Boeing to make changes to engineering leadership

Boeing announced changes Friday to engineering leadership for its commercial airplanes division.

Mike Delaney, vice president of engineering for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, sent employees the following email:

Today, I am announcing changes to the roles for five executives within the Commercial Airplanes Engineering Leadership Team:

Mike Sinnett will be our new vice president of Product Development;

Bob Whittington will serve as vice president and chief project engineer for the 787;

Larry Schneider will become vice president and chief project engineer of the 777;

Todd Zarfos has been named the vice president of Engineering Functions and will lead the Washington state design center;

John Hamilton will take on added responsibility for Aviation Safety and Aviation Security.

These changes involve some of our most experienced leaders moving into new positions or taking on additional work statement. In all instances, the new or redefined roles build strength across the function and recognize the influence these individuals bring to the creation of value for our customers. The changes also position Commercial Airplanes Engineering well as the function transitions to three independent but cooperative engineering design centers based in Washington state, Southern California and South Carolina.

Since some of these moves involve changes to key people on the 777 and 787 programs, some may ask why we are making moves of this magnitude at this time. While there is never a perfect time to make changes, by making these moves, we are giving all of these individuals an opportunity to broaden their experience and to apply their knowledge and capability to other roles or on other programs. These changes will increase the bench strength of our teams.

In his new role as vice president of Product Development, Mike Sinnett will bring his decade of experience developing the 787 to lead the preliminary design of new and derivative airplanes and systems, environmental performance and advanced technology development. He also will manage the overall Research and Development and Internal Application Development plans across Commercial Airplanes, and support the Product Strategy and Advanced Technology organizations in Commercial Airplanes and Phantom Works.

Bob Whittington will replace Mike as the vice president and chief project engineer of the 787. Bob will lead the effort for 787-8 and 787-9 airplanes, including flight test and delivery, technical configuration of the airplanes, compliance to regulatory standards and requirements, and product integrity and safety. Bob has served as a chief project engineer on multiple programs and will bring that wealth of experience to bear on the 787.

On the 777 program, Larry Schneider will replace Bob as the vice president and chief project engineer. Larry will be responsible for design and modifications on all 777 models, ensuring product compliance to regulatory standards and requirements, and for product integrity and safety. Larry will apply his experience as deputy chief project engineer for the 787 and leader of Product Development to the 777 as the airplane faces increasing competition in the market.

As the vice president of Engineering Functions and the Washington state engineering design center, Todd is responsible for core engineering functional organizations and design centers as well as the continuous improvement and utilization of the technical workforce. He will also oversee all matters pertaining to staffing and managing the statement of work identified for the Washington state center. Todd replaces Dan Mooney who was named in June as the vice president of the Boeing South Carolina engineering design center. Todd will also assume the added responsibility as senior chief engineer of Airplane Systems, a role previously held by Mike Sinnett.

John Hamilton will remain as vice president of Regulatory Administration but will take on added responsibility for Aviation Safety and Aviation Security – work statement that was part of the role Todd has filled. Shifting the safety and security work statement to John will allow Todd greater ability to focus on the core functions and on the development of the Washington state engineering design center. This work statement also aligns well with John’s oversight role for compliance to regulatory standards and requirements, certification and as our primary interface with the Federal Aviation Administration.

We are in the process of naming a person to backfill Todd in his previous role as the vice president of Engineering for Commercial Aviation Services and senior chief engineer of Support. We will announce Todd’s replacement in August.

Finally, these individual leaders, along with Dan Mooney who was named to his new role in June, have detailed transition plans in place that will allow for an orderly move from their current assignments into their new assignments without any impact to the business or to the programs they previously supported.

Please join me in congratulating all of these individuals on their new or expanded roles.

Mike