Director, Facility Engineering & Operations

GKN Aerospace Careers • Garden Grove, CA

71d • $162,203 - $202,753 • Onsite

About The Position

We're seeking a Director of Facilities Engineering & Operations to lead facilities, maintenance, utilities, infrastructure, and capital projects at our aerospace manufacturing site in Garden Grove. This role is responsible for ensuring the reliability, safety, and performance of the systems that support production, including cleanrooms, HVAC, electrical distribution, compressed air, chilled water, and other critical utilities. Our operations rely on highly reliable facilities and controlled environments to manufacture mission-critical aerospace components. Your leadership will help ensure business continuity, support customer delivery commitments, strengthen regulatory compliance, and position the site for future growth.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related technical field, or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of experience in aerospace, defense, chemical, or other regulated manufacturing environments.
• 10+ years of leadership experience managing engineering, maintenance, facilities, or technical teams.
• Experience supporting critical utilities and infrastructure, including HVAC, cleanrooms, compressed air, chilled water, steam, and plant electrical systems.
• Capital project leadership experience from planning through commissioning.
• Knowledge of AS9100, ISO standards, regulatory compliance, and customer audits.
• Strong leadership, project management, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Must qualify as a U.S. Person under ITAR regulations.

Nice To Haves

• CMRP, PMP, PE, or similar professional certification.
• Aerospace manufacturing experience supporting major OEM or defense customers.
• Experience with cleanrooms, CNC operations, chemical processing, coatings, autoclaves, glass, or acrylic manufacturing.
• Experience implementing reliability programs, FMEA, CMMS systems, and predictive maintenance strategies.
• Experience leading both union and non-union teams.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for facilities engineering, maintenance, utilities, and infrastructure.
• Develop operating plans, budgets, staffing strategies, and reliability initiatives.
• Partner with Operations, Quality, EH&S, Supply Chain, Finance, and HR to support site objectives.
• Ensure uptime and performance of critical building systems and manufacturing utilities.
• Lead recovery efforts during major equipment, utility, or infrastructure disruptions.
• Drive preventive and predictive maintenance programs, asset management, and root cause problem solving.
• Develop and execute a multi-year capital roadmap.
• Oversee facility upgrades, infrastructure improvements, and equipment replacement projects.
• Manage contractors, consultants, suppliers, and project teams to deliver projects safely, on time, and within budget.
• Support compliance with AS9100, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, Cal/OSHA, and customer requirements.
• Partner with EH&S to maintain environmental, health, and safety standards.
• Ensure facilities remain audit-ready and support regulatory compliance.
• Lead and develop facilities, maintenance, and technical teams.
• Establish clear performance expectations, accountability, and continuous improvement practices.
• Create a culture centered on safety, reliability, and operational excellence.

Benefits

• We’ll offer you fantastic challenges and amazing opportunities.
• 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
• Everyone is welcome to apply to GKN.
• We believe that we can only achieve our ambitions through a coming together of diverse minds who enjoy collaborating in an inspirational environment.
• Through our commitment to diversity, inclusion and belonging and by living our five powerful principles we’ve created a culture where everyone feels welcome to contribute.
• It’s a culture that won us ‘The Best Workplace Culture Award’.
• By embracing and celebrating what makes us unique we encourage everyone to bring their full self to work.
• 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.

What This Job Offers

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