Head of Design Office

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Entity
Safran is an international high-technology group, operating in the aviation (propulsion, equipment and interiors), defence 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 92,000 employees and sales of 23.2 billion euros in 2023, and holds, alone or in partnership, world or regional leadership positions in its core markets. Safran undertakes research and development programs to maintain the environmental priorities of its R&T and innovation roadmap.
Safran is in the 1st place in the aerospace and defence industry in TIME magazine's "World's best companies 2023" ranking.

With over one million seats equipping the fleets of the major airlines, Safran Seats is one of the world's leading suppliers of seating for passengers, crews and helicopters thanks to innovative and high added-value solutions.

Reference
2025-150860

Position description
Domain

Research, design and development
Job field / Job profile

Mechanics - Mechanical part or subassembly design
Job title

Head of Design Office
Employment type

Permanent
Professional category

Professional, Engineer & Manager
Part time / Full time

Full-time
Number of hours per week

37.5
Job description

Are you interested in working at the business end of Aerospace, where airline brand meets innovative passenger experience? Then your next opportunity could be with Safran Seats, an industry award winning, premium designer and manufacturer of First and Business Class seating and technology. Our passenger experience prides itself on innovation, customization, quality and industrial design.

At Safran Seats, we are unique within aerospace, as we interface with both the world's biggest airlines and airframers alike, with the largest seats portfolio of all seats suppliers. One day you could be liaising with one of the world's largest airframers, and the next, some of the biggest airline brands around the world!

In the UK, Safran Seats specialises solely in the First Class and Business Class seating markets for wide body aircraft, with industrial and engineering teams in Cwmbran and Newport, Wales and Brackley, England.

The role requires the management of a large team of design engineers, and to ensure that the
necessary tools and processes are in place and being applied.
Responsibility for the review and update of engineering design processes, in line with the
standardized approach that is required all Safran Seats BUs. Therefore, the position holder is key in
the trans-national activities to align and improve processes.
The role requires the review of resource capacity and capability to ensure adequacy in supporting the
customer development projects and all activities that require design engineers to be engaged.
The role holder is responsible to ensure all work is carried out in line with Health, Safety &
Environment objectives & processes, and work to continuously monitor and improve the working
practices.

Key responsibilities:
• Overall responsibility for the quality and on-time delivery of mechanical & electrical designs
across all projects in accordance with Engineering Processes and Standards.
• Ensures the team has the right competency levels with recruitment, development of people and
training.
• Works in collaboration with the programme team to ensure that products meet cost and weight
targets.
• Responsible for the design tools & processes.
• Liaise with internal and external customers, suppliers, departments and regulatory bodies as
required.
• Work to the group KPI's for Quality, Cost & Delivery.
• Drives continuous improvement of department processes and manuals and development of new
capabilities and methods.
• Implement a 'Right First Time' culture for the production of engineering drawings & models.
Continually interface with sales, manufacturing and operations to integrate feedback into improving and refining design solutions, particularly in relation to Design for Manufacture and
Design to Cost.
• Develop processes and systems to monitor and evaluate the performance of the design teams,
highlight emerging issues and work closely with the teams to develop robust solutions.

Travel specifictity

Potential travel in the UK and internationally.
Additional description

Our in-house design studio co-creates the most innovative experiences in the sky with our airline customers and partners. Our dedicated engineering, production and in-service support facilities are integral to delivering a high-end quality product that we keep flying throughout the life of programme. We are fully supported by a wide team of support functions, from HR to Finance, to Business Development and Planning and Logistics, our team is built to give Safran Seats an end-to-end capability in house in the UK.

We focus on:

Our people
These are our four People Fundamentals that underpin everything we do at Safran:
• We believe in and fostering the conditions for diversity and inclusion to thrive
• We develop our colleagues skills and build opportunities so you can shape our future
• We create a trustworthy work place to support you, as you dare to act and innovate
• We encourage collaboration and mutual support between you and your colleagues
So you'll be supported every step of the way!

Sustainability
Our people are at the heart of our success, as we work together to achieve our mission: contributing to a safer and more sustainable aviation. We are tackling the biggest challenges in aerospace, with a commitment to work to decarbonise the industry by 2050.

Global Mobility
As part of the Safran Group, across our businesses we are market leaders in aerospace, defence and space; there is always potential for future mobility in the UK and internationally.
Candidate skills & requirements

Job functional knowledge and technical skills
• Graduate or Post Graduate Degree in Engineering required.
• 10 years working in a design role for aircraft equipment, with a minimum of 5 years' experience of
managing large design teams.
• Comprehensive knowledge of aircraft seat and furniture design.
• Wide knowledge of Aerospace Engineering processes and Standards, and a detailed working
knowledge of the Engineering processes within Safran Seats.
• Experience with Catia and management of PLM systems in an aerospace environment
Business expertise
The role demands a high level of technical and process knowledge, and the ability to apply those processes
across the full range of projects that the company is involved with.
As a Department Head, the position holder is expected to fully manage their team in full accordance with HR
policies and to ensure the at the team continues to develop in both technical and management capability.
Leadership
The role is focused on ensuring compliance to internal and external processes and standards and so strong
technical leadership and necessary and expected.
The Design Office comprises approx. 100 professional engineers that work across a wide range of projects,
and so there is a clear need for effective and ongoing leadership and people management to ensure
consistency and clarity about expectations.
Problem solving - innovation
The position holder must ensure that the Design team has the capability to solve the vast majority of the
problems that arise during development projects and audits, but it is also expected that the most critical
issues will be owned and driven directly by the Department Head.
The position holder is also required to lead the development of new processes and continued improvements
to existing standards and ways of working.
Interpersonal skills
It is important that the role holder is able to manage communication at all levels within the company, from
technical reviews with company Executives to encouraging progress, celebrating success or finding
improvements within the department
Position location
Job location

Europe, UK, Wales
City (-ies)

Llantarnam Industrial Park, Llantarnam NP44 3HQ Cwmbran