ME Programme Leader

GKN Aerospace; Papendrecht; On-site; EUR 43,000 - 71,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary up to €6,350/month

42 paid holidays

Pension scheme

Travel allowance

Job summary

Fokker Landing Gear in Papendrecht seeks an ME Programme Leader to join our Manufacturing Engineering team, driving MRB deliverables and leading MRB-assigned engineers.

You will coordinate with IPTs and customer teams, define priorities, manage risks, and report progress to stakeholders. Minimum 10 years in aerospace manufacturing engineering with strong leadership and English fluency required. On-site work in Papendrecht and relocation if needed.

Qualifications

• BSc or higher in Aerospace Engineering (or equivalent)
• 10+ years in aerospace manufacturing engineering
• Experience cross-functionally across Design, Quality, Operations, Sales/Customer management, Supplier Dev
• Proven record leading complex projects and handling ambiguity
• Engineering knowledge at least Tech Excellence Framework level 3+
• Experience in manufacturing landing gear or high-precision metal processing
• Project management expertise or lead role in technical projects
• Strong problem solving at technical and program levels
• Business acumen and stakeholder management across interfaces
• Ability to escalate appropriately
• Delivery-focused, persuasive and committed
• Clear data/presentation skills for decisions
• Experience with multicultural, multidisciplinary teams
• Fluency in English
• Residence near Papendrecht or willing to relocate
• Willingness to work on-site full-time

Responsibilities

• Deliver MRB-related deliverables (L1/L2/MPS/FAI/NCAI) for customer products within scope
• Ensure technical quality and delivery schedules of ME Programme deliverables
• Maintain quality of ME procedures; seek technical advice when needed
• Identify technical risks and plan mitigations with the ME team
• Prioritize end-to-end ME and DE activities and manage staff workload
• Coordinate with customer technical teams and IPTs as needed
• Attend Product IPT and operations meetings and set priorities
• Define ME Programme priorities and KPIs with input from IPTs
• Collaborate with Landing Gear experts and functional leads
• Engage with Operations and Procurement to support objectives
• Communicate effectively with team and stakeholders

Skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Project management

Leadership

Communication

Problem solving

English fluency

Delivery focus

Education

BSc or higher in Aerospace Engineering

Job description

We are looking for an ME Programme Leader to join the Manufacturing Engineering department of Fokker Landing Gear in Papendrecht.

As an ME Programme Lead, you are a member of the wider Manufacturing Engineering team focusing on delivering products meeting our customer’s requirements and quality standards. Your main goal will be to ensure the delivery of MRB deliverables (MPS, FAI, L1 Requests for Assistance, L2 non-conformance disposition, non-conformance advanced information, etc.) relating to respective customer products within your scope. In this process, you are leading approvals and engineers assigned to the MRB tasks.

Fokker Landing Gear

Fokker Landing Gear, part of GKN Fokker, is a recognized specialist in landing gear and related systems. We focus on the design and development, production and assembly of complete landing gears, as well as the repair and reassembly of systems already in use. In doing so, we work on the most famous aircraft and helicopters; think of the Apache combat helicopter, the F-35 Lightning II (JSF), the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 and the multipurpose NH90 maritime combat helicopter.

What you'll do

• Deliver of the ME Programme Lead Deliverables (L1, L2, MPS, FAI, NCAI) relating to respective customer products that are within the scope of the candidate
• Ensure that the applicable Requirements (including technical quality) against agreed delivery schedules are met
• Ensure that the quality of ME Programme Deliverables and procedures are adhered to and, if needed, seek support from technical authorities for advice
• Support the Leader/Head of Manufacturing Engineering in the Execution of technical Risk Management by identifying Technical Risks and determining associated Mitigation Actions
• Directly prioritize the End-to-end Engineering of Manufacturing Engineering and Design Engineering scope of all ME Programme activities, including ME & DE assigned staff (e.g. approvers and engineers), after agreeing with their respective functional leads in case of conflicts
• Interface with customer technical teams where needed for reporting and support, and with customer design teams for BTP content of MRB activities
• Attend respective Product (IPT) team and operations meetings and agree on priorities
• Define what is to be done, set ME Programme priorities and targets supported by KPIs – priorities flow from IPT meetings
• Cooperate and seek support by Landing Gear technical experts
• Closely work with functional leaders who support, lead & resolve resource conflicts (point of escalation)
• Communicate effectively with the (Programme) Team and with Stakeholders outside the Team
• Act as Link to other departments, such as Operations and Procurement to provide General Support and to achieve business’ objectives

What you'll bring

• BSc or higher in Aerospace Engineering or equivalent working and thinking level gained by experience
• 10+ years’ experience in aerospace manufacturing engineering and in managing (complex) engineering situations under high delivery pressure
• Experience in working cross-functionally (Design Engineering, Quality, Operations/Production, Sales/Customer relationship management, Supplier Management and Development)
• Proven record in managing complex projects & ability to rationalise, assess and evaluation immature information / ambiguity
• Good level of engineering functional knowledge (Technical Excellence Framework level 3 or higher)
• Experience in the manufacturing of landing gear systems or high precision-high hardness metal processing in order to technically support the whole IPT in achieving the overall business objectives
• Project management expertise or experience as a technical project lead
• Problem solving skills in both technical and program management level
• Business savviness, honed interpersonal skills, stakeholder management (with technical community and associated interfaces)
• Ability to judge when an escalation is appropriate
• Delivery focused, driven, persuasive and committed
• Ability to clearly present data, reports and presentations for facilitating decision making across different business levels
• Experience in working with multicultural, multidisciplinary teams
• Fluency in English
• Residence in the vicinity of Papendrecht or willing to relocate
• Willingness to work on-site on a full-time basis

What we’ll offer

A challenging position in an innovative and international environment with a rich history in aircraft manufacturing. Our organization breathes passion for engineering and all our teams are justifiably proud of what they develop and build.

As an ME Programme Lead, you will receive a fantastic range of benefits, including:

• A gross salary up to 6.350,- per month, based on the CAO Metalektro (salary scale L1) and depending on your experience and qualifications.
• 42 paid holidays for full-time employment.
• Working conditions according to the CAO Metalektro, including an excellent pension scheme and travel allowance.
• A working environment, in which we work together to achieve the best result for our customers.
• Every opportunity to build on your career and personal development.

Part of the selection procedure is carrying out the necessary checks and screenings in order to meet the requirements set by GKN Fokker’s customers, partners and suppliers within the program. The checks and screenings will be assessed on the basis of frameworks set by our Export Compliance & Security department. Every employee within GKN Fokker must ultimately be authorized to give substance to his or her position. Assessment of checks and screenings can lead to the fact that no content can be given to the position and therefore no employment or deployment can follow.