Location: South Bend, Indiana
Work Schedule: On-site
As a Manufacturing Engineering Manager at Honeywell Aerospace, you will lead a team of Manufacturing Engineers responsible for supporting daily manufacturing operations, improving production processes, and driving operational excellence across our South Bend manufacturing facility. You will play a critical leadership role in ensuring safe, efficient, and high-quality production while leading strategic initiatives focused on productivity, quality, cost reduction, and continuous improvement.
Reporting directly to the Sr. Director, Manufacturing Engineering, you will oversee a team of approximately 12 Manufacturing Engineers and serve as a key partner to Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, Maintenance, and Product Engineering leaders.
This position is based at South Bend site, a major aerospace manufacturing operation specializing in aircraft wheels, brakes, fuel controls, and related systems. The facility is recognized as a world leader in the production of steel and carbon brakes for commercial and military aircraft.
ResponsibilitiesLead a High-Performing Engineering Team
- Provide leadership, coaching, and development for a team of Manufacturing Engineers.
- Establish team priorities, allocate resources, and drive execution against operational and strategic objectives.
- Build organizational capability through mentoring, succession planning, performance management, and talent development.
- Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement.
Support Manufacturing Operations
- Provide engineering leadership and support for day-to-day production activities.
- Drive rapid resolution of manufacturing issues impacting safety, quality, delivery, and cost.
- Lead disposition and resolution of non-conforming material, production disruptions, and manufacturing challenges.
- Partner closely with production teams to maintain operational continuity and improve manufacturing performance.
Drive Continuous Improvement
- Lead Lean, Six Sigma, and operational excellence initiatives across manufacturing operations.
- Identify opportunities to improve throughput, reduce waste, increase capacity, and improve product quality.
- Utilize root cause analysis and corrective action methodologies to eliminate recurring issues.
- Develop and implement long-term manufacturing strategies that improve efficiency and competitiveness.
Manufacturing Process Ownership
- Develop, improve, and sustain manufacturing methods, process flows, tooling, and production standards.
- Lead industrialization, process optimization, and implementation of best practices across manufacturing operations.
- Ensure manufacturing processes are capable, repeatable, and aligned with business objectives.
- Support capital investment planning and implementation of new technologies where applicable.
Technical Documentation & Training
- Oversee the development and maintenance of manufacturing work instructions, process documentation, and standard operating procedures.
- Ensure manufacturing documentation is accurate, compliant, and effectively supports production requirements.
- Partner with Operations to train and develop production personnel on manufacturing processes and best practices.
Cross-Functional Leadership
- Collaborate with Quality, Operations, Product Engineering, Supply Chain, Maintenance, and Program Management teams to achieve business goals.
- Serve as a key technical leader during problem-solving activities and production readiness reviews.
- Drive alignment across stakeholders to ensure successful production execution and continuous improvement.
Safety, Quality & Compliance
- Promote a strong safety culture and ensure manufacturing activities comply with Honeywell and regulatory requirements.
- Support quality management systems and compliance with aerospace manufacturing standards.
- Ensure manufacturing processes consistently meet customer, regulatory, and organizational requirements.
YOU MUST HAVE
- At least 6 years of manufacturing engineering, operations engineering, industrial engineering, or related manufacturing experience.
- Demonstrated experience leading manufacturing process improvements within a production environment.
- Experience leading, supervising, or developing engineering teams.
- Strong knowledge of manufacturing operations, process development, root cause analysis, and continuous improvement methodologies.
- Ability to solve complex manufacturing and operational challenges in a fast-paced environment.
WE VALUE
- Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or related discipline.
- Experience supporting high-volume manufacturing or aerospace manufacturing environments.
- Knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Kaizen, Value Stream Mapping, and Operational Excellence methodologies.
- Experience managing non-conforming material disposition and manufacturing quality issues.
- Experience developing manufacturing work instructions and production documentation.
- Strong project management and change management capabilities.
- Effective leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
- Ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive organizational results.
Due to compliance with U.S. export control laws and regulations, candidate must be a U.S. person, which is defined as, a U.S. citizen, a U.S. permanent resident, or have protected status in the U.S. under asylum or refugee status.
About us:
Join a company that's reintroducing itself to the aviation community we've helped advance for more than a century. At Honeywell Aerospace (NASDAQ: HONA), we're launching as an independent, publicly traded aerospace and defense company built on a legacy of operational excellence and mission-focused execution.
