Paul J. Cavanaugh is the Director for Enterprise Mechanical Systems under the Mechanical and Structural Engineering (MSE) Function. He was born and raised in Upper Darby, PA. He attended Kettering University (formally GMI Engineering and Management Institute) where he wrote his undergraduate thesis, C5 (Corvette) Twin Chamber Fuel System Designed To Meet Emissions and Performance Requirements and earned a bachelor’s of science in mechanical engineering in 1995. In 2001, he earned a master’s of science in engineering science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

In 2023, he was promoted to his current role which entails leading Mechanical Systems functional technical excellence within MSE, vehicle level architecture and platform integration, sponsoring the Mechanical Systems Enterprise Technical Board (including Design Practice deployment) and developing training, knowledge capture and career development across all sites and business units.

Paul has consistently demonstrated a commitment to promoting and supporting individuals across all races and gender. He has provided opportunities to diverse candidate pools, has leveraged technical strengths to meet collective goals and has advised team members and mentees on career path progression, regardless of ethnicity or background.
As a leader, manager, senior manager, and executive; Paul has been both an informal and formal mentor of Asian American/Pacific Islander professionals.
• Paul has been active as member of BAPA (Boeing Asia Pacific Association), as part of the BAPA Management Council and is now involved as part of the Executive Council.
• He gained 3 of his 10 mentees through BAPA pairing events whose roles include a Test & Requirements Analyst, a Project Management Specialist and a Finance Contracts Specialist.
• Paul has volunteered to participate in up-coming Executive Mentoring pairing events to align with management mentees in order to pay forward lessons he has gleaned from others.

Paul’s professional background spans two major industries: automotive and aerospace. Through this experience, he was exposed to a myriad of races and individuals who brought their own unique perspective to problem-solving. He was able to utilize their strengths, absorbing valuable lessons which he is now able to impart upon others while advocating for growth and advancement. Through his previous role as a Workforce Strategy Leader and current role as Director of Mechanical Systems, Paul has had the honor to participate in a number of panels and events which allow him to interact with teams and individuals who aspire to develop their career through technical opportunities and by aligning their path to their passions. His approach is to expose those opportunities to as many people as possible, regardless of race or gender, and encourage individuals to apply their strengths to advance along their career trajectory. Paul sees his role as a conduit to connect technical problem-solvers with the challenges that need to be addressed. He has leveraged his positions as both Director of Mechanical Systems and Company Focal for ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) to increase and improve our domestic and global Mechanical Engineering workforce while propagating lessons across all sites and programs. Another aspect of Paul’s position is as a representative of the Boeing Company, specifically as a face of our Mechanical Engineering Function. He enthusiastically participates in events such as the SWE (Society of Women Engineers) Conference and career fair to share the amazing products that Boeing creates to connect, protect and explore. He leads by example to inspire individuals from any background to follow their passions and succeed in achieving their goals.
He is currently an active member of the Boeing Asia and Pacific Association (BAPA), Boeing Women Inspiring Leadership (BWIL), the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) in the role of Company Focal. Paul is married with two daughters who keep him young and always busy. He enjoys spending time outdoors, working on cars and playing ice hockey (Boeing Ice Hockey League!).