Engineering Director- Aftermarket in Wolverhampton

Safran is an international high-technology group, operating in the aviation (propulsion, equipment and interiors), defense and space markets. Its core purpose is to contribute to a safer, more sustainable world, where air transport is more environmentally friendly, comfortable and accessible. Safran has a global presence, with 100,000 employees and sales of 27.3 billion euros in 2024, and holds, alone or in partnership, world or regional leadership positions in its core markets.

Safran Electronics & Defense offers its customers onboard intelligence solutions allowing them to understand the environment, reduce mental load and guarantee a trajectory, even in critical situations, in all environments: on land, at sea, in the sky or space. The company harnesses the expertise of its 13,000 employees towards these three functions: observe, decide and guide, for the civil and military markets.

What does the role look like? You will work closely with the wider Aftermarket team to ensure that Engineering is supporting the growth of the Aftermarket business, maintaining our outstanding reputation for customer service, and putting the safety of our products as our number one priority. You will oversee teams in each of the sites, providing leadership and guidance as well as setting the vision, strategy and objectives that they will work to. You will also work closely with other areas, such as Business Development, Customer Services, Field Service Representatives and Maintenance Operations. Your voice will ensure that the technical and regulatory requirements are respected throughout the business, but you will also ensure that the commercial and business development objectives are supported by the Engineering strategy.

You will also be responsible for executing activities to time, cost and quality measures, and will be a key decision-maker in Engineering resource management, budgeting and forecasting and schedule definition. You will be a good people manager across international borders; fostering a sense of community and cohesion in the Aftermarket Engineering teams, coaching managers of managers and individual contributors, supporting the development of our talent, being candid but fair with feedback and acting with empathy in all situations.

What will your day-to-day responsibilities look like?

• Demonstrate confident executive presence as the Aftermarket Engineering focal facing out to senior leadership and executive leadership team as well as senior leaders in the customer base.
• Monitor the technical support of all products in both the Safran MROs and the field - Take action where help is required.
• Be responsible for resource management - liaison with Engineering Site Leads to ensure projects are adequately resourced. Identify and resolve gaps with Senior Management and manage succession plans with each Site Lead.
• Provide oversight of financial & budgetary controls - Actively manage Aftermarket Engineering costs.
• Oversee the development of an Aftermarket technology roadmap aligned to business development and strategic plans.
• Oversee the development of Aftermarket engineers including providing mentoring, leading individual Performance Connection (PC) discussions and engineering Leadership Development Reviews (LDR).
• Proactively engage and lead the team through the deployment of CMS and the Collins cultural path, advocating the company values in all aspects of everything you do.
• Improve Engineering productivity through Continuous Improvement.
• Ensure process adherence and compliance to internal, regulatory and customer requirements, in particular ensuring full compliance with the Safety Management System and participation in the Product Safety Review Board.
• Establish strategic relationships with customers developing technical relationships in support of new business opportunities.

What will you bring to the role?

Essential skills:

• Proven ability to set vision, lead multi site engineering teams, and represent Engineering confidently to senior and executive leadership.
• Deep understanding of engineering processes, product safety, compliance, regulatory requirements, and Safety Management Systems.
• Demonstrated success managing managers, developing talent across international sites, and overseeing resource planning, budgeting, and performance.

Desirable skills:

• Experience building technical relationships with customers and supporting business development activities.
• Familiarity with Lean, CMS deployment, or similar CI methodologies to drive engineering efficiency.
• Understanding of product lifecycle support, field service needs, and aftermarket engineering environments.
• Experience managing budgets, controlling engineering costs, and linking engineering strategy to commercial goals.
• Ability to work effectively with Business Development, Customer Services, Field Service Representatives, and Operations.
• Experience leading teams through organisational or cultural change initiatives.
• Ability to develop and oversee a long term engineering or aftermarket technology roadmap.