Associate Manufacturing Engineer

GKN Aerospace Careers • Garden Grove, CA

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About The Position

We are seeking an Associate Manufacturing Engineer to join our Sustainment Manufacturing Engineering Team. This early-career role provides hands-on experience supporting the development, improvement, and control of aerospace manufacturing processes—particularly those involving lamination, metal deposition, coatings, and acrylic-based applications. This is a great opportunity for engineers looking to grow in a fast-paced, highly regulated aerospace environment.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Aerospace, Chemical, or related engineering field; will consider 8 years of relevant experience in lieu of a degree.
• 1–3 years of experience in a manufacturing or engineering environment.
• Exposure to lamination, coatings, metal deposition, or acrylic-based processes.
• Basic understanding of APQP, PFMEA, SPC, or FAIR documentation.
• Familiarity with ISO9000 or AS9100 quality systems is a plus.
• Strong communication skills in English, both written and verbal.
• Must be a U.S. Person per ITAR regulations.
• Willingness to travel occasionally (<5%).

Nice To Haves

• Experience with CAD tools; Siemens NX preferred.
• Exposure to clean room work or MSA techniques.
• Understanding of Design for Manufacturability principles.
• Participation in Lean or Six Sigma projects.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills.
• Ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical team members.

Responsibilities

• Support the team with APQP and AS9145 activities.
• Assist in preparing and updating PFMEAs, control plans, and process flow diagrams.
• Help compile First Article Inspection Reports (FAIR) for AS9102 compliance.
• Follow strict clean room protocols where applicable.
• Perform basic SPC data collection and monitoring.
• Assist senior engineers with troubleshooting and process maintenance for lamination processes.
• Support activities involving metal deposition methods such as vacuum metalizing, thermal spray, plating, or additive manufacturing.
• Assist with functional or protective coating processes.
• Support acrylic bonding, forming, or finishing operations.
• Interpret engineering drawings with guidance from senior engineers.
• Support simple tooling updates and CAD modeling (Siemens NX preferred).
• Assist in creating and maintaining work instructions and controlled documents.
• Participate in MRB/PRB investigations and help gather data for nonconformance resolution.
• Support internal/external audits and layered process audits.
• Ensure compliance with AS9100, ISO9001, and site quality procedures.
• Contribute to Lean and shop-floor improvement initiatives.
• Participate in root cause analysis activities such as 8D, 5-Whys, and Fishbone.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support ongoing projects.
• Assist in preparing technical summaries, reports, and presentations.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level