How to Apply to Bombardier

13 min read Last updated April 20, 2026 39 open positions

Key Takeaways

  • Bombardier is now a pure-play business aviation company after the 2020-2022 exits from commercial aircraft (A220 program sold to Airbus for $591 million in February 2020), rail (Alstom transaction around $8.4 billion enterprise value closed January 2021), and the Learjet brand (production wound down through 2022).
  • Apply through the Bombardier careers site at careers.bombardier.com, which runs on SuccessFactors. Create a single candidate profile and apply to multiple postings across Montreal, Wichita, Belfast, Queretaro, and other sites.
  • Montreal HQ roles are bilingual. French and English both matter, and Quebec Bill 96 has reinforced French as the working language of the Montreal workplace. Be honest about your French level because it will be tested.
  • The product line in 2026 is Challenger 3500 and Challenger 650 super-midsize, Global 5500 / 6500 / 7500 / 8000 large-cabin long-range, and a service and completion footprint that still includes legacy Learjet aircraft through the Wichita service center.
  • CEO Eric Martel, in the role since April 2020, is the architect of the turnaround. The cultural emphasis is on focus, execution, free cash flow, deleveraging, and the Services and Defense growth pillars.
  • Operations are heavily unionized. Unifor represents Quebec manufacturing workers (Mirabel, Saint-Laurent, Dorval, Laurent), IAM represents Wichita, and Unite the Union represents Belfast. Operations leadership roles require demonstrated collective-agreement competence.
  • Toronto Downsview is being wound down as operations migrate to Pickering and Mirabel, and Wichita is now positioned as a service and completion center rather than a final assembly site.
  • Bombardier Defense is a declared growth pillar selling militarized Global and Challenger special-mission platforms to government customers including the German Pegasus ISR program and the Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft program.
  • Competitive set is Gulfstream, Dassault Falcon, Embraer Executive Jets, Pilatus, and Textron Aviation. Candidates with experience at these competitors or at major business aviation MROs (Duncan Aviation, West Star, Jet Aviation, Standard Aero, Dassault Falcon Jet service centers) translate directly into Bombardier roles.
  • Compensation is competitive within Canadian aerospace but generally below US commercial space and below Gulfstream for comparable US-based roles. Canadian engineers typically earn CAD $75,000 to $160,000 depending on level and function, with senior technical and management roles reaching CAD $175,000 to $250,000 plus variable and share-unit grants.

About Bombardier

Bombardier Inc. is a Montreal-based designer and manufacturer of business jets, trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange as BBD.B, with roughly 14,000 employees and a product line that now sits exclusively in the business aviation segment. The company as it looks today in 2026 is dramatically different from the sprawling industrial conglomerate it was just six years ago. Between 2020 and 2022 Bombardier sold off or wound down essentially every non-business-aviation line it had built up over decades, including the Alstom rail transaction that closed in January 2021 for a total enterprise value around $8.4 billion, the divestiture of the Commercial Aircraft division and the A220 program (the former C-Series) to Airbus in a $591 million cash consideration transaction completed in February 2020, and the wind-down of the Learjet brand announced in early 2021 with final deliveries completed in 2022. What remains is a pure-play business jet manufacturer built around three flagship families: the Challenger 3500 and Challenger 650 super-midsize jets, the Global 7500, Global 6500, and Global 5500 large-cabin long-range jets, and the new Global 8000 announced as the flagship successor targeting the longest range and highest speed in civil aviation. Eric Martel, a longtime Bombardier executive who previously led Bombardier Aerospace before running Hydro-Quebec, returned as President and CEO in April 2020 and is the architect of the turnaround that pulled the company back from a highly leveraged conglomerate crisis to a focused, profitable business-jet pure play. The operational footprint is Canadian-heavy and transatlantic. Montreal is the corporate headquarters and engineering center, with major plants and offices at Montreal Mirabel (Challenger final assembly, Global 7500/8000 completion center), Saint-Laurent Montreal (central engineering and corporate offices, near Dorval airport), Dorval (Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport operations), the Laurent campus, Toronto Downsview (the legacy de Havilland and Challenger manufacturing site which is being wound down as operations migrate to Pickering and Mirabel), Wichita Kansas (the legacy Learjet site which continues as a service and completion center), Queretaro Mexico (electrical harnesses, fuselage structures, flight test), and Belfast Northern Ireland (wing and fuselage composites for Global family, acquired originally from Short Brothers). Unionization is significant: Unifor represents large portions of the Quebec manufacturing workforce, the IAM represents Wichita workers, and Unite the Union represents Belfast operations. The competitive set in 2026 is Gulfstream (Savannah), Dassault Falcon (Bordeaux-Merignac and Little Rock), Embraer Executive Jets (Melbourne Florida and Sao Jose dos Campos), Pilatus (Stans Switzerland) on the lighter end, and Textron Aviation (Cessna, Beechcraft, and until 2022 Hawker) across the midsize bracket. Defense and aftermarket Services are explicit growth pillars: Bombardier Defense markets militarized variants of the Global and Challenger platforms for special-mission and ISR applications, and the Services business is being scaled through owned and partner service centers across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Application Process

