CAPEX Project Manager

GKN Aerospace; Garden Grove (CA); On-site; USD 119,000 - 148,000; Full time

Job summary

GKN Aerospace is seeking a CAPEX Project Manager to lead large, complex capital investments at the Garden Grove site. You will shepherd projects from concept through design, procurement, construction, commissioning and closeout, partnering with site leadership and cross-functional teams to deliver on time, within budget, and safely.

The role requires strong project management skills, experience managing multi-million-dollar capital budgets, and a background in manufacturing or aerospace

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or related field with experience in capital projects.
• PMP certification or formal project-management training is preferred.
• Experience leading capital projects from concept through startup and closeout.

Responsibilities

• Lead large-scale capital projects involving manufacturing equipment and facility infrastructure.
• Define scope, objectives, schedules, budgets, and success criteria; present business cases.
• Manage lifecycle from feasibility to startup and closeout.
• Create and maintain integrated project plans, milestones, risks, and status reports.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams across Operations, Engineering, Maintenance, EH&S, Finance, and more.
• Monitor performance against scope, cost, schedule; implement corrective actions.
• Ensure compliance with safety, environmental, and regulatory requirements.
• Lead design reviews, equipment acceptance, installation readiness, and handoff.

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, Business, or a related technical field

Degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Manufacturing, Industrial, Civil, or Construction Engineering

PMP certification or equivalent formal project-management training

Tools

Microsoft Office

AutoCAD

Lean Manufacturing

Six Sigma

Job description

Fantastic challenges. Amazing opportunities.

GKN Aerospace is reimagining air travel: going further, faster and greener! Fuelled by great people whose expertise and creativity sets the standards in our industry, we’re inspired by the opportunities to innovate and break boundaries. We’re proud to play a part in protecting the world’s democracies. And we’re committed to putting sustainability at the centre of everything we do, opening up and protecting our planet. 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. There are no limits to where you can take your career.

Job Summary

The CAPEX Project Manager is responsible for leading and executing large, complex capital investment projects for the Garden Grove site. This role manages projects from initial concept and business-case development through design, procurement, construction, equipment installation, commissioning, startup, and closeout. The position partners with site leadership and cross-functional stakeholders to deliver projects safely, on schedule, within approved scope and budget, and in alignment with operational and business objectives.

Job Responsibilities

• Lead large-scale capital projects involving manufacturing equipment, facility infrastructure, site improvements, production capacity, and process modernization.
• Define project scope, objectives, deliverables, schedules, resource requirements, budgets, assumptions, and success criteria. Present business cases, capital appropriation requests, cost estimates, cash-flow forecasts, and project expenditure tracking.
• Manage the complete project lifecycle, including feasibility, design, permitting, procurement, construction, installation, validation, commissioning, startup, and closeout.
• Create and maintain integrated project plans, milestone schedules, risk registers, action logs, change controls, and status reports.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams that may include Operations, Engineering, Maintenance, EH&S, Quality, Finance, Supply Chain, IT, Security, and Human Resources.
• Select and manage engineering firms, contractors, construction partners, equipment suppliers, and other external resources.
• Monitor project performance against scope, cost, schedule, safety, and quality requirements; identify variances and implement corrective actions.
• Ensure project work complies with company standards, safety expectations, environmental requirements, applicable codes, permits, and regulatory obligations.
• Lead design reviews, constructability reviews, equipment acceptance activities, installation readiness, and operational handoff.
• Communicate project status, key decisions, risks, financial performance, and escalation needs to site and business leadership.
• Manage project changes through disciplined review, documentation, approval, and impact assessment.
• Ensure complete turnover documentation, training, spare-parts planning, preventive-maintenance requirements, drawings, manuals, and lessons learned.
• Support continuous improvement and standardization of capital project governance, tools, templates, and reporting.

Job Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, Business, or a related technical field.
• Five or more years of progressively responsible experience managing capital projects in a manufacturing, aerospace, industrial, engineering, or similarly complex environment.
• Demonstrated experience leading capital projects from concept through startup and closeout.
• Strong project management skills, including scope, schedule, cost, risk, change, stakeholder, vendor, and contract management.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and projects while maintaining attention to safety, quality, schedule, and financial controls.
• Strong analytical, planning, problem-solving, negotiation, presentation, and written and verbal communication skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and project scheduling or project-management software.

Preferred Qualifcations

• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification or equivalent formal project-management training.
• Degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Manufacturing, Industrial, Civil, or Construction Engineering.
• Experience in aerospace, defense, advanced manufacturing, or another regulated industry.
• Experience with facility utilities, electrical distribution, HVAC, compressed air, manufacturing equipment, production-line installation, and construction activities.
• Working knowledge of AutoCAD, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or continuous-improvement methods.
• Experience managing multimillion-dollar capital budgets and executive-level project reporting.

Compensation Data

Salary Range:$118,533.00 - $148,166.00

We’ll offer you fantastic challenges and amazing opportunities. This is your chance to be part of an organisation that has proven itself to be at the cutting edge of our industry; and is committed to pushing the boundaries even further. And with some of the best training on offer in the industry, who knows how far you can go?

A Great Place to work needs a Great Way of Working

We’re also committed to providing an accessible recruitment process, so if you require reasonable adjustments at any stage during our recruitment process please get in touch and let us know.

We arethe place where human dreams, plus humanendeavour, shape the future of aerospace innovation and technology.

Nearest Major Market: Orange County
Nearest Secondary Market: Los Angeles