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
A position has arisen for a Research Engineer Assembly Automation. The successful candidate shall work as part of a transnational team supporting a variety of technology activities, but with particular responsibility for specifying, developing and deploying automated systems for assembly operations.
The Research Engineer shall draw on their experience and awareness of state-of-art automation to progress a variety of research and development activity in the TRL1-6 range. The Research Engineer will often be required to work with and steer specialised suppliers to develop sub-systems to GKN specification.
They will work closely with other disciplines such as manufacturing and product design engineers in order to ensure that automated systems meet technical requirements and deliver the required return on investment.
They will work closely with other disciplines such as manufacturing and product design engineers in order to ensure that automated systems meet technical requirements and deliver the required return on investment.
They shall be capable of achieving through others internally and externally, and will be committed to development of their own skills and professional network. Their good communication skills shall enable them to confidently engage with a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders.
The role offers the flexibility of hybrid working.
Travel will be required but in a managed, reasonable and agreeable fashion.
How You'll Contribute
• Develop understanding of the strategic direction of assembly operations and the approach required in respect to product and process technologies.
• Build strong relationships with academia, suppliers and catapult centres.
• Identify state of the art assembly technologies to align with our business strategy.
• Clearly articulate requirements to external collaborators.
• Develop solutions from conception to reality.
• Program and simulate assembly and manufacturing methods and hardware.
• Contribute to the development of assembly strategy, reconciling input from multiple specialist areas.
• Assess value streams and requirements of existing sites and interpret these to develop proposals for appropriate technology development focus.
• Ensure EHS policy and process adherence for their activities, and will contribute to a proactive EHS culture in the wider team.
• Contribute to the development of GKN as a 'Great Place to Work', aligned with the core principles - safe, innovative, open & honest, care & respect, and ownership.
You may be required to provide support within the following areas:
• Understand product design trends and drivers in order to understand the limitations and opportunities presented by improved and increased levels of automation.
• Develop novel solutions to meet requirements of target applications.
• Work closely with operations to use technology to reduce or eliminate historic non-conformance issues.
• Demonstrate technology benefits to the wider business.
• Recognise and conceive opportunities for technology introduction and process improvement.
• Engage with project stakeholders, internal/external customers, and supply chain partners.
Essential:
• Degree-qualified (or equivalent) in a relevant discipline such as; automation/robotics, mechanical, manufacturing, mechatronics, or aerospace engineering.
• Programming experience, preferably including MATLAB and C#. Familiarity of the .NET framework is advantageous.
• Knowledge of industrial automation systems, such as PLCs and control systems. Practical experience with wiring, integration, ladder logic and/or control loops (e.g. PID) is advantageous.
• Knowledge of large volume metrology tools and techniques (e.g. laser trackers, photogrammetry).
• Detailed knowledge in at least one of the following areas; manufacturing and assembly processes, tooling philosophies, inspection methods or automation solutions.
• Excellent technical writing and documentation skills.
• Strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to collaborate across multidisciplinary teams and external partners.
• Proficient in CAD tools (preferably CATIA); ability to design basic components, interrogate and manipulate products/assemblies.
Desirable:
• Hands-on experience of aircraft component manufacture and assembly processes.
• Familiarity with robotics and associated methods such as inverse kinematics, forward dynamics, path planning/offline programming with practical experience or academic exposure to robot simulation and programming environments is advantageous.
Competitive salary (dependant on experience)
Hybrid working—a mix of office and home flexibility
Industry-leading pension scheme (we match up to 8% at a 1:1.5 ratio)
Life assurance (8x your salary)
25 days holiday + bank holidays
Income protection
Shopping discounts
Cycle To Work Scheme
Employee Assistance Programme
A collaborative, dynamic working environment
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.
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