Supply Chain Engineer - Supplier Industrialisation

About the role

Destinus develops Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for the defence industry and works with government agencies and defence organisations worldwide. As a Supply Chain Engineer in Hengelo, you will work with suppliers to make sure components are manufacturable, cost-efficient and ready to scale without compromising performance or quality. The role sits at the intersection of engineering and procurement.

Key responsibilities

• Lead supplier industrialisation from prototype through serial production, ensuring designs are manufacturable, repeatable and scalable.
• Assess and optimise manufacturing methods such as CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, welding, plastics manufacturing, additive manufacturing and mechanical assembly.
• Drive design-for-manufacture, design-for-assembly and value-engineering initiatives to improve cost, lead time, quality and production robustness.
• Evaluate supplier capability, capacity and manufacturing resilience to support long-term production scalability.
• Challenge manufacturing routes, materials, tolerances, specifications and tooling concepts.
• Support supplier qualification, first article inspections, process validation and production ramp-up.
• Use manufacturing, quality, delivery and cost data to identify risks and prioritise improvements.
• Work with Engineering, Production, Quality and Procurement to resolve manufacturing constraints.

Required profile

• Engineering degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering or a related discipline.
• 5+ years of experience in manufacturing, production engineering, supplier industrialisation or a similar environment.
• Fluent English; security screening and a Certificate of Conduct (VOG) are required.
• Nice to have: experience in plastics, composites, aerospace, defence or other highly regulated industries, and industrialising electro-mechanical products.

Required skills

• Strong knowledge of mechanical manufacturing processes: CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, welding, additive manufacturing, mechanical assembly.
• Understanding of manufacturing cost drivers, value engineering and design-for-manufacture.
• Ability to assess supplier capability, capacity and process maturity.
• Strong drawing interpretation, GD&T and tolerance analysis.
• Hands-on engineering mindset and strong problem-solving skills.