Senior Manufacturing Engineering Staff Manager

GE Aerospace • Batesville, AR

2d

About The Position

The Senior Engineering Manager – Composites Manufacturing provides technical, people, and strategic leadership for composite structures manufacturing within GE Aerospace. This role leads a team of manufacturing engineers responsible for safe, compliant, and rate-capable production of aerospace composite hardware across development, industrialization, and sustained operations. This position requires deep hands-on expertise in aerospace composite processes, tooling configuration control, and GD&T, combined with the ability to drive enterprise-scale strategy, continuous improvement, and talent development in a large, regulated manufacturing environment.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Aerospace, Mechanical, Materials, Manufacturing, or related discipline).
• 5+ years of experience leading engineering teams in a regulated aerospace production environment.
• Demonstrated expertise in composite materials, manufacturing processes, tooling, and inspection.
• Strong working knowledge of GD&T (ASME Y14.5) and its application to composite parts and tooling.
• Proven experience with tooling configuration control and formal aerospace change management processes.
• Experience supporting certified aerospace production programs and rate manufacturing.
• Willingness to support on-site manufacturing operations and occasional travel as required.
• This role requires access to U.S. export-controlled information. Therefore, employment will be contingent upon the ability to prove that you meet the status of a U.S. Person as one of the following: U.S. lawful permanent resident, U.S. Citizen, have been granted asylee or refugee status (i.e., a protected individual under the Immigration and Naturalization Act, 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)).

Nice To Haves

• 10+ years of experience in aerospace composite manufacturing engineering.
• Experience with automated composite fabrication, robotics, and digital thread initiatives.
• Familiarity with PFMEA, SPC, MRB, FAI, and advanced quality systems.
• Strong technical judgment and bias for action
• Ability to lead through influence in a matrixed organization
• Commitment to safety, quality, and compliance
• Clear communicator across executive, engineering, and shop-floor teams
• Continuous improvement and customer-focused mindset

Responsibilities

• Lead composite manufacturing engineering activities with an uncompromising focus on Safety and Quality while delivering on cost, delivery, and rate commitments.
• Serve as the technical escalation point for critical manufacturing, tooling, and quality issues impacting certified aerospace hardware.
• Ensure compliance with AS9100, NADCAP, FAA regulations, internal GE specifications, and product certification requirements.
• Champion GE Aerospace FLIGHT DECK operating principles to drive standard work, problem solving, and continuous improvement.
• Provide technical authority for composite manufacturing processes including hand layup, AFP/ATL, resin infusion, RTM, autoclave curing, compression molding, and bonded assemblies.
• Lead process development, validation, and production readiness activities for new and existing aerospace programs.
• Review and approve manufacturing plans, process specifications, work instructions, and engineering changes.
• Lead structured root cause investigations (PFMEA, RCCA) for non-conformances, escapes, yield losses, and tooling-related issues.
• Own the composite tooling engineering strategy, including molds, cure tooling, trim and drill fixtures, assembly fixtures, and automated manufacturing systems.
• Ensure strict tooling configuration control, including tool definition, revision management, change incorporation, and alignment with product configuration baselines.
• Lead tooling qualification, first article inspection (FAI), and ongoing tool health and capability assessments.
• Apply and enforce GD&T (ASME Y14.5) principles to composite parts and tooling to ensure dimensional integrity, interchangeability, and producibility at rate.
• Partner with design engineering to influence datum structures, tolerance schemes, and tool design to balance performance, manufacturability, and lifecycle cost.
• Lead manufacturing engineering ownership of P&E strategy to enable current production and future growth in composite manufacturing.
• Define equipment capability requirements, capacity models, and rate-readiness plans aligned with program demand forecasts.
• Partner with Operations, Facilities, and Finance to develop capital investment cases for new equipment, tooling, automation, and facility upgrades.
• Provide technical oversight for P&E selection, specification, procurement, installation, commissioning, and qualification.
• Ensure new and existing equipment meets safety, quality, and regulatory requirements and is fully integrated into standard work.
• Drive equipment reliability, uptime, and lifecycle management through data-driven improvements and obsolescence planning.
• Support long-term site and footprint planning to enable production ramp, new product introduction, and cost competitiveness.
• Lead and develop a multi-level manufacturing engineering organization, including senior engineers sub section leader and tooling manager.
• Establish clear technical standards, governance, and decision-making frameworks across composite manufacturing.
• Drive hiring, succession planning, and capability development aligned with long-term GE Aerospace production and growth strategies.
• Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, respect, and continuous improvement consistent with GE Aerospace values.
• Serve as the primary composites manufacturing engineering interface to Design Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, and Operations.
• Provide manufacturing engineering leadership for program milestones including design reviews, production readiness reviews, and rate readiness assessments.
• Support supplier selection, qualification, and development for composite materials, tooling, and external manufacturing partners.
• Influence make/buy decisions and manufacturing footprint strategies across current production shop floor.
• Define and execute long-term composites manufacturing strategy, including automation, advanced inspection, and digital manufacturing initiatives.
• Lead capital investment planning for tooling, equipment, and facilities to support production ramp and cost reduction objectives.
• Drive Lean, FLIGHT DECK, and cost-out initiatives while maintaining aerospace safety and quality standards.
• Establish metrics and operating rhythms to track engineering effectiveness, process capability, and organizational health.

Benefits

• GE Aerospace offers comprehensive benefits and programs to support your health and, along with programs like HealthAhead, your physical, emotional, financial and social wellbeing.
• Healthcare benefits include medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug coverage; access to a Health Coach from GE Aerospace; and the Employee Assistance Program, which provides 24/7 confidential assessment, counseling and referral services.
• Retirement benefits include the GE Aerospace Retirement Savings Plan, a 401(k) savings plan with company matching contributions and company retirement contributions, as well as access to Fidelity resources and planning consultants.
• Other benefits include tuition assistance, adoption assistance, paid parental leave, disability insurance, life insurance, and paid time-off for vacation or illness.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees