Manufacturing engineer composite development

About KVE Composites

KVE is an advanced composite development factory, where skilled people build products and create business for the group. We are an autonomous unit within the Daher Group, strategically positioned in The Netherlands. Under one roof, we combine manufacturing with innovative composite product and process development. Our agile teams create composite solutions from concepts up to serial production, in close collaboration with our customers. We excel in advanced composite part production for defence and aerospace, with a focus on radomes, blades, and special products and are leaders in welding technology for thermoplastic composites. Our SME agility is backed by the stability and support of a large international company.

Our Mission

To be an advanced composite development factory, where skilled people build products and create business for the group.

Our Values

We work according to these principles:

• Drive – Strong inner motivation to achieve goals with a proactive attitude.

• Pragmatic – Focusing on solutions that are effective and realistic.

• Innovative – Bringing original ideas that create or improve value.

• Team Spirit – Working together in mutual trust and respect towards a common goal.

• Responsible – Being reliable, accountable and committed to doing the right thing for the company, customers and society.

Your Role

We are growing – and we’re looking for a Manufacturing Engineer who will turn composite designs into repeatable, scalable and technician-friendly production processes. You will bridge engineering and production. Your goal: ensure our composite products can be built efficiently, consistently and to the highest quality standards.

What You Will Do

Develop composite parts and production processes

• Design composite parts for build to specification development projects

• Design and optimise toolings to manufacture composite parts

• Define and validate manufacturing process parameters for composite parts under development: Curing cycles, RTM, compression moulding.

• Bring the manufacturing maturity up to FAI and serial production

Validate manufacturability and quality through testing

• Define and execute Qualification Test Plans to ensure performance and safety

• Prepare sample panels, coupons and prototypes

• Coordinate tests - microcuts, DSC, mechanical, NDI - to demonstrate compliance with specifications

• Write the Qualification Test Reports

 Work closely with technicians on the shop floor

• Be part of the prototypes or first article manufacturing in close collaboration with the technicians on the shopfloor

• Create clear Work Instructions and Process Standards to be easily usable in production

• Help turn process knowledge into visual, step-by-step guidance

Participate to industrialisation and ramp-ups

• Define and deploy standard processes and reliable and safe tooling to ensure consistent and scalable production

• Be part of the transitioning from paper to digital work instructions

• Increase the safety culture in KVE

Throughout your work, you will apply and respect our EN9100 quality system, ensuring every deliverable meets aerospace-grade standards.

Your Profile

Preferred experience:
✔ Hands-on experience with composite manufacturing processes: Prepreg, RTM, Compression moulding
✔ Designing skills with Solidworks and/or Catia
✔ Know how work with geometric dimensioning and tolerancing in a composite production environment

Additionally, you:

• Enjoy being on the shop floor as much as behind a CAD or Excel screen

• Have a structured and curious mindset – you solve problems by testing, improving and validating

• Communicate easily with both engineers and technicians

• Have knowledge of EN9100 as a plus

• Have an EU nationality (due to security requirements for defence projects)