Principal Design Engineer

The Principal Design Engineer is a technical authority within the Transparency Systems team, responsible for leading complex product development, driving technical strategy, and ensuring engineering excellence across multiple programmes. It spans the full lifecycle: advanced concept development, requirements definition, geometric design, materials and process selection, supporting tooling design, manufacturing development, qualification, and in service support. The Principal Design Engineer also plays a major role in shaping technology roadmaps, mentoring engineering teams, and representing the business in high-level customer, regulatory, and airworthiness discussions.

This role requires flexibility for occasional travel, both within the UK and internationally. Core operational hours at our Luton site are: 07:30 - 16:30 Monday to Thursday & 07:30 - 12:30 Friday.,

• Act as the technical authority for transparency design across multiple programmes, ensuring design integrity, safety, and compliance with customer, regulatory, and airworthiness requirements.
• Lead the definition of design standards and engineering best practices for transparency systems and approve design solutions, specifications, concessions, rework schemes, and compliance documentation.
• Provide expert guidance on requirements management, materials selection, structural performance, optical performance, manufacturing processes and qualification methods.
• Represent Design function in MRBs and serve as the primary escalation point for all MRB-related queries, exercising technical authority to determine and approve the disposition of non conforming parts.
• Define and validate test methods and/or alternate means of compliance (analysis/similarity) as required to demonstrate design solution complies with requirements.
• Act as a senior technical interface with customers, suppliers, regulatory bodies, and internal stakeholders. Communicate complex technical information clearly to both technical and non technical audiences.
• Lead major technical reviews, gate reviews, and customer design reviews, ensuring high quality technical data and presentations.
• Identify, assess, and manage technical risks across programmes, proposing mitigation strategies and influencing programme direction.
• Support capability development within the Transparency Systems team including training, knowledge capture, and succession planning.
• You will 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.
• Degree in Aerospace, Mechanical or similar
• Experience in Aerospace design / or Aerospace product development.
• Deep understanding of the full product lifecycle, design practices, manufacturing processes, and airworthiness requirements.
• Proven ability to lead complex engineering work packages and solve complex technical problems using evidence based, methodical approaches.
• Familiarity with digital engineering and model based design preferably using CATIA V5.
• Excellent communication skills, able to create clear, concise, and accurate technical content and present to senior stakeholders.

• Expert user of CATIA V5 for complex modelling and drawing creation
• Chartered Engineer status (CEng)
• Experience working with defence customers and regulatory authorities.
• Experience in transparencies, composites, or specialist structures/ systems.

This is a hands on role, and the work will entail a high level of collaboration with Manufacturing Engineering and Operations as part of an integrated programme team to ensure both technical and programme objectives are met. You'll have strong leadership qualities with experience mentoring and developing engineering teams. You should be adaptable in your approach to work, and be willing to understudy other team members in their areas of responsibility to ensure overall department objectives are met.

As Principal Design Engineer, you will be naturally detail oriented and appreciate the need for procedural compliance to meet both regulatory requirements and maintain product safety. Your proactive nature will enable you to understand and adapt to new technology areas quickly. Your good communication skills shall enable you to confidently engage with a wide variety of internal stakeholders. You should seek to increase/deepen own technical knowledge through study, training, collaborative working and continual professional development.

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…