  1. 1
    Search and apply through the Bombardier careers site at careers

    Search and apply through the Bombardier careers site at careers.bombardier.com, which is a SuccessFactors-hosted job board. Postings are tagged by function (Engineering, Operations, Customer Services, Corporate) and by site (Montreal, Toronto Downsview, Wichita, Belfast, Queretaro, Dorval, Saint-Laurent, etc.).

  2. 2
    Create a SuccessFactors candidate account with full work history, education, lan

    Create a SuccessFactors candidate account with full work history, education, languages (explicitly indicate French and English levels for Montreal-based roles), eligibility to work in the applicable country, and any security-sensitive requirements for Defense roles. Montreal corporate roles will ask specifically about French proficiency because Quebec's Bill 96 reinforces French as the working language of the workplace.

  3. 3
    Upload a tailored resume in PDF or Word

    Upload a tailored resume in PDF or Word. SuccessFactors parses structured fields from the resume, but the parse is mediocre with dense engineering content, so review the extracted experience blocks and correct any misparses before submitting. You can apply to multiple postings from the same profile without re-uploading the resume each time.

  4. 4
    Initial screening is handled by Bombardier Talent Acquisition in the relevant re

    Initial screening is handled by Bombardier Talent Acquisition in the relevant region (Montreal TA for Canadian roles, Wichita TA for Learjet site roles, Belfast TA for UK roles, Queretaro TA for Mexican roles). Expect an initial response within one to three weeks for active roles, with fewer replies when hiring freezes hit specific functions.

  5. 5
    First interview is typically a 30 to 45 minute phone or Microsoft Teams screen w

    First interview is typically a 30 to 45 minute phone or Microsoft Teams screen with the recruiter covering background, compensation expectations, work authorization, language proficiency, travel willingness, and motivation for business aviation specifically. For roles involving customer travel to operators in the Middle East or Asia, expect questions about passport validity and willingness to travel on short notice.

  6. 6
    Technical interviews follow with the hiring manager and two to five team members

    Technical interviews follow with the hiring manager and two to five team members. Engineering candidates should expect in-depth discussion of prior projects, relevant standards (FAR 25, CS-25, DO-178C for avionics software, DO-254 for airborne electronic hardware, ARP4754A for systems development, ARP4761 for safety assessment, AS9100 quality), and hands-on problem solving tied to the role. Manufacturing and operations candidates face a mix of process, lean, and people-leadership questions with behavioral probes about union-environment experience.

  7. 7
    A site visit or virtual panel covers team fit and cross-functional alignment wit

    A site visit or virtual panel covers team fit and cross-functional alignment with engineering, manufacturing, quality, customer support, and program management. Montreal Mirabel and Saint-Laurent panels often include a walk-through of the final assembly line or delivery center when practical.

  8. 8
    Offers flow from the local TA team with a compensation package including base, v

    Offers flow from the local TA team with a compensation package including base, variable (short-term incentive plan), Deferred Share Unit or Restricted Share Unit grants for manager and above levels, and Canadian, US, Mexican, or UK benefits depending on site. Offers are contingent on reference checks, background verification, and for some roles on export compliance and controlled goods program clearance in Canada (CGP) or ITAR/EAR acknowledgment in the US.