Our new brand identity pairs that heritage with real momentum, as we build technology that helps pilots navigate with confidence, aircraft operate more efficiently, and operators stay ahead of change. With our systems on board 90% of the world's aircraft, your work here has reach that's rare to find anywhere else.
Focusing on our customers, investing in innovation, and building a culture of accountability and performance is how we're shaping what comes next.
Every horizon. Every mission. Every day.
Benefits:
Beyond a performance-driven salary, you'll work alongside dedicated experts on technology that's advancing aviation. As a Honeywell Aerospace employee, you're eligible for a comprehensive benefits package that includes:
- Employer-subsidized medical, dental, vision and life insurance
- Short-term and long-term disability coverage
- 401(k) match, flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts
- Employee assistance program and educational assistance
- Parental leave and 12 paid holidays
- Paid time off for vacation, personal and sick time
Explore your benefits: https://honeywellaerospacebenefits.com/
Posting Timeline
The application period for the job is estimated to be 40 days from the job posting date; however, this may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.
Honeywell Aerospace products and services are found on aircraft across commercial aviation, defense and space. We operate through three business areas:
- Electronic Solutions develops the avionics, navigation systems, sensors and electromagnetic defense technology on board 90% of the world's aircraft
- Engines & Power Systems provides the propulsion, auxiliary power and electrical systems that keep those aircraft flying
- Control Systems supplies the thermal and motion control systems that support takeoff, landing and the safety of everyone on board
With approximately 58,000 employees worldwide and net sales of $17.4B in 2025, we are also advancing systems for autonomous and supersonic platforms — bringing the same focus on safety and efficiency to the next era of flight. Explore our businesses: https://www.honeywellaerospace.com
Skills Required
- At least 6 years of manufacturing engineering, operations engineering, industrial engineering, or related manufacturing experience
- Experience leading manufacturing process improvements within a production environment
- Experience leading, supervising, or developing engineering teams
- Strong knowledge of manufacturing operations, process development, root cause analysis, and continuous improvement methodologies
- Ability to solve complex manufacturing and operational challenges in a fast-paced environment
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering, or a related discipline
- Experience supporting high-volume manufacturing or aerospace manufacturing environments
- Knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Kaizen, Value Stream Mapping, and Operational Excellence methodologies
- Experience managing non-conforming material disposition and manufacturing quality issues
- Experience developing manufacturing work instructions and production documentation
- Strong project management and change management capabilities
- Effective leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills
- Ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive organizational results
- Must be a U.S. person as defined by applicable U.S. export control laws and regulations
The Aerospace Corporation Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about The Aerospace Corporation and has not been reviewed or approved by The Aerospace Corporation.
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Retirement Support — The 401(k) plan provides a company‑paid contribution of 8–12% based on years of service with immediate eligibility and vesting, and eligible employees can access retiree medical benefits.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Paid time off includes 15 vacation days (rising to 20 after five years), nine paid holidays, and unlimited sick time for exempt employees with accruals for non‑exempt staff.
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Flexible Benefits — Flexible work models include a 9/80 schedule with alternating Fridays off, supported by backup care services, an EAP, relocation assistance, and home‑office stipends where applicable.
The Aerospace Corporation Insights
What We Do
The space enterprise has been transformed by rapid change and growth. New vehicles for national security space, a more rapid launch cadence, proliferated satellite constellations, the pursuit of interplanetary exploration, and thriving commercial ventures are changing the nature of the space industry. The Aerospace Corporation (Aerospace) is a leading architect for U.S. space programs, shaping efforts to outpace threats to our national security while cultivating the technologies needed to further this new era of space commercialization and exploration. Aerospace works across the space enterprise in service of the public interest. In addition to supporting the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community, our customers include NASA, NOAA, numerous federal agencies, and commercial space — all of whom benefit from our deep technical knowledge. We only pursue business related to the space mission and complementary fields, operating as the nation’s trusted partner to solve the toughest challenges and develop reliable and innovative technologies. Innovation in space occurs when people have the freedom to imagine and do. At Aerospace, we take pride in our readiness to solve some of the most complex challenges in the space enterprise.
Why Work With Us
We are a non-profit corporation chartered by the government to work on the hardest problems in space. We employ technical experts in every discipline of space-related science and engineering who touch every part of the US space program. Come join us as we make an impact bigger than ourselves.
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