Project Manager -NPI

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced Project Manager with a background in aerospace, manufacturing or a highly regulated environment who enjoys bringing new products to life and delivering tangible business results. If you are passionate about project delivery, stakeholder management and successfully introducing new products into production, we'd love to hear from you.

Safran is an international high-technology group operating in the fields of aerospace (propulsion, equipment and interiors), space and defense. Its mission is to contribute sustainably to a safer world, where air transport becomes ever more environmentally friendly, comfortable and accessible. Present on every continent, the Group employs 110,000 people and generated €31.3 billion in revenue in 2025. Safran holds, either independently or through partnerships, leading global or European positions in its markets.

Safran was ranked second in the Aerospace & Defense sector in TIME magazine's ""World's Best Companies 2025"" ranking.

Safran Electronics & Defense is an international company with more than 19,000 employees who bring together expertise and team spirit to design high-technology solutions for the aerospace, defense and space sectors. By combining human and technological intelligence, the company develops products and services for both civil and military customers, operating on land, at sea, in the air and in space.

Project Manager - NPI
Banbury
Hybrid Working
At Safran, excellence is a journey - and we'd love you to be a part of it. As a trusted global leader in aerospace, defence, and space, we are proud to be a company where diversity, innovation, and opportunity come together to shape a sustainable future where we can all succeed together through a shared vision.

Safran Actuation Systems UK is a world‑class centre for the design, manufacture and support of actuation and flight‑control solutions used across commercial, military and rotary platforms. With major sites in Wolverhampton and Banbury, our teams play a critical role in delivering innovative, reliable and safe systems that keep aircraft performing at their best.

Our UK Actuation business brings together engineering excellence, advanced manufacturing capability and a proud heritage within the aerospace sector. Whether supporting major global programmes or developing the next generation of actuation technologies, our people are at the heart of everything we do.

Your Role:

* Lead the planning and delivery of complex aerospace New Product Introduction (NPI) programmes, ensuring the successful transition of products from development through industrialisation and into production while delivering agreed cost, schedule, quality and performance objectives.
* Develop and maintain integrated programme plans, work breakdown structures and resource plans, ensuring effective prioritisation, execution and delivery across multiple concurrent workstreams.
* Coordinate cross-functional Integrated Project Teams comprising Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, Operations and Finance to achieve programme milestones and business objectives.
* Own programme governance, providing regular reporting to senior leadership, customers and key stakeholders on programme status, risks, financial performance and milestone achievement.
* Lead programme risk, opportunity and change management activities, ensuring technical, commercial and schedule risks are proactively identified, mitigated and effectively communicated.
* Drive product industrialisation activities, ensuring manufacturing readiness, supply chain capability and operational preparedness for successful product introduction.
* Manage programme budgets, forecasts and resource requirements, ensuring accurate project performance tracking and cost control throughout the programme lifecycle.
* Support Business Development and Bid & Proposal (B&P) activities by developing project execution strategies, programme plans, cost estimates, resource profiles and risk assessments for future opportunities.
* Act as the primary interface for customers and key stakeholders, building strong relationships and ensuring programme commitments, delivery objectives and customer expectations are achieved.
* Lead the transition of new products from development into production, ensuring robust launch planning, stakeholder alignment and successful delivery.

You will bring to the role:

* Degree (or equivalent) in Engineering, Project Management or a related technical discipline.
* Proven experience delivering New Product Introduction (NPI), product development or industrialisation programmes within aerospace, defence or other highly regulated industries.
* Experience leading multidisciplinary teams through product development, industrialisation and production readiness activities.
* Strong understanding of programme delivery, project planning and execution within a manufacturing or engineering environment.
* Demonstrable experience in risk management, opportunity management and change control.
* Experience supporting Bid & Proposal (B&P) activities, business cases and programme planning for new customer opportunities.
* Good understanding of manufacturing processes, industrialisation activities and the successful introduction of new products into production.
* Excellent stakeholder management skills, with experience engaging customers, senior leaders and cross-functional teams.
* Strong commercial awareness with experience managing programme budgets, forecasts and resource planning.
* Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to drive collaboration across Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality and Supply Chain functions.