Team Leader – CNC Turning / Turn-Mill (Precision Engineering)

Our client is a well-established European precision engineering enterprise expanding its international footprint by establishing a brand-new, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Selangor, Malaysia. A true specialist in its niche, the company supports global OEMs across high-tech industries including Semiconductor, Medical Devices, Scientific Instrumentation, and Advanced High-Tech Industrial sectors.

The company excels in complex, precision-driven manufacturing in High-Mix, Low-Volume (HMLV) environments, specializing in ultra-tight tolerance CNC machining of high-performance engineering plastics.

💡 About the Role

We are seeking a hands-on and technical Team Leader Turning to lead our CNC turning cell in a brand-new facility. Reporting to the Operations Manager, you will manage day-to-day turning and turn-mill operations (live tooling / sub-spindles) in an HMLV, high-complexity environment.

This is a "Player-Coach" role. During the startup phase, you will lead from the shop floor—performing hands-on setups, changeovers, and troubleshooting while progressively building, training, and scaling a team of operators and machinists.

🔑 Key Responsibilities

• Team Leadership & Development: Lead, coach, and mentor a growing team of 2–10 CNC operators and setters. Conduct skill assessments, drive cross-training, enforce safety/PPE, and build a high-performing shop floor culture.
• Shop Floor Execution: Manage daily production planning, job sequencing, shift handovers, and workload distribution for medium-sized and ultra-small components.
• Hands-on Setup & Optimization: Perform setups, changeovers, and troubleshooting for CNC turning and multi-axis turn-mill machines with live tooling and sub-spindles.
• Precision Control: Maintain sub-micron to tight micron-level tolerances (2–8 microns). Ensure strict control over concentricity, roundness, runout, and surface finish.
• Fixturing & Tooling Strategy: Advise on workholding solutions (collets, soft jaws, mandrels, low clamping-force setups for delicate parts), tooling selection, and cutting parameters.
• Cross-Department Collaboration: Partner with CAD/CAM Programmers, Production Engineers, and Metrology to optimize NPI trials, program readiness, cycle times, and first-article inspections (FAI).
• Automation & Robotics: Oversee and ramp up automated turning operations, including bar feeders, part catchers, and robotized cell loading.
• Quality & Continuous Improvement: Drive 5S, LEAN principles, and zero-defect standards. Track and report cell performance, including OEE, yield, scrap, and downtime to Operations Management.

🎯 Requirements & Qualifications

• Education: Technical Diploma or Trade Certificate in Mechanical Engineering, Precision Machining, or equivalent.
• Experience: Minimum 7+ years of hands-on CNC turning experience, including several years operating/setting turn-mill machines with live tooling and sub-spindles.
• Leadership Track Record: Proven experience leading a small team or shift as a Team Leader, Senior Machinist, or Shop Floor Foreman in a precision manufacturing setup.
• HMLV & Tight Tolerances: Demonstrated mastery in High-Mix, Low-Volume precision environments working with micron tolerances (2–8 µm) and complex GD&T drawings.
• Machine Control Familiarity: Hands-on experience with international CNC controls and machine brands (e.g., Mazak, DMG Mori, Okuma, Fanuc, Siemens, Heidenhain).
• Material Specialization (Advantage): Experience machining high-performance engineering plastics (e.g., PEEK, PTFE, POM) is a major plus.
• Automation & Systems: Familiarity with bar feeders, robot loaders, SPC, and shop floor ERP/MES systems for job bookings.
• Languages: Good command of English (essential for international engineering communication) and Bahasa Malaysia (for local shop floor leadership).
• Shift Flexibility: Willingness to work in/rotate across shifts as production demands grow during plant startup.

🌟 Why Join Us?

• Greenfield Opportunity: Be part of the founding shop floor leadership team setting up a brand-new European-backed facility in Selangor.
• State-of-the-Art Technology: Work with premium global CNC machinery, live tooling, sub-spindles, and automated robotic cells.
• Career Growth: Grow alongside the business as the turning team expands in size and scope.

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