Senior Supplier Development Lead, Machining & Mechanical Fabrication in Solihull

At RTX, the world’s largest aerospace and defence company, 185,000 great minds are united by purpose and inspired to make a difference solving the world’s most complex problems. Collins Aerospace is a leader in technologically advanced, intelligent solutions that help redefine the aerospace and defence industry.

We are seeking to recruit a Senior Supplier Development Lead (SDL). This is a critical forward deployed role within the Global Supplier Development organisation, responsible for driving supplier recovery, capability improvement, and sustainable performance. This role is hands-on and cross-functional, supporting operational containment, supplier assessments, and execution of structured improvement plans across global commodities. The ideal candidate is both detail-oriented and strategic, capable of managing crisis situations and long-term development actions that align with business unit goals and enterprise-wide initiatives.

What You Will Do:

• Containment & Recovery: Lead internal and supplier containment actions in collaboration with Operations and Quality. Facilitate supplier kick-off meetings to align expectations and establish rapid response actions. Conduct Root Cause and Corrective Action (RRCA) investigations to resolve critical quality or delivery issues. Coordinate with stakeholders to develop and implement improvement plans and ensure clear communication through plan review checkpoints. Monitor leading and lagging Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to assess progress. Evaluate whether exit criteria have been achieved for containment efforts. Escalate persistent issues to crisis mode or tiger teams when warranted. Partner with Commodity Teams and SBUs to ensure closed-loop feedback and transition to sustainable operations.
• Supplier Development & Capability Building: Lead supplier site identification and prioritise development efforts aligned with risk, impact, and strategic commodity needs. Conduct supplier assessments using OCRA (Operational Capability & Risk Assessment) tool. Engage suppliers with development roadmaps, training, and targeted actions tied to maturity models and long-term growth. Align with Commodity Managers and Engineering teams on supplier readiness for new programs or volume ramp-ups. Facilitate structured improvement plan development, KPI tracking, and gate reviews. Monitor progress toward achieving target maturity levels and initiate sustainment planning once development objectives are met. Support long-term monitoring and re-engagement cycles to ensure supplier performance remains stable. Develop and build manufacturing process technology tools and standardisation include FMEA and Control Plans.
• Transition Management & Leadership: Provide leadership and/or support for supplier transitions, ensuring a smooth handover of work scope with minimal disruption. Support the sustainment phase by monitoring supplier maturity post-transition and ensuring long-term capability. Align with internal business units and suppliers to reinforce performance expectations and continuous improvement efforts. Execute APQP for new product launch and work transition projects.

Key Interfaces:

• Commodity Managers
• Quality Assurance & Engineering
• Operations and Planning
• Supplier Business Units (SBUs)
• Supplier Site Leadership
• Crisis Response and Tiger Teams

Qualifications You Must Have:

• The ideal candidate must have a high energy level, experience working with cross-functional personnel, high communication skills including ability to develop a network of relationships with the various Collins Aerospace business units, strong work orientation and be well organised. Ability to apply CORE principles/tools to manage processes, ensuring continuous improvement in the systems and benchmarking best practices enhancing customer satisfaction at all levels.
• Experience in Machining & Mechanical Fabrication.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite Applications (MS project, Word, Excel, Power Point, MS Access).
• Ability to travel to supplier sites as needed - minimum of 50% of time.

Qualifications We Prefer:

• Typically requires a University Degree and prior relevant experience or an Advanced Degree in a related field and relevant experience.

What We Offer:

• 25 days Annual Leave + Public Holidays
• Attractive Compensation Package
• Health & Wellbeing Cash Plan - (dental/optical/therapy/chiropody/health screening)
• Generous Employer Contribution Pension Scheme with matched contributions up to 10%
• Private Medical Insurance
• Life Assurance & Group Income protection scheme participation
• Employee Discounts & Flexible benefits platform
• Professional Development + Growth
• Staff Discounts
• Employee Recognition
• Support with professional fees
• EAP (Employee Assistance Programme)

This position is classified as: Remote: Employees who are working in Remote roles will work primarily offsite (from home). If you live within a reasonable commute of an RTX site with other colleagues you interact with, your manager will discuss whether there is a degree of onsite presence associated with this role.

RTX adheres to the principles of equal employment. All qualified applications will be given careful consideration without regard to ethnicity, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.