  9. 9
    Pre-start paperwork includes ethics and code of conduct acknowledgment, anti-bri

    Pre-start paperwork includes ethics and code of conduct acknowledgment, anti-bribery training, export control attestations, and controlled goods program acknowledgment where applicable. Canadian engineering roles involving defense technology or export-controlled data require Controlled Goods Program registration through Public Services and Procurement Canada.


Resume Tips for Bombardier

recommended

State work authorization clearly for the applicable site

State work authorization clearly for the applicable site. Montreal roles require Canadian work authorization (citizen, permanent resident, or valid open work permit). Wichita roles require US work authorization. Belfast roles require UK right to work. Queretaro roles require Mexican work authorization. Bombardier does sponsor some specialized engineering roles for relocation to Canada but sponsorship is limited and usually reserved for hard-to-fill senior positions.

recommended

For Montreal and Quebec sites, indicate French and English proficiency explicitl

For Montreal and Quebec sites, indicate French and English proficiency explicitly. Bombardier is a bilingual workplace at the Montreal HQ, and Quebec's Bill 96 language legislation has increased the practical emphasis on French in corporate communications, meetings, and documentation. Recruiters filter aggressively on French proficiency for Montreal-based manager and director roles. If your French is conversational or weak, be honest rather than inflating it, because it will be tested.

recommended

Lead with business aviation and aerospace credentials

Lead with business aviation and aerospace credentials. Business jet experience is not the same as commercial aviation experience, and hiring managers value candidates who understand the OEM-operator dynamics, completion centers, cabin interiors, avionics integration for corporate operators, and the service-network realities of a fleet spread across global high-net-worth and corporate owners. Prior work at Gulfstream, Dassault Falcon, Embraer Executive Jets, Pilatus, Textron Aviation (Cessna, Beechcraft, Hawker), Honda Aircraft, or in a major business aviation completion center is directly relevant and should be highlighted.

recommended

Quantify aerospace technical experience with platforms, standards, and certifica

Quantify aerospace technical experience with platforms, standards, and certifications. List aircraft you have worked on (Challenger 300/350/3500, Challenger 600/601/604/605/650, Global 5000/6000/6500/7500/8000, Learjet 40/45/60/70/75), type certification bases (FAR 25, CS-25, TCCA equivalent), software standards (DO-178C Levels A through D, DO-254, DO-330 for tool qualification, DO-160G for environmental), systems standards (ARP4754A, ARP4761, AS9100), and CAD/PLM tools (CATIA V5/V6, 3DEXPERIENCE, ENOVIA, Siemens NX, Teamcenter).

recommended

For manufacturing and operations roles, emphasize lean, Six Sigma, AS9100 qualit

For manufacturing and operations roles, emphasize lean, Six Sigma, AS9100 quality system, takt time management, and experience in unionized environments. Unifor at Quebec sites and IAM at Wichita are part of daily life for operations leaders, and candidates with demonstrated ability to manage collective bargaining relationships, grievance processes, and union-side negotiations have a significant advantage.

recommended

Call out customer services and aftermarket experience where applicable

Call out customer services and aftermarket experience where applicable. Bombardier has an explicit strategic focus on scaling its Services business across mobile response teams, regional service centers, line maintenance, parts logistics, and Smart Services digital offerings. Prior work in MRO, FBO operations, or business aviation aftermarket (including at competitor service networks or independent MROs like Duncan Aviation, West Star, Jet Aviation, Standard Aero, Dassault Falcon Jet Service Centers) translates directly.

recommended

Highlight defense and special-mission experience if you have it

Highlight defense and special-mission experience if you have it. Bombardier Defense is a growth pillar selling militarized Global 6500 (multi-mission aircraft including the German Pegasus ISR program and the Canadian CMMA maritime patrol program) and special-mission Challenger variants. Experience with defense contracting (DID standards, MIL-STD documentation, Controlled Goods Program, ITAR/EAR, TEMPEST, ISR mission systems integration) is a clear differentiator for the Defense segment.

recommended

Match keywords from the job description honestly

Match keywords from the job description honestly. SuccessFactors relies heavily on keyword overlap for recruiter screening, and specific terms like completion center, cabin management system, fly-by-wire, laminar flow wing, engine nacelle, Pratt and Whitney PW800, Rolls-Royce Pearl, thrust reverser, composite fuselage, CATIA, CAPP, or program gate review should appear where truthful.

recommended

Keep it concise

Keep it concise. Two pages for engineers with under fifteen years of experience, three pages maximum for senior staff, directors, or program managers. Bombardier recruiters expect dense, relevant, technical content rather than marketing-heavy narratives.



