Materials & process engineer

Due to an exciting period of growth, we are looking for a Materials & Process Engineer to join our Composite Centre of Excellence in Banbury. In this role, you'll become a technical lead across materials and manufacturing processes for high-performance aerospace components. If you are an ambitious engineer who already holds a couple of years industry experience and are looking for your next development opportunity, we'd encourage you to apply.
Safran is an international high-technology group, operating in the aviation (propulsion, equipment and interiors), defense and space markets. Its core purpose is to contribute to a safer, more sustainable world, where air transport is more environmentally friendly, comfortable and accessible. Safran has a global presence, with 100,000 employees and sales of 27.3 billion euros in 2024, and holds, alone or in partnership, world or regional leadership positions in its core markets.
Safran is in the 2nd place in the aerospace and defense industry in TIME magazine's 'World's best companies 2024' ranking.

Safran Electronics & Defense offers its customers onboard intelligence solutions allowing them to understand the environment, reduce mental load and guarantee a trajectory, even in critical situations, in all environments: on land, at sea, in the sky or space. The company harnesses the expertise of its 13,000 employees towards these three functions: observe, decide and guide, for the civil and military markets.
You'll be someone already on their journey to becoming a subject matter expert, and we'll give you responsibility for developing, validating and optimising materials and processes to ensure robust production readiness, continuous improvement and compliance. Working closely with Design, Quality, Operations and Supply Chain, you'll support both new product introduction (NPI) and the ongoing improvement of legacy programmes.

Not only do we offer a competitive salary, an attractive bonus and excellent work-life balance but the support and guidance of our highly skilled and friendly team of engineers.
What will your day-to-day responsibilities look like?

*Act as the technical authority for materials and processes across the site
*Lead materials and process selection for NPI activities, working with suppliers and engineering leadership
*Develop and maintain composite and metallic process specifications
*Define and execute material characterisation, qualification and validation testing
*Drive site materials and process strategy, including inspection and process validation methods
*Support NPI activity from prototype through to production handover
*Provide technical problem-solving support on-site and with suppliers, leading root cause analysis and corrective actions
*Support D/PFMEAs, control plans and process capability studies
*Ensure compliance with quality management systems and support customer, supplier and regulatory audits
*Maintain internal and external specifications and engineering documentation
*Ensure compliance with national and global legislation (including REACh)
*Identify and implement cost reduction and yield improvement opportunities
*Influence design-for-manufacture decisions through close collaboration with design engineering
*Mentor junior engineers and develop standard work
*Contribute to the wider Safran Actuation Materials & Processes community
What will you bring to the role?

Essential skills:

* Degree qualified in Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering or equivalent, with strong experience in aerospace or automotive materials engineering
* In depth knowledge of Polymer Matrix Composites (PMC), including materials, manufacturing processes and in service performance
* Ability to lead materials and process development within a production manufacturing environment

Desirable skills:

* Experience with composite prepregs, liquid resin composites and machining of fibre reinforced components
* Experience qualifying PMCs for aerospace applications
* Knowledge of metallic materials, heat treatment and surface treatments
* Familiarity with aerospace standards and regulations (AS9100, EASA, FAA)
* Experience in a senior or lead engineering role
* Chartered Engineer status (or working towards)
* Strong understanding of Six Sigma, SPC and structured problem solving techniques.

TPBN1_UKTJ