Tooling and Assembly Operations Lead

Job Title: Tooling and Assembly Operations Lead

Estimated Duration: 12 Months
 

About the Opportunity

Our client is a leading provider of custom equipment, process systems and engineering services for highly regulated energy and industrial applications.

The organization designs and manufactures specialized, first-of-a-kind equipment and custom electro-mechanical tooling. These systems may include robotics, remote-handling devices, inspection equipment, sensors, cameras, motors, electrical panels and other purpose-built machinery.

The Tooling and Assembly Operations Lead will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the organization’s shop and assembly facilities. This is a hands-on leadership position that combines equipment assembly, troubleshooting and manufacturing support with process ownership, safety oversight and the future supervision of a growing technical team.

During the initial stage, the role is expected to be approximately 60% hands-on and 40% supervisory. As the team expands, the position will gradually assume greater responsibility for people leadership and shop operations.

What You Will Do

• Coordinate day-to-day activities within the shop and assembly facilities.
• Assign and organize multidisciplinary work scopes to support safe, high-quality, on-time and on-budget project delivery.
• Own and improve shop procedures, work instructions, assembly processes and technical best practices.
• Ensure technicians and technologists follow approved processes, quality requirements and documentation standards.
• Promote and enforce safe work practices throughout all assembly and testing activities.
• Deliver or facilitate task-specific training for shop and non-shop personnel.
• Assemble, disassemble, install, wire, align, modify and repair custom machinery and equipment.
• Fit and assemble component parts and precision tooling used in specialized equipment.
• Set up and operate manual lathes, small mills and other shop equipment to support new work and rework.
• Read and interpret technical drawings, schematics, manuals, layouts and computer-generated models.
• Troubleshoot mechanical and electro-mechanical equipment issues and support root-cause resolution.
• Coordinate with engineering, project management, manufacturing sites and external vendors.
• Track and report equipment status, technical issues and project deliverables to the responsible Project Manager.
• Support equipment design reviews by providing practical input related to manufacturability, assembly, testing and maintainability.
• Participate in future interviews and provide input regarding the selection of technicians and technologists.
• Support the development of a growing shop team and gradually assume direct supervisory responsibility.

What You Bring

Required

• Post-secondary education or trade qualification in a relevant discipline such as Mechanical Engineering Technician/Technologist, Machine Tool Builder and Integrator, Industrial Mechanic Millwright, Tool and Die Maker or an equivalent field.
• Significant hands-on experience assembling, troubleshooting or maintaining custom machinery, specialized tooling or electro-mechanical systems.
• Experience coordinating multidisciplinary work in a manufacturing, fabrication, assembly or machine-building environment.
• Understanding of manufacturing methods, welding procedures or specifications and associated inspection practices.
• Ability to read and interpret mechanical drawings, electrical schematics, layouts and technical documentation.
• Experience working within formal safety, quality and documentation processes.
• Demonstrated leadership capability, including assigning work, training others or coordinating technical personnel.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal, organizational and problem-solving abilities.
• Willingness to remain actively involved in hands-on shop work.
• Eligibility to obtain security clearance for access to regulated Canadian energy facilities.
• Ability to work onsite in Burlington, Ontario.

Preferred

• Approximately 10 or more years of relevant experience; candidates with fewer years may be considered where their experience is highly aligned.
• Experience in the nuclear energy industry.
• Experience with custom nuclear tooling, robotics, remote-handling equipment or specialized inspection systems.
• Knowledge of codes and standards applicable to nuclear components, systems or tooling.
• Experience using 3D CAD platforms such as SolidWorks or Autodesk Inventor.
• Experience working directly with customers and providing vendor oversight.
• Experience developing procedures, work instructions and shop best practices.
• Previous involvement in interviewing, mentoring or building technical teams.
• Existing nuclear security clearance.
• Ability to travel to customer or company facilities in Canada and the United States.
• Forklift certification.
• First-aid certification.

Work Environment

This is an onsite shop-based position supporting a collaborative, technically driven team. The work environment is positive and relatively informal, but team members are highly committed to quality, safety and solving complex customer problems.

The successful candidate will be comfortable working in a growing environment where processes continue to evolve and where employees are expected to support one another beyond narrowly defined responsibilities.