Interview Culture

Interviewing at Bombardier in 2026 reflects a company that has gone through one of the more dramatic strategic transformations in modern aerospace and is now a focused, mid-sized OEM competing for engineering and operations talent in tight Canadian, US, and UK labor markets. The tone is generally collaborative, bilingual in Montreal, and technically serious but not adversarial. Expect interviews to be thorough on business aviation domain knowledge, with hiring managers probing whether you actually understand the operator side of the market (fractional operators like NetJets and Flexjet, corporate flight departments, high-net-worth individual owners, charter operators, and government or head-of-state operators) rather than just the engineering. Technical panels lean on program and product experience in real depth: walk through a previous certification campaign, discuss how you handled a supplier quality escape, explain a specific systems integration challenge on a prior aircraft, describe how you worked a major service bulletin through the fleet. Behavioral questions frequently touch on cross-functional collaboration because the Bombardier engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, and customer services organizations operate in tight handoff loops with completion centers and service centers globally. For Montreal roles, expect some interview content to be in French, particularly for manager and director levels. Recruiters will usually ask in advance whether you are comfortable with a portion of the interview in French, and declining is acceptable for individual contributor roles but problematic for leadership roles. Behavioral probes about union environments come up frequently for operations roles, reflecting the reality of Unifor in Quebec and IAM in Wichita. Expect specific questions about how you have managed grievances, stewards, collective bargaining cycles, and work-rule disputes. Candidates who present a cooperative, contract-first mindset (understanding the collective agreement, partnering with union leadership on continuous improvement, avoiding adversarial patterns) are received much better than those who come across as confrontational. The Eric Martel-era culture emphasizes focus, execution, and cash discipline after years of leveraged conglomerate crisis. Bombardier talks openly in earnings calls about free cash flow, deleveraging, and margin expansion, and interviewers frequently ask how candidates have delivered cost or schedule improvements in prior roles. Questions about why you want to leave a prior employer are common and can lean probing; candidates who express a clear, non-defensive rationale tied to Bombardier's pure-play business jet focus, the Global 8000 program, the Services growth strategy, or the Defense segment do well. Post-Alstom and post-Airbus cultural residue is still present for longer-tenured Montreal employees; asking thoughtful questions about how teams have adjusted to the pure-play model and the Services and Defense growth pillars signals you have done your homework. Interview cycles typically run three to six weeks from first screen to offer for engineering and operations roles, though senior leadership and defense-cleared roles can extend to two or three months.

