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 33 manufacturing sites in 12 countries we serve over 90% of the world’s aircraft and engine manufacturers and achieved sales of £3.35 bn.in 2023. There are no limits to where you can take your career.

Job Summary

As a Principal Research Engineer you will draw on your deep specialist knowledge, detailed product knowledge and general business awareness to shape the direction of research and development projects in the TRL1-6 range, in demonstrator projects and in insertion projects. 
You have a strong track record of innovation, of leading complex technical work, and have a well-established professional network in our field. 
Your experience and critical thinking skills help you to plan and lead the technical work within your specialist field or in your product or technology area. 
Your exceptional communication skills enable you to confidently engage with a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders.

Job Responsibilities

 

You will be a Principal Research Engineer within the R&T dept. working as a Technology Leader.  
     The main task of a Technology Leader is to act as technical expert in the development of technologies, methods and future product solutions. A generalist that is able to balance the input from the different disciplines in order to find the best compromise.
     The key responsibilities of a Technology Leader are:
o    Define the logic and technical activities needed to meet the targets, from early conceptual studies towards certification.
o    Lead the integration of new technologies into the early product solutions with the goal of achieving solutions that are well balanced
o    Help setting the “technical direction” of the work and facilitate technical decision-making in the team. Help the team and project leader to plan and prioritize the technical tasks
o    Owner of the Technology Development Plan for the product solutions and/or technologies.
o    Specify the needs and criteria for the validation of the technology integration on early product solutions
o    Give input to different development plans for process or design technologies, in terms of the requirements and maturity levels vs time, needed by the product solutions
o    Identify new opportunities for application of new technologies
o    Gather and present information to facilitate the decision making process at different levels of the organization
o    Acts as technical focal point in bench testing and engine-demonstrators for the validation of the technology integration on early prototypes 
o    Define the technical requirements for future product solutions
o    In addition, responsible for the following documentation in demonstrator projects: Technical Requirement Specification, Design Verification Plan,  Manufacturing Process Verification Plan, Design Verification Report, Demo EDP
o    Work with Team, Team Leader, other Technology Leads and stakeholders to identify dependencies, priorities, impediments, mitigation and resolution of issues.
o    Ability to mentor and coach junior team members and develop a strong domain expertize within the department.
     And the skills and experience required for the role are:
o    15+ years of experience working in the development of technology and/or products for commercial jet engines or similar. 
o    Experience leading multidisciplinary teams
o    Ability of balancing the input from different disciplines to reach the best compromise
o    Understanding and experience of the different steps in developing a product
o    Strong domain knowledge in gas turbine systems
o    Strong process knowledge in conceptual and detailed design phases
o    Deep technical knowledge in aero and aero thermal disciplines
o    Strong Background in CFD and Thermal areas 
o    General engineering knowledge of solid mechanics, metallic materials, composite materials and manufacturing processes.
o    Experience with multi objective optimization, principles and methods
o    Experience working on innovative projects with creative quotient
o    Experience in technology development, knowledge of TRL-scales 
o    Experience in prototype development and knowledge of product development process.
o    You have good communication skills, the ability to create effective networks and can take on a technical responsibility role

Job Qualifications

Essential:
     You have a comprehensive awareness of your specialist field outside of GKN and you have developed a vision for how technology and expertise should be developed within GKN. 
     You have a strong and diverse engineering/technology knowledge base and a good business awareness, which enable you to synthesise strategy for our key products/technologies.
     You demonstrate design, critical and systems thinking mindset
     You demonstrate critical reasoning in relation to how your vision relates to GKN business goals. 
     You have a good track record of executing complex development activities according to plan. 
     You have a logical and methodical approach to project planning and costing. 
     You have an extensive network and are recognised by others as someone with deep specialist knowledge in your specialist field. 
     You are able to project your influence internally and externally to deliver goals.
      You are a strong self-starter, skilled in converting ambiguity into clarity, and translating goals into plans. Typically only requires general direction/strategic guidance (as opposed to being directed task-by-task).
     You have significant experience coaching/supervising upcoming talent. 
     (desirable) You have experience engaging with production teams, and are able to translate your expertise to solve problems today.
     You have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, and can translate to a variety of technical and non-technical audiences. You are confident and able to represent your specialist area and GKN values in Executive level internal/external review meetings and conferences.
Person specification (continued)
Education: Required: Required: A bachelor degree in engineering relevant to the area of work, or experience of demonstrable equivalence.
Desired: A higher degree qualification such as a Masters or PhD relevant to the area of work.

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

 

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.

We are the place where human dreams, plus human endeavour, shape the future of aerospace innovation and technology. ​
​

#LI-HYBRID