Principal Manufacturing Engineer in Newton Abbot

About Us

MB Aerospace Newton Abbot Ltd, a Barnes Aerospace Company, is an international group providing complex engineering solutions to some of the key names in the Aerospace and Defence market. Operating from sites close to our key customers in North America, Asia and Europe, the MB Aerospace group provides advanced technological solutions to the Aerospace and Defence industry, leveraging an in-depth knowledge of fabrications, machining and the global supply chain to support complex aero-engine component manufacture and repair.

The Role

This is a key role within the Newton Abbot business reporting directly to the site Engineering Manager. The successful candidate will direct and coordinate activities of a team of around 8 manufacturing engineering personnel designing and developing manufacturing processes, programming and tooling for a range of projects. The Manufacturing Engineering Leader will have overall responsibility for planning, organisation, control, integration and completion of all engineering projects for the team. This role will also be accountable for ensuring technical support in estimating and launching new programs (NPI) and measuring and improving existing programs within the business continuous improvement program.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage the Core ME team activities

• Set clear SMART objectives and drive the team forward to achieve these goals.
• Develop the team by generating a skills matrix, identifying training requirements.
• Manage Team holidays and sickness.
• Succession Planning – develop the team for the future.
• Plan for engineering resource requirements and allocation against project timelines.

• Lead New Product Introduction (NPI) to deliver program timescales and financial budgets.

• This is inclusive of new products introduced to the plant and new machine tools.
• Develop process for costing new quotes, ensuring all costs and NRC’s are completely understood and captured before submitting. Make sure all equipment and capital cost are justified by using ROCE and be able to present findings in a robust and coherent manner.

• Lead New Continuous Improvement (CI) projects to deliver them in time and to financial forecasts.

• Use data analysis to optimize and prioritise cost reduction opportunities.
• Champion the roll out of SPC monitoring and control across the plant.
• Champion the roll out of six sigma tools such as PFD, PFMEA etc.

• Lead a new Advanced Development Program to define and deliver a roadmap for the future state of technology in MBANA in:

• Machine Tool technology / strategy (high speed machining/laser technology/additive manufacturing?)
• Automation (lights out factory)
• Part traceability for internal tracking and Poka Yoke on all processes. (Target zero escapes)
• Industry 4.0
• Develop new standards for the business and engineering team.

• Standard Machine purchasing

• Technical Specification and RFQ
• Machine qualification procedure (MQ1 & MQ2)
• Machine sign off procedure
• Health and safety sign off procedure

• Standard engineering reporting

• Standard weekly review meetings
• Standard presentation and excel templates
• Standard folder structure

• Work with project manager to develop and define clear process and RASIC between ME, QE and Operations.

Job Requirements

• HNC minimum in Engineering and 5+ years of experience
• Experience required in an aerospace corporate or manufacturing environment
• Ability to understand and manage conflicting priorities in order to maximize profitability of the business; develop and implement coherent plans which address these issues.
• Current knowledge of aero engine industry standards and requirements
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to work effectively in a team environment as well as independently
• Ability to prioritise responsibilities under pressure and be self-motivating and able to recognise and introduce improvements
• Exhibit confidence in self and others; inspires and motivates others to perform well
• Effectively influences actions of others; accepts feedback from others; gives appropriate recognition to others
• Ability to use technology effectively and efficiently to manage workload
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Outlook and ability to create documents, reports and briefing materials in Microsoft Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Must have a valid passport

The duties of the post may change from time to time without altering their general character or the level of responsibility entailed.

The job holder must:

• Be aware of the Company’s aims, organisational values and behaviours and their impact on this post.
• Carry out the duties of the post in accordance with the Company’s Equality & Inclusivity in Employment Policy.
• Carry out all duties and responsibilities with reasonable care for the health and safety of you and any other person who may be affected by your acts or omissions at work and to cooperate fully with the Company in health and safety matters.
• To comply with the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act.

The above-mentioned duties are neither exclusive nor exhaustive and the post holder may be called upon to carry out such other appropriate duties as may be required within the grading level of the post and the competence of the post holder.