Senior Manufacturing Engineer - EWIS

Date: Dec 22, 2025

Location: Papendrecht, NL

Company: GKN Aerospace Careers

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

To complement our Manufacturing Engineering team in Papendrecht, we are looking for a Senior Manufacturing Engineer. You will be working in an international team with Senior Manufacturing Engineers, Principal Manufacturing Engineers, Configuration Managers and Quality Engineers. 
As a Senior Manufacturing Engineer, you provide technical expertise at a local project level for operational and development Programs to enable and deliver zero defect projects utilizing engineering and problem solving skills. You are accountable for delivering robust, capable manufacturing process technology as it applies to materials, tooling, part fabrication and assembly.

What you'll do

•    Exemplify a safety-first mind-set and ensuring compliance with the GKN Aerospace Health, Safety and Environmental policies and standards.
•    Provide technical expertise at a local project level in governance and deployment of manufacturing development and integration for production within GKN Aerospace. 
•    Provide technical expertise to rapidly solve issues pertaining to vendor schedule and/or quality.
•    Break down technical problems, risk, opportunities, in the correct order to create products and add value to GKN Aerospace through creating Zero Defects
•    Lead positive, team relationships with internal and external customers, as well as co-workers
•    Continuously improve production processes by implementing Lean initiatives.
•    Provide local project technical oversight for the development of manufacturing process solutions to complex problems.
•    Local project technical lead for the implementation of production planning, from original concept through to production. Design these processes to a high level of process capability through utilizing the GKN standard Zero Defect Manufacturing (ZDM) tool suite.
•    Implement the global process for product development, first article development, configuration changes, build process definition and implementation.

What you'll bring

•    Bachelor’s Degree in the direction of engineering (Aerospace, Electrical, Mechatronics, Industrial or Mechanical).
•    Approximately 5-7 years of experience in Manufacturing Engineering.
•    Experience of managing New Product / Process introduction (industrialization) & existing production process improvements.
•    Ability to influence people, build trust and establish effective working relationships within a global organization.
•    Knowledge of quality system models such as ISO9000, AS9100, or D1-9000.
•    Project / Program Management experience.
•    Familiarity with AS9145 APQP process or equivalent.
•    Fluent in English language, both written and spoken. 
•    Experience with Microsoft Word and Excel.
•    Thinks in solutions, contributes solutions, and assists in applying those solutions where necessary.
•    Possesses good communication skills.

What we'll offer

We are committed to offer you a challenge but also a great opportunity to learn and grow. We want to offer you a career that can go to many directions thanks to our breadth of international opportunities. By being part of GKN Aerospace that has proven itself to be at the cutting edge of our industry, you will know that you will be working towards being the most trusted partner in the aerospace industry. We will support and promote your professional and personal development.

Furthermore, we will offer you:
•    The role is in Grade J and according to the CLA Metalektro,
•    8% holiday allowance,
•    40 paid holidays for full-time employment in line with the Collective Labor Agreement Metalektro (27 holidays and 13 ADV days),
•    An excellent pension scheme (PME) and travel allowance,
•    A pleasant and informal working environment, in which we work together to achieve the best result for our customers.

Next to the attractive package, we will offer you a world of opportunities: we want to see your career fly! We will support your career progression by providing you with learning and development opportunities.

Who we are

Fokker ELMO, part of GKN Aerospace, is a leading player in the design, manufacturing and support for the Electrical Wiring Interconnection Systems (EWIS) for Aerospace and Defense programs To make the wiring harnesses, we have everything in-house from start to finish. From complete engineering to our final product, the ready-to-use wiring harnesses, we do this for well-known aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus, Collins Aerospace and Lockheed-Martin. We produce these wiring harnesses worldwide at several sites. In Papendrecht we have approximately 1200 employees. This is what Fokker ELMO is all about: quality and therefore airworthiness.

How to apply

Please apply online by sending us your CV and motivation letter. Due to data privacy reasons we do not handle any applications sent by email. For additional questions you can contact Glenn Duggert, Talent Acquisition, via glenn.duggert@fokker.com. 

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-GD1