Procurement Global Graduate

Aeron, an economics graduate, joined the GKN Aerospace Global Graduate Programme with no aerospace background. Through international onboarding, diverse rotations in procurement, and global networking, he’s gained industry knowledge, solved real challenges, and explored career paths beyond procurement.

How did you hear about the GKN Aerospace Global Graduate programme?

I think it's important to know that you don't need an engineering or aerospace background to join the GKN Aerospace graduate programme. I studied economics at Loughborough University, and I'd never heard of GKN Aerospace. But I applied to another graduate scheme, and the algorithm recommended the GKN Aerospace programme. I applied and was invited to an interview.

The two people who interviewed me were the director and vice president of procurement. So, I was interviewed by GKN Aerospace’s two most senior procurement people, although I didn't know that at the time – it was just a casual chat. Then in September I joined the programme as a procurement graduate.

How easy was it to adapt without an engineering background?

The week after we joined, we had two weeks of onboarding in Gothenburg, Sweden, when I got to meet all the other graduates. We had workshops every day with people from inside and outside GKN Aerospace. That was a fantastic introduction to the aerospace industry, as well as areas like finance, lean ways of working, quality, and safety.

It was also a great experience to network with global graduates from both my cohort and previous cohorts. That network has been really useful for me, both inside and outside work. I’d never thought I'd have the opportunity to network and become friends with Swedish, Dutch or American people on a graduate programme. For example, just yesterday, I spoke to one of the Swedish graduates because we're both doing some data analysis and we were discussing how we can help each other. I wouldn't have that connection without the Global Graduate Programme.

Which areas of the business have you worked in so far?

There are three main function areas in the Filton procurement department in the procurement department at GKN Aerospace – global commodities, projects, and operations. My first rotation was as a part of the global commodities team, and then I moved to the operations team. My current rotation is in strategic procurement, which involves a lot of data analysis, bringing all the information together from the operations, commodities, and projects teams to make their lives easier.

At the moment, we're finalising the procurement budget for the Filton site. This means we need to get all the information from our partners’ aircraft builder flow-downs, look at the prices from our supply chain, and our contracts with them, and maybe go into negotiations. It's pretty intense, but it’s rewarding when you've finished the process, and you can steer the strategy for procurement.

It’s not all been plain sailing. I’m still building my aerospace knowledge, but it’s a really good learning experience, being able to apply what I've learnt at university.

What have been the stand-out moments so far?

On one of my rotations I looked after all the chemicals that came into two Bristol sites – fulfilling orders and managing the supplies, which was a great learning process. I did get a few scars on my back, but I wouldn't have progressed or learnt if I didn't have those. Once, we were expecting a paint delivery, but it didn't come in. My manager asked me where it was because production had stopped. That's quite daunting as a graduate to be told production’s stopped because of you. But in the end, I managed to use my network and talk to a different supplier to get the paint in. It tested my stakeholder management and relationship building skills, but I fixed it.

For me personally, some of the most memorable times are the development weeks, when I get to interact with the other global graduates. We’re a pretty driven group, and share the same mentality, even though we’re from different cultures.

What development and support have you had through the programme?

My hiring manager is the director of composite and raw materials so he's pretty senior, but I am always treated like a proper employee. When rotating in his team, I was involved in high level meetings, as well as weekly meetings where he cascades information to his team of commodity managers. I was also lucky enough to sit in a meeting with the VP of Procurement. So, that mentorship from the programme is really good.

The first development week really helped me. We had a week of workshops focused on improving our communication. There was an amazing workshop on being intentional in conversations – getting straight to the point, rather than beating around the bush. I'm also included in a lot of procurement training, both in Bristol and at other sites. I even got to go to the Paris Airshow, which was amazing.

I speak to the Global Graduate Programme manager for the Civil Business line every now and again when I've had some questions and she's given me great support. Generally, I feel a lot of people at GKN Aerospace have made themselves open to me.

Also, we get to network outside GKN Aerospace. In Bristol, we share a site with Airbus, so I arranged for the global graduates to visit the Airbus site, as well as the Rolls-Royce site which is located across the road from the GTC. It was great to see how we contribute to each other’s programmes.

What are your ambitions for the future?

Coming from an economics background, I'd like to experience working in finance or potentially the commercial team. The Global Graduate Programme gives me the flexibility to rotate around different functions other than procurement, so I'm hoping I can build up my skills and experience in lots of different areas.

I’d also like to experience life outside the UK – and if I can do that with GKN Aerospace, that’d be great.