Tooling Manager

Role & responsibilities :

PennAero Group is looking for an experienced Tooling Manager for its Bengaluru operations to lead tooling, fixtures and gauging activities supporting aerospace machining, forming and assembly operations.

The role will have end-to-end responsibility for tooling design support, tool room operations, preventive maintenance, calibration, tooling lifecycle management and continuous improvement. The incumbent will also lead a team of 45 tooling engineers/technicians and act as the technical escalation point for shop-floor tooling issues.

Key Responsibilities :

• Lead and develop the Tool Room team, including workload planning and performance management.
• Manage design review, fabrication, qualification and lifecycle management of jigs, fixtures, gauges and production tooling.
• Manage preventive maintenance, calibration and re-certification of tooling and gauges.
• Ensure tooling traceability and compliance with AS9100/customer/OEM requirements.
• Resolve tooling deviations/non-conformances using RCA and CAPA.
• Manage tooling inventory, spares, procurement and supplier coordination.
• Drive tool standardization, tool-life improvement, changeover reduction and cost-reduction initiatives.
• Review engineering drawings, GD&T and process routings for new tooling requirements.
• Support FAI/new product introduction activities.
• Monitor tooling KPIs including availability, calibration compliance, tool life and cost per part.

Ideal candidate:

10+ years of progressive experience in tooling/tool room engineering or management within a precision manufacturing environment, preferably Aerospace, Defence or Automotive Tier-1, with at least 35 years of team leadership experience.

Must have hands-on exposure to fixture/jig design, machining fixtures, press tooling, gauge design and calibration programs, along with working knowledge of AS9100/NADCAP and aerospace traceability requirements.