Manager - Heat Treatment & Metallurgy

Role & responsibilities

• Lead the complete Heat Treatment & Metallurgy function, including process control, quality and productivity.
• Develop, establish and optimize heat treatment processes for forged and machined components.
• Manage processes such as Annealing, Normalizing, Hardening, Tempering, Quenching, Carburizing and Induction Hardening, as applicable.
• Establish and control critical heat treatment parameters such as temperature, soaking time, heating/cooling rates, quenching conditions and atmosphere control.
• Ensure achievement of required hardness, microstructure, case depth and mechanical properties.
• Analyze metallurgical test results and take corrective/preventive actions for process deviations.
• Lead metallurgical failure analysis, rejection analysis and root cause investigations.
• Handle metallurgical laboratory activities including hardness testing, microstructure analysis, spectrometer testing, grain size, case depth and other relevant tests.
• Develop and maintain Heat Treatment Process Specifications, Control Plans, SOPs, Work Instructions and Process Parameters.
• Monitor furnace performance and ensure proper calibration, validation and preventive maintenance of heat treatment equipment.
• Drive process capability, productivity improvement, rejection reduction and cost optimization.
• Support new product development, APQP, PPAP and process trials from metallurgical and heat treatment perspectives.
• Ensure compliance with customer-specific requirements and applicable quality standards.
• Coordinate with Forging, Production, Quality, Maintenance and Tool Room teams for process improvement.
• Conduct and support 8D, CAPA, FMEA, SPC and continuous improvement activities.
• Develop and train the Heat Treatment and Metallurgy team.
• Ensure compliance with IATF 16949 / ISO 9001 and customer requirements, wherever applicable.
• Manage internal/customer audits related to heat treatment and metallurgy.
• Identify opportunities for energy saving, furnace utilization improvement and reduction in heat treatment costs.
• Maintain proper documentation, records and traceability of heat treatment and metallurgical activities.
• Lead the team towards achieving quality, delivery, productivity and cost targets.

Preferred candidate profile

• 10+ years of relevant experience in Heat Treatment & Metallurgy.
• Strong experience in forging/automotive/auto-component/manufacturing industries preferred.
• Good understanding of ferrous metallurgy, steel grades and heat treatment principles.
• Hands-on experience in furnace operations and heat treatment process troubleshooting.
• Strong knowledge of microstructure, hardness, case depth and mechanical properties.
• Experience in metallurgical failure analysis and root cause identification.
• Good leadership and team-management skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving ability.
• Ability to independently handle the Heat Treatment & Metallurgy function.