Senior Mechanical Engineer - Aerospace Gearing

Estimated hourly base pay: $145,000 (Minimum) – $181,000 (Midpoint) – $218,000 (Maximum)

• All members included in annual cash bonus opportunity.
• 401(k) match (4.5%).
• Annual Woodward stock contribution (5%).
• Tuition reimbursement and training/professional development opportunities for all members.
• 12 paid holidays.
• Industry leading medical, dental, and vision insurance upon date of hire.
• Vacation / sick time / vacation buy‑up / short term disability / bereavement leave.
• Paid parental leave.
• Adoption assistance.
• Employee assistance program, including mental health benefits.
• Member life & AD&D / long term disability / member optional life.
• Member referral bonus.
• Spouse / child optional life / optional AD&D / healthcare and dependent care flexible spending.
• Home / auto insurance discounts.
• Whole life insurance / critical illness insurance / legal assistance / military leave.
• Voluntary benefits, including home/auto insurance discounts, whole life insurance, critical illness insurance, legal assistance, and military leave.

• Lead end‑to‑end development of aerospace‑qualified gear manufacturing processes, including spur, helical, bevel, and spline gears.
• Define and document process flows, PFMEAs, control plans, and work instructions.
• Define key characteristics (KCs) and critical‑to‑quality (CTQ) features.
• Define process capability requirements (Cp/Cpk) for critical gear geometry.
• Work cooperatively with gearing designs to improve performance & manufacturability of new gearing products.
• Develop and optimize machining processes including hobbing, shaping, skiving, broaching, profile grinding, honing, lapping, and superfinishing.
• Establish robust process control strategies for tooth profile accuracy, pitch variation, lead/helix error, surface finish, residual stress, and distortion control.
• Define machining parameters, tooling strategies, and thermal controls to ensure repeatability in ultra‑tight tolerance aerospace components.
• Lead process validation (IQ/OQ/PQ) and AS9102 First Article Inspection (FAI).
• Drive continuous improvement: reduce transmission error and gear noise, improve process capability and yield, implement advanced machining techniques and in‑process monitoring.
• Serve as technical authority for gear manufacturing suppliers and special process providers.
• Lead supplier qualification and audit activities to ensure compliance with AS9100, aerospace customer requirements, and internal engineering specifications.
• Oversee and manage NADCAP‑controlled special processes, including heat treatment (carburizing, nitriding, induction hardening), shot peening and residual stress control, surface treatments (coatings, plating, corrosion protection), and non‑destructive testing (MPI, FPI, ultrasonic).
• Ensure detailed and accurate technical requirement flow‑down, including gear macro‑ and microgeometry specifications, surface integrity and metallurgical requirements, and full traceability and certification needs.
• Partner with suppliers on process capability improvement initiatives, root‑cause corrective action (RCCA, 8D), monitor supplier performance via KPIs, and support make‑vs‑buy decisions.
• Define and implement advanced inspection strategies for aerospace precision components, with emphasis on gearing.
• Establish and validate measurement systems (MSA, Gage R&R) for gear profile, lead, pitch, runout, composite error, surface finish, waviness, and microgeometry.
• Utilize analytical inspection equipment (Klingelnberg, Gleason, Zeiss).
• Ensure compliance with AGMA, ISO, DIN, and aerospace standards, customer, and regulatory requirements.
• Lead and support AS9102 FAI, internal, customer, and regulatory audits.
• Drive structured root‑cause investigations addressing transmission error and NVH performance issues, contact pattern deviations, surface distress, wear, and fatigue.
• Implement SPC and continuous monitoring of critical characteristics.
• Ensure full traceability, documentation, and configuration control for flight hardware.
• Provide hands‑on support to resolve complex machining and finishing issues on the shop floor.
• Collaborate with design engineering on manufacturability (DFM), tolerance stack‑up, and performance…