Senior Manager - Foundry

Role & responsibilities

To lead and manage the Aluminium Foundry operations with overall responsibility for production, quality, process control, productivity, cost optimisation, safety, manpower and operational excellence, ensuring consistent production of high-quality aluminium billets/alloy products in line with business and customer requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end Aluminium Foundry operations, including melting, alloying, casting, homogenizing and related processes.
• Ensure achievement of production targets, yield, productivity and quality parameters as per the production plan.
• Monitor and optimise melting practices, furnace operations, alloy composition, degassing, filtration, casting parameters and billet quality.
• Ensure adherence to approved SOPs, process parameters and quality standards across foundry operations.
• Drive reduction in metal loss, dross generation, rejection, rework and energy consumption.
• Monitor and control raw material, alloying elements, scrap and return metal utilisation to optimise metal recovery and cost.
• Coordinate closely with Quality, Maintenance, PPC, Stores, Purchase and downstream manufacturing functions for smooth operations.
• Analyse production and process data and implement corrective and preventive actions to improve OEE, yield and operational efficiency.
• Drive continuous improvement, Kaizen, 5S, Lean Manufacturing and cost-reduction initiatives within the foundry.
• Ensure effective preventive maintenance and timely resolution of equipment-related issues in coordination with the Maintenance team.
• Ensure strict compliance with EHS requirements, statutory regulations, fire safety and safe operating practices.
• Lead, develop and manage engineers, supervisors, operators and contract manpower and ensure optimum manpower utilisation.
• Conduct regular performance reviews and develop the technical capabilities of the foundry team through training and skill development.
• Maintain appropriate MIS, production reports, process records and KPI dashboards for management review.
• Support new product/alloy development, process trials and customer-specific metallurgical requirements.
• Work with the Quality and Technical teams to investigate metallurgical defects, casting defects and customer complaints and implement sustainable corrective actions.
• Ensure readiness for internal, customer and external audits and compliance with applicable quality and environmental standards.
• Drive a culture of ownership, discipline, accountability, safety and continuous improvement within the foundry.

Key Performance Indicators

• Production volume and plan adherence
• Metal recovery / yield
• Furnace and casting productivity
• Billet quality and rejection levels
• Dross and metal-loss reduction
• Energy consumption per MT
• OEE and equipment utilisation
• Cost per MT
• Customer complaints / quality performance
• Safety performance
• Manpower productivity
• Continuous improvement / cost-saving initiatives

Qualification

• B.E./B.Tech in Metallurgy / Mechanical / Production Engineering or equivalent qualification.
• Additional qualification in Metallurgy / Foundry Technology will be an advantage.

Experience

• 1218 years of relevant experience in Aluminium Foundry / Non-Ferrous Foundry operations.
• Strong hands-on experience in Aluminium melting, alloying, billet casting and foundry process control.
• Experience in managing medium to large-scale foundry operations with significant manpower and production responsibility.
• Strong exposure to process improvement, yield optimisation, quality management and cost reduction.
• Experience in a manufacturing environment with integrated Aluminium operations will be preferred.

Desired Competencies

• Strong technical and operational expertise in Aluminium Foundry.
• Sound understanding of Aluminium alloys, metallurgy and casting processes.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capability.
• Production planning and execution skills.
• Leadership and people-management capability.
• Cost-conscious and results-oriented approach.
• Strong cross-functional coordination skills.
• Ability to work in a high-volume, target-driven manufacturing environment.
• Strong focus on safety, quality and continuous improvement.