CNC Manufacturing Team Lead

CNC Manufacturing Team Lead

Permanent role

Based in Ampthill

Offering up to £42,550

Do you have a background in CNC? Do you have knowledge of 5 Axis Milling? Do you want to work with an industry‑leading company?

As the CNC Manufacturing Team Lead, you will be working alongside a market‑leading Defence and Aerospace company who are constantly growing and developing. They are always looking to bring on new talents such as yourself and further develop your skills to enable you to grow within the company and industry.

• A hybrid of Leadership / Hands‑On that commands daily operations of a low‑volume, high‑cost production environment focused on critical hardware and R&D components
• Accountable for safety, quality, delivery, and cost performance while driving continuous improvement and cross‑functional collaboration
• Working within a CNC precision machine shop environment
• Responsible for programming, setting and tool selection, proving out and operating multiple machine tools including multi‑axis machining centres with various programming languages (3 to 6 axis) to produce R&D, high value 1‑off or low volume production component parts

• Leadership aspect
  :
  • Lead, coach, and manage a team of up to 10 CNC machinists and technicians, overseeing day‑to‑day operations
  • Conduct regular performance reviews, provide feedback, and support professional development through mentoring and skills matrix assessments
  • Own and manage the assigned production cell/facility to ensure full operational readiness and compliance
  • Schedule and prioritise workloads to meet programme deliverables, internal milestones, and customer deadlines
  • Provide hands‑on technical support for CNC programming, machine setup, tooling selection, and problem‑solving
  • Promote and maintain a strong safety culture, ensuring full compliance with HSE standards and best practices
  • Drive awareness and accountability across the team for safe operations and clean work environments (6S and FOD control)
  • Track, manage and deliver key KPI metrics
  • Lead root cause analysis and problem‑solving initiatives to address machining or assembly issues
  • Champion continuous improvement activities, including lean manufacturing, cost reduction, and process optimisation
• CNC Machinist aspects
  :
  • Support and input to the development of machining processes and tooling/fixture design
  • Ability of tool selection/optimisation and design liaising with tooling suppliers
  • Mentoring and training of others
  • Working to specifications, procedures and engineering drawings
  • Develop and improve work procedures/processes with engineering team
  • Problem solve machine issues and facilitate corrective action plans
  • Machine types to include Matsuura, Correanayak, Hurco
  • Programming languages Fanuc and Heidenhain

If this all sounds like something you will be interested in then simply apply and we can discuss the opportunity further!