Senior Tooling Designer

As an aircraft manufacturer, industrialist, industrial service provider, and logistician, Daher has approximately 14,500 employees and achieved a revenue of 1.9 billion euros in 2025. With family ownership and a focus on innovation since 1863, Daher operates in 15 countries across Europe, North America, and Asia, designing and developing value-added solutions for aeronautical and industrial customers.

About the role

Kodiak Aircraft is seeking a highly capable Senior Tooling Designer to create practical, reliable tooling solutions that support stable, repeatable, and efficient aircraft production. This role connects Tooling, Manufacturing Engineering, Production, Quality, Supply Chain, and suppliers. You will design fixtures, jigs, assembly aids, and tooling solutions that reflect real shop-floor needs and improve how aircraft are built.

This is more than a CAD design role—it’s an opportunity to use hands-on manufacturing insight, production data, and strong tooling judgment to improve ergonomics, repeatability, flow, and quality in a low-rate aerospace production environment. The right tooling can reduce rework, improve ergonomics, increase repeatability, and help mechanics build aircraft more efficiently and consistently.

At the senior level, we look for independent judgment, practical ideas from prior roles, the ability to challenge tooling requests when needed, and a drive to improve how tooling is designed, fabricated, validated, and maintained.

Responsibilities

• Work directly with mechanics, Manufacturing Engineers, and the Tooling Lead to understand real build constraints and high-impact tooling needs.
• Design tooling, fixtures, jigs, and assembly aids for structures, subassemblies, machining, fabrication, final assembly, and installation.
• Create detailed tool drawings that support manufacturing, assembly, maintenance, repair, and supplier fabrication.
• Ensure tooling designs are practical, robust, repeatable, ergonomic, maintainable, and realistic to fabricate with available resources.
• Use production data such as rework, cycle time, bottlenecks, and labor impact to support tooling prioritization recommendations.
• Validate tooling performance in production and improve or redesign tooling that does not add value.

Requirements

• 7-10+ years of experience in tooling design and fabrication within aerospace or complex manufacturing.
• Strong hands-on background in fabrication such as machining, welding, sheet metal, assembly tooling, or related processes.
• Deep understanding of fixture design, locator strategies, tolerance stack-up, repeatability, and assembly constraints.
• Proficiency in CAD; NX strongly preferred, with CATIA, SolidWorks, or equivalent platforms considered.
• Competence applying GD&T per ASME Y14.5 and familiarity with gaging and fixturing principles.
• Proven ability to design tooling that works on the floor and measurably improves production efficiency, ergonomics, and quality.

Qualifications

• Preferred: Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field.
• Preferred: Experience in low-rate high-mix production, supplier-built tooling validation, Lean or continuous improvement, and knowledge of tooling-related safety standards.

Why Kodiak Aircraft in Sandpoint?

At Kodiak Aircraft, tooling decisions directly impact how aircraft are built. This role keeps you close to the shop floor, solving practical production problems and creating tools that mechanics trust and use. Sandpoint offers meaningful aerospace work in a unique location, with Lake Pend Oreille and Schweitzer Mountain nearby.

Pay

The compensation range is $80,000 to $100,000 in base salary plus an annual target bonus. The range represents a general guideline; Daher considers factors such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, skills, and current market conditions.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage
• 401(k) retirement plan
• Life insurance
• Short- and Long-Term Disability coverage
• Paid Time Off
• Paid Holidays