares support. Its in-house engineering capabilities include design, customisation, installation, flight-testing and certification, as well as technical support, maintenance, training and the supply of spares for civil and military applications.

The Reward: Why Join Airbus? We offer a competitive base salary and a robust suite of benefits designed to support your health, wealth, and lifestyle:

• Holiday Allowance: Your annual leave entitlement grows with you, rewarding your commitment with an extra day of leave for each year of service (up to an additional 4 days).
• Health: Private Medical Insurance (Bupa). You also have the flexibility to add family members to your policy at an additional cost.
• Future Wealth: Up to 8% Company Pension contribution, when you contribute 6%. Plus Yearly Share Incentive Plans, and Discretionary Group Bonuses.
• Everyday Savings: Access to exclusive shopping discounts, including a cashback card to help your money go further.
• Lifestyle: Bikes to Work scheme (up to £3,000), Mydrive car purchase scheme, and Technology purchase schemes.
• Added Protection: Benefit from Personal Accident Insurance, Health-care Cash Schemes, and professional Financial/Legal advice.
• Refer a friend Scheme: We offer a generous Referral Bonus for any successfully placed candidates you recommend to the business.
• Inclusive Space: We provide a dedicated Multi-Faith Prayer Room, ensuring a quiet, private space for prayer during the day.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP): Gain access to 24/7 confidential support, counseling, and resources for both your professional and personal life.
• The Canteen Hub: A dedicated space to take a break and recharge, featuring on-site vending machines for quick snacks and refreshments.
• Fuel Your Day: Enjoy free tea and coffee throughout the day.

The Opportunity: Reporting directly to the Maintenance Manager, the Deputy Maintenance Manager acts as the senior production leader on the hangar floor. This role is the driving force behind the technical execution of our Completions and Modification activity, alongside the active management of daily Base Maintenance activities. As the formal second-in-command, you will fully deputise for the Maintenance Manager in their absence, assuming operational oversight to ensure continuous, compliant, and safe facility operations.

You will be the "pulse" of the hangar-leading daily team briefs, setting the operational tempo, and serving as the primary enforcer of Part 145 standards, tool control, and housekeeping across all crews. A critical focus of this role is tactical resource planning and capacity management. You will dynamically allocate supervisors and engineering teams to ensure the facility operates within its capacity, maintaining strict turnaround times for base maintenance inputs while concurrently ensuring crews hit the modification project milestones defined by the Project Management Office (PMO). Additionally, you will act as the crucial technical bridge between the hangar floor and Part 21 Design, ensuring teams have the correct data before work begins.

Knowledge and Skills

• Essential: Proven ability to actively manage and balance both routine base maintenance activities and complex modification projects simultaneously.
• Capability, confidence, and leadership presence to fully deputise for the Maintenance Manager and assume facility-wide operational control when required.
• Strong production leadership skills, with the ability to lead daily shift briefs, direct supervisors, and keep engineering teams focused and moving.
• Proven experience in tactical resource planning, including manpower forecasting, shift management, and dynamic capacity allocation to ensure the facility operates efficiently within its limits.
• Demonstrated track record of driving hangar efficiency to maintain strict aircraft turnaround times (TAT) and executing project milestones.
• Deep understanding of the Part 145 regulatory environment and the ability to strictly enforce these standards across multiple crews.
• Strong analytical problem-solving skills to unblock technical hurdles and resolve scheduling conflicts between Base Maintenance and Completions.

• Desirable: A good working knowledge of Part 21 Subpart J (Design) and Subpart G (Production) interfaces.
• A dual background spanning both mechanical base maintenance and bespoke helicopter completions/modifications.
• Familiarity with interpreting and implementing Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) and complex engineering drawings.
• Prior experience in a formal leadership or supervisory role within a busy rotary-wing MRO.

Education, Qualifications or Training

• Active EASA Part 66 B1.3 (Rotary Mechanics) or B2 (Avionics) license.
• A minimum of 7 years of hands-on aviation experience in rotary-wing maintenance.
• Demonstrated experience in a senior supervisory or production management capacity.
• Formal training in human factors, safety management systems (SMS), or lean hangar practices is highly advantageous.

Additional requirements:

• This position is subject to National Security Vetting. Candidates must be able to obtain SC clearance.
• Applicants must meet any/all requirements of Export Compliance Regulations.
• All candidates must possess the current, legal right to work in the United Kingdom.

Airbus is committed to achieving workforce diversity and creating an inclusive working environment. We welcome all applications irrespective of social and cultural background, age, gender, disability, sexual orientation or religious belief.