Engineering Operations Manager - Military Flight Contorls Division

Parker Hannifin • Irvine, CA

1d • Onsite

About The Position

The Engineering Operations Manager leads the newly formed Engineering Operations organization for Parker’s Military Flight Controls Division (MFCD) and is responsible for advancing engineering operational excellence across the division. This role leads key engineering transformation initiatives in partnership with functional leaders, sites, Group, and IT to deliver critical business outcomes, improve engineering efficiency, and support profitable growth. The Engineering Operations Manager is accountable for engineering compliance, cost-effectiveness, process efficiency, tool effectiveness, and the deployment of best practices across MFCD Engineering. This position ensures engineering tools, systems, and processes meet business needs while supporting Parker’s Win Strategy environment. This role is responsible for developing and publishing division engineering metrics, supporting regulatory and material compliance, coordinating engineering participation in customer and regulatory audits, and driving continuous improvement through audits, benchmarking, and process improvement initiatives. The role also develops new engineering capabilities, including standardized test equipment, automation solutions, test capabilities, capacity management tools and processes, Model-Based Engineering solutions, and related systems. The Engineering Operations Manager leads the division’s Simple-by-Design process, oversees the Engineering Services function, and manages relationships with engineering service providers. This role also participates in defining and implementing long-term strategic objectives that support profitable division growth, operational excellence, and customer service. This position reports to the Division Engineering Manager. This position provides leadership for the MFCD Engineering Operations organization and may serve as the engineering functional manager across multiple engineering disciplines. The role has one or more direct reporting managers or supervisors and may include expert-level engineers, project engineers, engineering tool specialists and administrators, and configuration and data management professionals. Works closely with engineering managers, divisional staff, functional leaders, IT, manufacturing engineering, product teams, external service providers, and other key stakeholders to align engineering operations with business objectives.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree (BS) in engineering or a related technical science discipline, or Professional Engineer (PE) certification required
• Demonstrated ability to perform the essential functions of the job typically acquired through 10–12 years of related experience, including leadership of an engineering function of significant scope and technical complexity.
• Significant technical breadth and business acumen, with the ability to connect engineering operations priorities to business outcomes.
• Experience leading engineering transformation initiatives, process improvement, tool deployment, compliance activities, or operational excellence programs.
• Strong facilitation, communication, and stakeholder management skills, with ability to influence cross-functional teams and align stakeholders around engineering and business objectives.
• Demonstrated ability to delegate, empower leaders and teams, and develop talent through coaching, feedback, recognition, skill assessment, and training.
• Ability to communicate effectively with varied audiences, including engineering teams, functional leaders, senior management, customers, regulatory agencies, universities, research institutions, and industry associations.
• Ability to deliver effective presentations on complex or sensitive topics to top management and other key stakeholders.
• Ability to respond effectively to significant inquiries from customers, regulatory agencies, and internal teams.
• This position is subject to meeting U.S. export compliance and/or U.S. Government contracting citizenship eligibility requirements.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in engineering or business administration (MS or MBA) preferred.
• Prior leadership in the aerospace market is preferred.
• Some familiarity with the products, systems, and technologies related to flight control actuation is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Leads the MFCD Engineering Operations organization, including direct and indirect leadership of managers, supervisors, engineers, specialists, administrators, and technical staff
• Collaborates on the development of the engineering process and tools roadmap, including the transition to Model-Based Engineering.
• Executes implementation plans for engineering tools, systems, processes, and infrastructure in partnership with IT and functional leaders.
• Works with functional leaders to establish, deploy, and improve engineering best practices and capabilities across the division.
• Uses continuous improvement methods to improve engineering process efficiency, tool effectiveness, and operational performance.
• Ensures training is developed and deployed for new engineering tools, systems, and processes.
• Supports Manufacturing Engineering with implementation of advanced automation solutions.
• Supports standardization and improved utilization of engineering test equipment, test infrastructure, and test capabilities.
• Develops resources, processes, and tools to manage engineering test capacity in collaboration with functional leaders.
• Supports Parker’s SSO organization and engineering product teams with deployment of the PI&R (Product Introduction & Retrofit) process using Parker’s Winovation tools and processes.
• Leads and maintains accountability for the division’s Simple-by-Design activities.
• Conducts benchmarking and audits of engineering processes and tools to identify gaps, improve compliance, and drive continuous improvement.
• Develops, publishes, and communicates division engineering metrics and cadence information.
• Leads engineering regulatory and material compliance efforts for the division.
• Ensures engineering support for customer audits, regulatory audits, and internal compliance reviews.
• Leads Engineering Services, including Configuration and Data Management, Design Specialists, and Structural Analysis.
• Leads knowledge management, skill assessment, and engineering training deployment across the organization.
• Manages relationships with engineering service providers to ensure alignment, performance, quality, and value.
• Contributes to long-term strategic planning that supports profitable growth, customer service, engineering productivity, and operational excellence.

Benefits

• Comprehensive coverage for medical, prescription drugs, dental, vision, voluntary optional life, accident insurance, hospital indemnity insurance and critical illness insurance with competitive premium cost.
• 401(k) Plan with company matching contributions at 100% of the first 5% of pay.
• Company provided defined-contribution retirement plan with annual contribution equal to 3% of pay.
• Career development and tuition reimbursement.
• Paid parental leave, short and long-term disability programs, adoption assistance, a Care.com membership and financial planning assistance are provided at no cost to you.
• Supplemental benefit programs including identity protection, legal protection, and pet wellness are available at competitive rates.
• Paid Time Off and Company-Paid Holidays.

What This Job Offers

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