Sr. Manufacturing Engineer, Tooling

About the Company

GKN Aerospace is reimagining air travel: going further, faster and greener. With over 16,000 employees across 32 manufacturing sites in 12 countries, we serve over 90% of the world’s aircraft and engine manufacturers and achieved sales of £3.6bn in 2025. We’re proud to play a part in protecting the world’s democracies and are committed to putting sustainability at the centre of everything we do.

About the Role

The Tooling Engineer will provide direct support of the manufacturing process through technical support of the tooling required for the manufacture and assembly of composite aircraft parts. Responsibilities include designing, developing, and implementing industrial machinery, tools, dies, gauges, jigs, fixtures, prototype models, and machine attachments for production or experimental use. The role involves evaluating tooling factors such as accessibility, economy, mobility, and performance requirements using CATIA V5 for tool design and generating detail Statements of Work for tool fabrication.

Responsibilities

• Schedule the transition of tools from design through change control to verify tooling functionality, suitability, production part quality, and tool delivery schedule.
• Provide leadership to project teams as assigned, including accountability for tool design, fabrication Statements of Work (SOW), tool fabrication, and quotes.
• Identify tool engineering problems and initiate corrective actions to ensure tools meet quality standards and production requirements.
• Control the transition of new tools from design through change control to verify correctness of tools and production parts.
• Provide technical information and support to company suppliers and customers.
• Support the company’s vision, mission, and commitment to safety, environmental protection, and compliance with government regulations.
• Comply with GKN’s Compliance and Ethics Policy on contracting with the United States Government.
• Perform other duties and responsibilities as needed or assigned.
• Manage external tool fabrications at tooling suppliers for technical configuration.
• Provide tool cost estimates to support configuration changes and schedule updates for tool fabrication coordination.
• Generate tooling used in computer numerical control (CNC) machining center applications.

Requirements

• High School Diploma or GED.
• 7 years of work experience in a composite/metal aerospace tool fabrication environment.
• 2 years of tool design experience using CATIA V5.
• Must be a U.S. Person per ITAR regulations to comply with export compliance requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• In-depth working knowledge and comprehensive understanding of machine shop principles, concepts, regulations, and practices.
• Leadership skills including organizing, planning, scheduling, and coordinating workloads to meet deadlines and milestones.
• Knowledge of tool shop operations, equipment, tooling design, including CAD/CAM (CATIA V5).
• Understanding of manufacturing standards, process control techniques, developmental test equipment including SPC, gauging, and instrumentation.
• Ability to estimate tool fabrication for cost and lead-time.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; ability to create effective working relationships with internal and external customers.
• Project management skills, including creating, executing, and reporting project work plans.
• Proficiency with personal computer hardware and software applications (Word, Excel, etc.).
• Experience in Statement of Work (SOW) generation using standard Microsoft software packages.
• Ability to prepare quotations for tool fabrication.
• Strong leadership, coaching, and training skills.
• Good analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrated decision-making capability.
• Team player with good interpersonal skills; ability to interact effectively with all departments within the company.

Benefits

We offer fantastic challenges and amazing opportunities to be part of an organization at the cutting edge of the industry. With some of the best training on offer, we foster a culture where everyone feels welcome to contribute. Our commitment to diversity, inclusion, and belonging has earned us ‘The Best Workplace Culture Award.’ We are committed to providing an accessible recruitment process and encourage everyone to bring their full self to work.