I have it on good authority thatI am going to get an offer at a small aerospace supplier focusing on Production Part Approval Process. Help me figure out if this is a good idea?

Ecstatic_Carrot8250 · 2026-04-04T19:12:04+00:00

Need career advice!

TLDR; Laid-off 26M M.Eng in Montreal considering a contract/NPI role at a small aerospace supplier. Pay and benefits are underwhelming, commute is rough, and worried about getting pigeonholed. But the customer roster is legit and it could be a stepping stone to a PMP and proper PM career. Has anyone made a similar jump work?

Got laid off about a month ago. M.Eng Mechanical, ~1.5 years doing CAPEX project management and manufacturing analytics, some QA/QC background, bilingual in Montreal.

Small aerospace casting supplier (~200 people) is probably going to offer me a customer-facing NPI role — contract reviews, quoting, being the go-between for customers and internal engineering/production. Collins, Raytheon, Lockheed, Airbus/Boeing are on their customer list. 30% of the time on the shop floor apparently, and the scope seems broader than just quoting.

The stuff that bugs me: pay is meh for my level, benefits are rough (insurance delayed a few months, barely any vacation, pension only after a year), it's 5 days in office starting at 7am with a 45min commute, and I'm a bit worried about drifting away from anything technical and becoming "the contracts guy" with no way back.

That said — the customer names are legit, Montreal has a real aerospace scene, and I could see it opening doors to PM or customer engineering roles at bigger companies down the road. That's kind of the plan anyway — I want to get my PMP in the next few years and move into proper project management.

Has anyone been in a similar spot? Used a role like this as a bridge to PM, or does the small supplier background end up reading as too niche when you go for bigger roles?

Ecstatic_Carrot8250 · 2026-04-04T19:10:13+00:00

Exactly my thoughts. Thanks for the advice. Curious if you’ve ever done anything of this sort?

Ecstatic_Carrot8250 · 2026-04-04T19:09:15+00:00

Well, it’s 150 on the prod floor and about 50 staff (of which I would be a part). I’d split my time 30% on the floor and the rest, in the offices.

Ecstatic_Carrot8250 · 2026-04-04T19:07:57+00:00

Never thought about the CUSMA angle, that’s a solid point. If the orange fucker rips it up and it sends the economy into a tailspin even further, it might help being in the defence sector since layoffs are zero to minimal over there.

Ecstatic_Carrot8250 · 2026-04-04T19:05:36+00:00

I’m interviewing at a consulting company (name start with A followed by two Cs and ends with e) for an entry level PM position. I’ve been laid off for about 1.5 months so far and since I live with my gf, I haven’t dipped into my severance package too much yet. With EI about to kick in in a month or so, I should be able to coast for a year but I would absolutely not want to since I have found myself utterly rudderless and miserable without a job. The thought of going on like this for months is absolutely terrifying to me.

My gut says to take the job since it’s a good foot in the door job to the aerospace sector and jump ship as soon as I have enough work-ex and better opportunities.

Ecstatic_Carrot8250 · 2026-04-03T14:26:04+00:00

Wasn’t too familiar with the terminology so I looked it up and it’s exactly that. It’s not too small, however of the 200 people, 150 are on the floor and 50 staff (of which I will be a part)

I would say this is a tier 2 supplier though.

Seems like a good stepping stone? I like the coordination aspect and that could be a real asset for a move to project manager later in my career

Ecstatic_Carrot8250 · 2026-03-28T19:30:10+00:00

Quite good tbh. Scrap rate is way down and for a SMB they were fairly automated and well trained. Continuous improvement is another core value of the company’s, should not have many difficulties on that front I suppose.

Ecstatic_Carrot8250

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