The successful applicant must be able to show:

Experience of working within the Aerospace Industry and AS9100, NADCAP, NDT (FPI & MPI) Hold a qualification in metallography and have relevant experience of reviewing and testing range of material grain size, Crystal Structure and defects Leadership experience/skills. Good Communication skills.

Location:        Leicester                                                 Type of Role:            Permanent

Job Title:       Senior Laboratory Technician  / Mettalurgist              Reporting to:   Quality Manager

Shift:               Day Shift – 7.30 am to 4.15 pm Monday to Thursday and 12 pm Friday - flexible to work overtime at the weekend or month end when required.

Package:        Competitive hourly rate, Pension and Life Assurance Benefits, 25 + 8 statutory holiday days, professional and clean site, employee assistance programme, uniform, annual Bonus Scheme.

Born from many well-known and long-standing brands, Howmet Fastening Systems is the premier designer and manufacturer of aerospace and industrial fasteners, latches, bearings, fluid fittings and installation tools. Our products are used nose to tail on commercial and military aircraft, as well as on jet engines, industrial gas turbines, automobiles, commercial transportation vehicles, wind turbines, solar power systems, and construction and industrial equipment. 

Based on site at the Leicester Plant and should not be seen as a prescriptive list of activities. A flexible and responsive approach to this role is vital, together with the initiative in identifying and focusing on the needs of the business and its customers.

· Reporting to the Quality Manager, the role is responsible to ensure evolution and performance of a fast paced metallurgical laboratory function, manage certification for MTL (and potentially NDT in the future) to Nadcap and EN9100 requirements.

· Key duties will be to be the lead point for any technical issues which arise from production queries / contract review / NPI / FAIR’s etc.

· Review the work to lists by day/week/and month to ensure that the team are working to the key elements of the list in conjunction with NDT Team Leader. Lead review with other departments to prioritise batches of in – process and finished parts for testing through the laboratory.

· Manage the laboratory in terms of cost, consumption, qualification, ensure all laboratory equipment is calibrated and performance/training of all laboratory employees.

· Experience and be the technical lead on Metallurgy, Mechanical property testing, Heat treatment effects and microstructural analysis is required.

· Review and continue the journey of PTP (proficiency testing programmes) and RR (Round Robins) to ensure we meet the correct current standards.

· Attention to detail is paramount and the interpretation of technical specifications in relation to the processing of exotic alloys (e.g. Nimonics, Waspalloy, MP159 etc.) necessary

· Supervision of Laboratory staff trained in the testing by means of Vickers and Rockwell hardness, Tensile Testing, Shear Testing, Fatigue testing, Stress Durability testing and basic optical metallography (especially with relation to Hot and Cold forging and associated heat treatment).

· Lead strategic projects including internalising operations including stress rupture and fatigue from outside sources and preparing CAPEX’s for new equipment.

· Exposure to coating, electrochemical/corrosion properties, and Aerospace standards would be a distinct advantage.

· Experience of working within the confines of Nadcap MTL and be the active lead during audit programmes.

· Working in a busy laboratory assisting hands on with day to day issues for demanding customer deadlines, giving technical support to internal and external customers.

· Knowledge and Gravitas of personality to make decisions based on sound logic experience,