Senior Metallurgist

The role:
Reporting to the Quality Manager, the successful candidate is responsible for ensuring the evolution and performance of a fast-paced metallurgical laboratory function, managing certification for the materials testing laboratory (MTL) (and potentially non-destructive testing (NDT) in the future) to Nadcap and EN 9100 requirements.

Key duties:

• Act as the lead point for any technical issues that arise from production queries/contract review/new product introduction (NPI)/first article inspection report (FAIR), etc
• Review the work to-do lists daily, weekly and monthly to ensure the team is working to the key elements of the list in conjunction with the NDT Team Leader
• Lead reviews with other departments to prioritise batches of in-process and finished parts for testing throughout the laboratory
• Manage the laboratory in terms of cost, consumption and qualification and ensure all laboratory equipment is calibrated
• Manage performance/training of all laboratory employees
• Act as the technical lead on metallurgy, mechanical property testing, heat treatment effects and microstructural analysis as required
• Review and continue the journey of proficiency testing programmes (PTPs) and round robins (RRs) to ensure correct current standards are met
• Attention to detail is paramount and the interpretation of technical specifications in relation to the processing of exotic alloys (for example Nimonics, Waspaloy, MP159, etc) is required
• Supervise laboratory staff training during testing, including Vickers and Rockwell hardness, tensile testing, shear testing, fatigue testing, stress durability testing and basic optical metallography (especially in relation to hot and cold forging and associated heat treatment)
• Lead strategic projects such as internalising operations, including stress rupture and fatigue from outside sources and preparing capital expenditure (CAPEX) for new equipment
• Exposure to coating, electrochemical/corrosion properties and aerospace standards would be a distinct advantage
• Experience working within the confines of a Nadcap MTL and be the active lead during audit programmes
• Ability to work in a busy laboratory assisting hands-on with day-to-day issues for demanding customer deadlines, providing technical support to internal and external customers
• Knowledge and gravitas of personality to make decisions based on sound logic experience.

Experience:

• Experience working within the aerospace industry and AS9100, Nadcap and NDT (fluorescent penetrant inspection (FPI) and magnetic particle inspection (MPI))
• Hold a qualification in metallography and have relevant experience of reviewing and testing a range of material grain sizes, crystal structures and defects
• Good leadership experience/skills
• Good communication skills.