Aerospace engineer
Engineering and manufacturing
Level 6 -
Creating aircraft components and equipment, specialising in a specific engineering discipline (for example - airframe, design and stress, systems integration, support engineering or manufacturing engineering).
Reference: OCC0010
Status:
SOC 2020 sub unit groups:
- 2126/02 Aircraft engineers (professional)
Technical Education Products
Employers involved in creating the standard:
BAE Systems, Airbus, Rolls Royce plc, GE Aviation Power & Systems, GKN Aerospace, Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group, AugustaWestland Ltd, Magellan Aerospace (UK) Ltd, GTA England
Summary
This occupation is found in the civil and military aerospace sector. The occupation can be found in large, medium and small employers across the world. Aerospace engineers may work on specific aerospace products and associated integrated aerospace environments and infrastructure. Examples include aerospace manufacturers, aerospace support services, airports, aircraft carriers and air traffic control.
The broad purpose of the occupation is to design and develop aircraft, aeronautical components and associated systems including operational support. They support customers by aiming to improve flight safety, aircraft efficiency and reduce costs. They review aerospace products and develop design and manufacturing processes or systems. They use project management and continuous improvement techniques. They also address the environmental impact of flight by adopting latest technologies. They are typically office-based. They may be required to work in production facilities and test facilities. They may also work in hangars or outdoors on the aircraft or ground equipment. They may be required to support customers in the UK and worldwide. Depending on the product, they may be required to work in confined spaces and at height. Depending on the nature of the work, they may be required to work shift patterns.
In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with colleagues across the organisation. For example manufacturing, project management, finance, human resources and procurement. They may also interact with customers, other specialist engineers, technicians, partners and suppliers. They will also work with different levels of engineers across multiple engineering disciplines. Depending on the organisation, they typically report to Senior Engineers, Senior Specialists or Chief Engineers.
An employee in this occupation is responsible for working ethically and professionally. Aerospace engineers work to Civil and Military Aviation regulatory requirements. They must meet statutory and company regulations, taking responsibility for health and safety. They also take responsibility for environmental and sustainablity regulations, cost, quality, accuracy and efficiency. They must proactively find solutions to problems and identify areas for business improvement. Aerospace engineers work individually and as part of a team. Depending on the size and structure of the organisation they may manage technicians or teams of engineers.
Employers involved in creating the standard:
BAE Systems, Airbus, Rolls Royce plc, GE Aviation Power & Systems, GKN Aerospace, Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group, AugustaWestland Ltd, Magellan Aerospace (UK) Ltd, GTA England
Typical job titles include:
Keywords:
Knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs)
Duties
Duty D1
Plan, lead and support the delivery of aerospace projects ensuring integration with key stakeholders, company objectives and strategies.
Duty D2
Communicate key performance indicators, progress, risks and issues at all levels of the business, throughout the product lifecycle and through design reviews and technical reports.
Duty D3
Identify, evaluate, derive and maintain technical requirements for aerospace projects in line with regulatory and certification requirements.
Duty D4
Design or redesign aerospace products, systems and services to fulfil defined project requirements.
Duty D5
Generate, utilise, validate and verify technical analyses models and simulations to predict the performance of aerospace products and systems.
Duty D6
Oversee and project manage the production of prototype systems and components to validate and verify functionality and performance of aerospace products.
Duty D7
Develop, define, execute testing of aerospace products or systems for certification and stakeholder acceptance.
Duty D8
Analyse test and in-service data to review the suitability and performance of aerospace products and systems, utilising data analytics techniques.
Duty D9
Verify that aerospace processes, products and systems comply with local, national and international regulatory, legislative, customer and company standards throughout the life cycle. For example, quality, environmental, anti-bribery and corruption, Official Secrets Act, export control, health and safety standards.
Duty D10
Review performance of aerospace products, processes and systems, assess the cause of any faults or problems and propose modifications.
Duty D11
Implement and coordinate the continuous improvement of aerospace products, processes and systems.
Occupational Progression
This occupational progression map shows technical occupations that have transferable knowledge and skills.
In this map, the focused occupation is highlighted in yellow. The arrows indicate where transferable knowledge and skills exist between two occupations. This map shows some of the strongest progression links between the focused occupation and other occupations.
It is anticipated that individuals would be required to undertake further learning or training to progress to and from occupations. To find out more about an occupation featured in the progression map, including the learning options available, click the occupation.
Progression decisions have been reached by comparing the knowledge and skills statements between occupational standards, combined with individualised learner movement data.
Engineering and manufacturing