What Bombardier Looks For

  • Business aviation domain fluency. The strongest candidates understand the OEM-operator dynamics, completion and delivery centers, fractional and charter operator economics, and the aftermarket and service network realities of a global fleet. Commercial-aviation-only backgrounds are not disqualifying but require a clear translation story.
  • Bilingual capability in Montreal. French and English both matter at the HQ, and recent Quebec legislation has reinforced the practical emphasis on French in meetings, documentation, and management. Functional French is a significant advantage for manager and director roles.
  • Platform and standards depth. Engineers who can speak credibly about FAR 25, CS-25, DO-178C, DO-254, ARP4754A, AS9100, and the specific quirks of Challenger and Global family systems stand out in technical panels.
  • Execution and cost discipline mindset. The Eric Martel turnaround put free cash flow, margin, and deleveraging at the center of management attention, and candidates who can point to delivered cost-out, schedule-recovery, or working-capital improvements are valued across every function.
  • Union-environment leadership. Operations leaders who can constructively partner with Unifor in Quebec and IAM in Wichita without either capitulating or antagonizing are in short supply and high demand.
  • Services and aftermarket orientation. Bombardier is explicitly scaling its Services business as a higher-margin, counter-cyclical growth pillar, and candidates with MRO, FBO, parts logistics, digital services, or customer-facing technical support experience fit directly into the priority investment areas.
  • Defense and special-mission experience for the Bombardier Defense segment. ISR integration, mission-system electrical and thermal design, controlled goods program compliance, and government-customer program management skills translate directly into the special-mission platform work.
  • Stability and depth over job-hopping. Business aviation programs run on multi-year certification and production cycles, and a resume showing several years on a single platform or program is read as a positive signal rather than a stagnation flag.
  • Clear communication and documentation. Engineering deliverables, manufacturing work instructions, and customer service bulletins all live in formal documents reviewed by regulators, operators, and internal quality, and candidates who can write cleanly and present to non-engineering stakeholders consistently outperform peers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Bombardier still a train and commercial aircraft company?
No. Bombardier is now exclusively a business aviation company. The Commercial Aircraft division and the A220 program (formerly the C-Series) were sold to Airbus in a $591 million cash-consideration transaction that closed in February 2020. Bombardier Transportation, the rail business, was sold to Alstom in a deal valued at approximately $8.4 billion enterprise value that closed on January 29, 2021. The Learjet brand was wound down starting in 2021 with final deliveries completed in 2022, though Wichita continues as a service and completion center. As of 2026 Bombardier designs, builds, supports, and militarizes business jets exclusively. Any lingering references to Bombardier as a rail or commercial-aircraft maker reflect pre-2021 information.
What aircraft does Bombardier currently make?
The active product families are the Challenger 3500 and Challenger 650 in the super-midsize segment and the Global 5500, Global 6500, Global 7500, and Global 8000 in the large-cabin long-range segment. The Global 7500 has been in service since 2018 and the Global 8000 has been announced as the flagship successor targeting the longest range and highest speed in civil aviation. Bombardier also maintains the in-service fleet of legacy Challenger 300 / 350 / 604 / 605 and Global 5000 / 6000 / 7500 aircraft, and supports in-service Learjet 40/45/60/70/75 aircraft through Wichita and the broader service network. Bombardier Defense markets militarized Global 6500 and Challenger variants for ISR, maritime patrol, and special-mission applications.
Do I need to speak French to work at Bombardier Montreal?
For most roles at the Montreal HQ, functional French is a strong advantage and for many manager and director roles it is effectively required. Bombardier is a bilingual workplace and Quebec's Bill 96 language legislation, which came into force through 2022 and 2023, reinforces French as the working language of the Quebec workplace. Individual contributor engineering roles in Montreal are sometimes filled by English-dominant candidates who commit to learning French, but senior roles typically expect functional to fluent French at the offer stage. Be honest about your level; inflated French claims are caught quickly in interviews and reference checks. Non-Montreal sites (Wichita, Belfast, Queretaro, Toronto) do not have the same requirement.
What ATS does Bombardier use and how do I apply?
Bombardier runs its careers site on SuccessFactors, accessible at careers.bombardier.com. Create a candidate profile with your full work history, education, languages, and work authorization details, then upload a tailored resume in PDF or Word. You can apply to multiple postings from the same profile. Postings are tagged by function and by site, so filter by Montreal, Toronto Downsview, Wichita, Belfast, Queretaro, Saint-Laurent, Mirabel, or Dorval to narrow the list. The SuccessFactors parser is mediocre with engineering resumes, so review the parsed fields before final submission to catch and correct misparses that could hurt keyword match during recruiter screening.
How has the Eric Martel turnaround changed the company?
