Permanent
CNC Manufacturing Team Lead
Manufacturing
Ampthill - Bedfordshire
About the Role
The CNC Manufacturing Team Lead is a hybrid Leadership / Hands‑On role that commands daily operations of a low‑volume, high‑cost production environment focused on critical hardware and R&D components.
The position demands experience of multiple axis CNC milling machines and a proven ability to motivate and coach a team of up to ten skilled machinists.
1. The leadership aspect will be accountable for safety, quality, delivery, and cost performance while driving continuous improvement and cross‑functional collaboration. Working within a CNC precision machine shop environment.
2. The machinist aspect responsible for programming, setting and tool selection, proving out and operating multiple machine tools including multi axis machining centres with various programming language's (3 to 6 axis) to produce R&D, high value 1 off or low volume production component parts.
3. Machine types to include Matsuura. Correanayak, Hurco,
4. Programming languages Fanuc and Heidenhain
Required skills, qualifications and experience
5. Team Leadership & Supervision (>50%)Lead, coach, and manage a team of up to 10 CNC machinists and technicians, overseeing day-to-day operations.Ensure adequate staffing, skills coverage, and shift handovers in line with production demands.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-solvingPromote 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).Vison and drive to support the delivery of a world class machining facilityTrack, manage and deliver key KPI metrics: Safety, Quality, Schedule Adherence, Cost, and On-Time Delivery.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.Work closely with Manufacturing Engineering, Design, Quality, Planning, and Materials teams to ensure seamless workflow and timely resolution of issues.Provide feedback to Engineering and Design teams to improve manufacturability and reduce production cycle times.Collaborate with other Team Leaders to support load balancing, shared resourcing, and best practice deployment across the wider manufacturing function.
6. CNC Operation (
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