Engineering Manager Aerospace Manufacturing

We are looking for an experienced Engineering Manager to join a highly technical aerospace manufacturing environment in Abu Dhabi, with a strong focus on forging, metallurgy and aero-engine component manufacturing.

This is not a purely industrialisation or project-management role. The position will act as a technical authority for the plant, providing engineering leadership across forging processes, materials, manufacturing methods, qualification and production readiness.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the engineering function supporting forged aerospace and aero-engine components.
• Act as a senior technical authority across forging, metallurgy, process engineering and manufacturing decisions.
• Challenge process owners and engineering teams on technical decisions, process capability and manufacturing trade-offs.
• Oversee forging process development, industrialisation, qualification and continuous improvement.
• Support manufacturing of components in titanium, nickel-based superalloys and other high-performance aerospace materials.
• Provide technical leadership across tooling, dies, heat treatment, machining interfaces and downstream manufacturing processes.
• Lead root-cause analysis and resolution of complex manufacturing defects and non-conformities.
• Drive NPI, production readiness, first-part qualification and process validation activities.
• Support equipment selection, commissioning, capability development and production ramp-up.
• Define and maintain engineering standards, process controls and technical documentation.
• Work closely with Production, Quality, Supply Chain and external suppliers/OEM stakeholders.
• Lead and develop engineering teams while maintaining a strong hands-on technical presence.

Requirements

• Strong background in forging process engineering and/or metallurgy within aerospace, aero-engine, gas-turbine or another highly regulated advanced-manufacturing environment.
• Significant hands-on experience with forged components and forging process development.
• Strong knowledge of titanium and/or nickel-based superalloys.
• Experience in areas such as hot forging, closed-die forging, ring rolling, heat treatment, tooling/dies, process parameters and defect analysis.
• Strong understanding of process capability, PFMEA, SPC, root-cause analysis and manufacturing qualification.
• Experience with NPI, industrialisation, production readiness and process validation.
• Previous experience as a Senior Process Engineer, Metallurgist, Process Owner, Technical Authority, Principal Engineer or similar, progressing into engineering leadership.
• Proven experience leading engineering teams and making senior technical decisions.
• Aerospace quality-system exposure such as AS9100 / AS13100 / OEM-specific standards is highly desirable.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Metallurgy, Materials Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering or a related discipline.

Preferred

• Direct aero-engine component manufacturing experience.
• Experience with turbine discs, shafts, rings, blades or other forged engine components.
• Greenfield / new-facility / equipment commissioning exposure.
• Strong supplier qualification and OEM interface experience.
• Lean / Six Sigma / continuous improvement background.