Composite Production Manager

Composite Production Manager – UAV Airframes London / UK & European Supplier Network | Advanced Composites | Aerospace & Defence

We are recruiting a Composite Production Manager for a rapidly growing autonomous systems business manufacturing advanced UAV platforms for international defence customers.

This is a specialist composites manufacturing position with responsibility for the end-to-end production and delivery of composite airframes across a network of UK and European manufacturing partners.

We are specifically looking for someone with significant practical experience of composite component and structural manufacture.

This is not a general Production Manager position. Candidates need a strong technical understanding of advanced composites manufacturing processes.

The role You will take ownership of the production of composite airframes from tooling and raw material availability through component manufacture, finishing, bonding and final structural assembly.

You'll work closely with engineering, supply chain and quality while managing specialist external composite manufacturers.

Key responsibilities will include:

Managing end-to-end production of composite UAV airframes

Coordinating multiple composite components and structural assemblies against aircraft build requirements

Managing specialist composite subcontractors across the UK and Europe

Ensuring mould tools, jigs and fixtures are production-ready

Coordinating raw material availability against manufacturing schedules

Monitoring composite lay-up and laminate manufacture

Managing cure and post-cure processes

Overseeing trimming, drilling, machining and finishing operations

Coordinating bonded and mechanically fastened structural assemblies

Managing final airframe assembly and delivery

Reviewing manufacturing drawings, laminate specifications, BOMs and work instructions

Working with engineering teams to improve Design for Manufacture and Assembly

Managing manufacturing changes and their impact on tooling and production

Investigating manufacturing defects and non-conformances

Driving root-cause analysis and corrective action

Improving manufacturing yield, repeatability and cycle times

Monitoring supplier capacity, quality and delivery performance

Developing recovery plans where production falls behind schedule

Supporting industrialisation and production scale-up

Essential composites experience Candidates should have substantial experience within advanced composite manufacturing and a strong working knowledge of several of the following:

CFRP / carbon fibre composite manufacture

Prepreg materials

Composite lay-up

Ply orientation and laminate schedules

Vacuum bagging

Autoclave processing

Out-of-autoclave processing

Cure and post-cure cycles

Resin systems

Core materials

Honeycomb / sandwich structures

Composite mould tools

Tool preparation and release systems

Structural adhesives

Bonded composite assemblies

Trimming and machining composite components

Drilling and fastening composite structures

Jigs and fixtures

Dimensional inspection

Composite repair/rework

Final structural assembly

You should understand the manufacturing process behind a composite component, rather than simply having managed a business that happens to manufacture composites.

Production & quality experience You should also have strong manufacturing control experience, ideally covering:

Production planning and scheduling

Manufacturing Bills of Materials

Route cards / production travellers

Manufacturing instructions

Material traceability

Batch control

Prepreg shelf-life and freezer-life management

Cure-cycle records

Process control

First Article manufacture / inspection

Non-Conformance Reports

Concessions and deviations

Root Cause Analysis

Corrective and Preventive Action

Engineering change control

Configuration control

Quality documentation

Supplier quality and performance

Production readiness

Industrialisation / NPI

Supplier management A major part of this position involves managing external manufacturing partners.

You must therefore have experience working directly with composite suppliers or subcontract manufacturers, rather than solely managing an internal production team.

You'll need to be capable of visiting a supplier and technically assessing:

whether tooling is ready

whether materials are available

whether manufacturing processes are being followed

whether production capacity is sufficient

why components are being rejected

whether defects are process or design related

whether recovery plans are achievable

what is genuinely preventing delivery

You'll work closely with suppliers to solve those issues rather than simply monitor their KPIs.

Backgrounds of particular interest We are particularly interested in candidates from:

UAV / UAS | Aerospace | Formula 1 | Motorsport | Defence | Advanced Automotive | High-Performance Marine Composites

Potential backgrounds could include:

Composite Production Manager

Composite Manufacturing Manager

Senior Composite Manufacturing Engineer

Composite Engineering Manager

Manufacturing Engineering Manager

Composite Operations Manager

Composite Industrialisation Manager

Production Engineering Manager

Candidates from Formula 1 and motorsport are particularly relevant where they have managed carbon composite structures from tooling and laminate manufacture through to completed structural assemblies.

What we don't need This role is unlikely to suit a general manufacturing or operations manager without substantial composites experience.

Likewise, a purely design-focused composites engineer may not have the production ownership required.

We need someone who understands the practical realities of turning composite designs into repeatable, conforming physical structures against a production schedule.

The opportunity The company is moving from relatively low-volume manufacture towards considerably greater production.

You'll therefore have significant influence over:

tooling | materials | manufacturing processes | supplier capability | quality | production planning | industrialisation | scalability

If you have built your career around manufacturing high-quality composite structures and want responsibility for delivering complete UAV airframes, we'd like to hear from you.

This role is Permanent and Travel is required 3-4 days per week either London or the subcontractor facility