Heading Team Leader

Effectively lead the Heading Department to achieve and sustain expected levels of EHS, Quality, and Productivity whilst actively promoting ABS principals and Individual Development, to deliver exceptional levels of customer service that support the future growth and development of the business.

To be the first point of contact in the help chain for team members for support in problem solving with ongoing production. Working closely with The Toolroom, Engineering and Quality.

Maintain full compliance with regulatory and Howmet policies and procedures and conduct all activities in accordance with the Howmet Guide to Business Conduct.

Communication

• Communicates effectively across functions, departments, and external customers.
• Listens to other people and is receptive to their opinions.
• Converts, summarises, and interprets information, and passes on relevant information to staff.
• Makes persuasive spoken and written cases for a course of action.

Team Skills

• Motivates and encourages co-operation between team members.
• Gains willing co-operation from the team by stimulating and sustaining interest in projects and tasks.
• Emphasises the importance of reaching work objectives.
• Is aware of team limitations and supports team members.
• Builds strong relationships with other departments and customers.

Personal Attributes

• Demonstrates compassion by understanding the personal needs/motives of others and puts them at ease in stressful situations.
• Is approachable and demonstrates a confident and assertive manner.
• Is perceptive, demonstrating an awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses.
• Persuades effectively and diplomatically and is seen as fair.
• Generates and is open to new ideas.
• Is organised, thinks logically, and understands complex issues quickly.
• Shows drive and focuses on objectives whilst remaining calm under pressure.
• Publicly supportive of other departments and the company and keeps personal views about individuals private.
• Responds positively to challenges, delegates where appropriate but takes ownership of situations and accepts final responsibility.

Technical Knowledge

• Has at least 5 years’ experience of working across multiple Heading Processes, in a setter/operator capacity.
• Has good knowledge of how other departments interact, to achieve company and departmental goals and objectives.
• IT literate – competent in the use of Microsoft Packages and QAD.
• Imparts knowledge to others and trains when appropriate.

Problem Solving

• Demonstrates strong problem-solving techniques/skills.
• Diagnoses problems and generate countermeasures.
• Uses continuous improvement principles to improve efficiency.
• Observation/Checking/Monitoring
• Ensures work is carried out to set standards and specifications.
• Follow up and checks for inadequate/insufficient data.
• Ensures compliance with all regulatory and business requirements, including Health and Safety.

Managing Others

• Demonstrates strong people management skills with the ability to motivate and train team members.
• Positively and publicly encourages staff to achieve targets and provides structure and working environment to facilitate.
• Creates confidence amongst those learning new skills and helps staff to reach their potential by challenging them to do new things and giving them opportunities to gain new experiences.
• Demonstrates leadership, empowers staff and is aware of the day-to-day situation in their department.
• Takes on a coaching and mentoring role and considers and appraises appropriate staff development action.
• Recruits appropriate staff members.
• Evaluates the work of staff and advises on job performance improvement.
• Maintains discipline in the work environment and deals with problem staff effectively.
• Is supportive of staff and is aware of their problems.

Leadership

• Displays a direct, open approach to management.
• Demonstrates leadership and leads by example.
• Supports the implementation of agreed policy and pursues best practice.

Performance Management/Review

Competence in the Heading Supervisor role will be based on the incumbent’s ability to meet the requirements set out in the job description and display the behaviors outlined in the person specification. The performance review tool will be used to support this process.

Key Activities:

• To manage and co-ordinate the daily workflow through the Heading Section.
• Achieve and maintain agreed output targets and efficiencies.
• Utilise the work to lists, Heading Schedule and other planning tools, where appropriate.
• To maintain daily, weekly and monthly KPI’s for the section outputs and efficiencies.
• Develop, deploy and execute agreed actions to deliver improvement initiatives and recovery plans.
• Maintain a balanced team across all Heading equipment and all shifts, to suit demand.
• Support direct production by setting/operating to over absence/holidays, as required.
• Ensue that the quality of the product is maintained, monitor scrap and attrition, in conjunction with Quality.
• Maintain the training of all Heading personnel and manage any repetitive errors by individuals.
• Ensure the Heading SOP is fully adopted and adhered to across all Heading personnel.
• Ensure that routine maintenance and TPM schedules are adhered to, in conjunction with the maintenance team.
• Ensure all Heading team members comply with Company Policies and Procedures, where applicable conducting investigations, counselling, disciplinaries, or further training if required.
• Ensure there is effective communication across all shifts, carrying out regular Team Briefings.
• Create an environment to foster effective 2-way discussions and give feedback on issues and ideas for improvement.
• Work effectively with all departments, and support functions to ensure the optimum business operational performance in line with the business goals and objectives.
• Conduct annual appraisals for all Heading personnel.
• Ensure 5S standards are maintained in the section.
• Ensure the section always operates in line with all regulatory requirements and EHS standards.
• Support the development of improvement initiatives, through the implementation of LEAN and ABS opportunities.
• Be flexible and proactive, in supporting the business, supporting other areas and training where required.

Objectives:

• Drive B07H (H8) OEE to >65%.
• Achieve and maintain <0.5 week of Late to Starts at each heading work centre.
• Ensure all Heading personnel achieve 3 IFE submissions by end of Q3.

Experience and Background:

• 5 years minimum hands-on experience in an Aerospace Manufacturing production or engineering discipline.
• Experience in multiple Heading processes and specifically HTS (#5) process.
• Robust personality with ability to challenge both people and processes.
• Strong interpersonal skills with an ability to communicate across different levels and functional areas in the organisation.
• High level of EHS knowledge and awareness.