STG Bright Light Series: Julie Kent
In our Bright Lights series, we showcase some of our brilliant employees and their experience of working here at STG Aerospace. This time, we spoke to our Senior Configuration Engineer, Julie Kent, about her impressive career and move to STG in 2022.
Julie’s career has been nothing short of exciting. She has built up an impressive portfolio, having started out at the Ministry of Defence before spending 15 years at Airbus, one of the largest and leading aerospace companies in the world. There Julie gained an abundance of specialist knowledge and experience in her field. She now pours all this expertise into configuration management at STG.
Julie joined STG in January 2022 as a Senior Configuration Engineer. Her expertise lies in managing the lifecycle of product attributes. She meticulously handles structures, baselines and version control, and assigns part numbers, enabling seamless overall production for the wider STG team. Her role as the gatekeeper of design data dictates each product build. With a focus on configuration control, Julie ensures that all elements are scrutinised to maintain product integrity.
Speaking of her move to STG, Julie said:
“I learnt so much working at Airbus and being there for 15 years meant I was part of the furniture. I wasn’t looking for a new role at the time, but the STG role sparked my interest. I was impressed by STG’s product offering and clients. I was delighted when I was offered the job.”
“When I started at STG, everyone made me feel very included straight away, which helped me settle in. Something I really noticed and appreciated was the way people asked me for advice on configuration and compliance, right from the start. They didn’t know me, but they trusted me and my expertise, which gave me a significant confidence boost.”
Julie attends engineering meetings twice a week, so she is aware of the work the team is doing and offers her specialist knowledge.
Configuration management requires Julie’s input throughout every step of the production journey. Julie’s day-to-day responsibilities involve overseeing design data, maintaining baselines, and ensuring adherence to stringent procedures. As the leader of product integrity, she navigates change requests and approvals, ensuring each alteration aligns with rigorous standards.
“I work with a wide range of people and departments. I work with quality assurance, sales, design, engineering, production, and supply chain. This broader involvement has helped me better understand other parts of the business. This is something I didn’t have, working in a larger company. Working with lots of people has also helped me get to know many friendly faces.
“One of my favourite stages is getting the team together and tackling the challenges of structuring the baseline. It’s like the birth of the project and it’s great to bounce off one another to come up with solutions.”
With her involvement in every step of the production process, Julie finds it very rewarding and satisfying to see the final product, knowing the hard work that went into it behind the scenes. When boarding an aircraft, she lights up with excitement and keeps an eye out for STG products in the cabin. Much to her family’s amusement!
She also loves the genuine team atmosphere at STG, and said:
“STG is such a great team to be a part of and I love the inclusivity. You feel part of the entire organisation, rather than just your own department. I’m looking forward to continuing working with a brilliant team and creating exciting innovations.”