Manufacturing Engineer Tooling

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  2023. There are no limits to where you can take your career.

We are looking for a Manufacturing Enginer Tooling to join our Systems & Industrialization department, a strong engineering team dedicated to our Landing Gear division based in Papendrecht!

We produce complex components for the landing gear of well‑known helicopters and aircraft, including the Apache, NH90, F‑35, and Bombardier Dash 8 Q400. Quality is our priority in every project and production process. Therefore, we are seeking a quality‑and service‑oriented Manufacturing Engineer Tooling to join our dynamic & international team.

As a Fixture Tooling Engineer, your goal will be the delivery of Tooling to NPI projects in a timely manner, the First Time Yield improvement as a result of tool life specification as well as cost optimisation. You will work to deliver zero defect projects by utilising engineering and problem‑solving skills. You will be responsible for ensuring robust and capable manufacturing processes related to materials, tooling, part fabrication and assembly.

In this role, you will closely collaborate with CAM Engineers, the Tool Shop, Procurement and Operations.

As a member of the NPI team, you collaborate during process design with Product Architects, CAM Engineers and Product Assurance engineers on the optimal tooling solution for the production process. This is formalised with a Tool Requirements form submitted by CAM engineers to initiate your task. There are several NPI projects executing and your support in these projects are pivotal. You are the technical liaison with Tool suppliers to define optimal solutions.

Apart from the NPI projects, you will receive Requests for Assistance from Operations, where swift resolution is key to enable production continuity. As a business focusing on continuous improvement, your proposals for an optimized process is valued and our drive to eliminate process risk with the use of technology is a key‑element to achieve that objective.

The business has a catalogue of fixtures, jigs and specialised tools in a legacy system and your management of a burn‑down plan will form part of Obsolescence Management.

Want to know more? Keep on reading!

Landing Gear, part of GKN Fokker Aerospace, is a recognised specialist in landing gear and related systems. We focus on design, development, production and assembly of complete landing gears, as well as repair and reassembly of systems already in use. In doing so, we work on the most famous aircraft and helicopters; think of the Apache combat helicopter, the F‑35 Lightning II (JSF), the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 and the multipurpose NH90 maritime combat helicopter.

• Design and develop fixtures, jigs and specialised tools specifically for aerospace applications, including complete fixtures for holding and positioning complex parts in e.g. milling, turn/mill and grinding machines.
• Hoisting and transport equipment.
• Shop aids / measuring and check tools / gauges.
• Assembly jigs.
• Collaborate in multi‑disciplinary teams (e.g. Manufacturing Engineers, CAM‑programmers, Operators, Quality Engineers, Industrialisation Engineers) to create specialised tooling solutions.
• Optimise existing tooling/jigs/fixtures to improve product quality and ease of use:
  Poka‑Yoke, Form‑Fit‑Function, Manufacturability, optimisation/modification/standardisation for various machines, compliant with safety and ergonomics standard.
• Technical point of contact…