Eric Martel returned as President and CEO in April 2020 at the peak of the Bombardier conglomerate crisis, inheriting a highly leveraged balance sheet and a diluted portfolio. Under his leadership the company completed the Airbus A220 divestiture, closed the Alstom rail transaction, wound down Learjet production, and repositioned the remaining company as a pure-play business jet OEM. Management cadence now emphasizes free cash flow, deleveraging, margin expansion, and growth in the Services and Defense pillars. Quarterly earnings calls explicitly track adjusted EBIT margin, liquidity, and Services revenue as a percentage of total. Internally, this translates to a culture that rewards execution discipline, cost-out leadership, and program delivery predictability, and candidates who can demonstrate those capabilities have a clear tailwind in the hiring process.
What is the union situation at Bombardier?
Significant and important to understand. Unifor represents large portions of the Quebec manufacturing workforce across Mirabel, Saint-Laurent, Dorval, and Laurent. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) represents workers at the Wichita site. Unite the Union represents the Belfast operations in Northern Ireland. Collective agreements govern seniority, shift bidding, overtime, classifications, and work rules. Operations leaders are expected to manage within the letter and spirit of the agreements, and candidates with genuine union-partnership experience are strongly preferred over those with adversarial patterns. Engineering, corporate, and management roles are generally non-union, but hiring managers still expect operations-facing engineers to be able to collaborate respectfully with union stewards and members.
What about the Toronto Downsview site closure?
Bombardier has been migrating operations out of the Toronto Downsview site, the legacy de Havilland and Global manufacturing campus, as part of a multi-year real-estate and operational consolidation plan. Global aircraft final assembly has been centralized at Montreal Mirabel, and Bombardier announced plans to develop a new facility at Pickering Airport east of Toronto for Global 7500 completion work. Existing Downsview employees have faced relocation discussions, early retirement packages, and transfer options as the site footprint has contracted. Candidates considering Toronto-based roles should confirm directly with the recruiter where the position will actually sit in 2026 and beyond, because some postings listed as Toronto may be transitioning to Mirabel or Pickering within the employment horizon.
How does Bombardier compensate compared to Gulfstream, Dassault, and Embraer?
Bombardier compensation is competitive within the Canadian aerospace sector but generally trails US-based competitors for US-equivalent roles. In Montreal, engineers typically earn CAD $75,000 to $160,000 base depending on level, with senior technical specialists, program managers, and directors reaching CAD $175,000 to $250,000 plus a short-term incentive plan bonus (roughly 10 to 25 percent of base at management levels) and Deferred or Restricted Share Unit grants for manager and above. Wichita compensation follows US market rates and is broadly competitive with Textron Aviation in the same metro. Gulfstream Savannah typically outpays Bombardier for equivalent senior engineering roles because of the broader US aerospace compensation environment. Dassault Falcon compensation varies widely by site (France vs Little Rock). The Canadian cost of living in Montreal, the broader social benefits environment, and the relative stability of Bombardier employment offset some of the headline-dollar difference.
What is Bombardier Defense and is it growing?
Bombardier Defense is a dedicated business segment that markets militarized versions of Challenger and Global platforms for government and defense customers, with applications in ISR, maritime patrol, signals intelligence, airborne early warning, and other special-mission roles. Anchor programs include the German Pegasus ISR program based on the Global 6000, and Bombardier has positioned aggressively for the Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft (CMMA) program intended to replace the CP-140 Aurora fleet. The Defense segment is a declared growth pillar in investor communications and is hiring across mission-systems engineering, electrical and thermal integration, airworthiness, controlled-goods program compliance, proposal management, and government customer-facing program management. Candidates with defense aerospace backgrounds from L3Harris, General Atomics, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Saab, Leonardo, or CAE translate well into the segment.
How long does Bombardier's hiring process take?
Engineering and operations roles typically run three to six weeks from first recruiter screen to offer, including one or two technical panel rounds and a site visit or virtual final. Senior leadership, director, and executive roles commonly extend to two or three months because of the broader stakeholder alignment and executive compensation approval cycles. Defense segment roles that require Controlled Goods Program registration or additional Canadian security screening can add four to twelve weeks on top of the standard cycle. International relocations (for example, hiring a US candidate into a Montreal role under a work-permit pathway) can add further months for immigration processing. Once an offer is signed, start dates for Canadian and US roles are typically two to six weeks out depending on notice periods.

Open Positions

Bombardier currently has 39 open positions.

Check Your Resume Before Applying → View 39 open positions at Bombardier

Related Resources

Similar Companies

Related Articles


Sources

  1. Bombardier Careers Portal
  2. Bombardier Completes Sale of Commercial Aircraft Program to Airbus
  3. Alstom Completes Acquisition of Bombardier Transportation
  4. Bombardier Announces Plan to Focus on Global and Challenger Brands; Ends Learjet Production
  5. Bombardier Unveils Global 8000, the Fastest and Longest Range Purpose-Built Business Jet
  6. Bombardier Names Eric Martel President and CEO
  7. Bombardier Defense Overview
  8. Quebec Bill 96 Language Legislation Overview
  9. Unifor Aerospace Sector Representation
  10. Controlled Goods Program - Public Services and Procurement Canada