Tooling design Lead

Job Description – Tooling Design Engineer

Location: Augsburg, Germany
Experience: 5–18 years
Languages: German – C1 level; English – professional proficiency
Industry: Aerospace / Aircraft Manufacturing

Role Overview

We are looking for an experienced Tooling Design Engineer to support aerospace manufacturing operations in Augsburg, Germany. The role will serve as the key interface between the production team and the engineering/design team, translating manufacturing and tooling requirements into clear technical requirements for the design team.

The successful candidate will work closely with production stakeholders to understand tooling needs, gather requirements, identify engineering constraints and ensure that these requirements are effectively communicated to the technical team responsible for developing the tooling solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the primary engineering interface with the aircraft production team for tooling-related requirements.
• Engage with production, manufacturing engineering and shop-floor stakeholders to understand tooling requirements, operational challenges and improvement needs.
• Gather, analyse and document technical and functional requirements for new and modified tooling.
• Translate production requirements into clear engineering inputs and communicate them to the internal tooling design/engineering team.
• Work closely with designers and engineers to clarify requirements, resolve technical queries and ensure the proposed tooling meets production needs.
• Review tooling concepts and designs against defined production requirements, manufacturing constraints and applicable aerospace standards.
• Coordinate feedback between production stakeholders and the design team throughout the tooling development cycle.
• Identify gaps, ambiguities or potential issues in tooling requirements and drive their resolution with relevant stakeholders.
• Support design reviews, technical discussions and validation activities for tooling.
• Ensure proper documentation and traceability of requirements, design changes and stakeholder feedback.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives related to manufacturing tooling, production efficiency, ergonomics and process optimisation.
• Participate in meetings with German-speaking production and engineering stakeholders and provide clear technical communication in both German and English.

Required Experience & Skills

• 5–18 years of experience in tooling engineering, tooling design, manufacturing engineering or a closely related aerospace engineering environment.
• Experience working with aircraft manufacturing / aerospace production tooling is highly preferred.
• Strong understanding of tooling concepts, fixtures, jigs, assembly aids and manufacturing support equipment.
• Experience gathering requirements directly from production/manufacturing teams and translating them into engineering requirements.
• Ability to understand and review technical drawings, specifications and tooling designs.
• Experience working with engineering/design teams in a customer-facing or stakeholder-facing capacity.
• Strong problem-solving and requirements-analysis skills.
• Ability to coordinate multiple stakeholders and manage technical discussions through to resolution.
• Familiarity with CAD and engineering design environments is desirable.
• Knowledge of aerospace manufacturing processes and quality requirements is an advantage.

Language Requirements

• German – C1 level or above is mandatory, with the ability to communicate effectively with production and engineering stakeholders.
• English – professional working proficiency is required for communication with international engineering teams.