Cold Heading Lead

Position Summary: This is a hybrid role combining hands-on cold heading machine operation, tooling/die process ownership, and shift leadership. The person in this seat is both the technical authority on cold heading at WN Global and the leader responsible for the people running it — not a manager who happens to oversee cold heading, but someone who came up running headers and doing tool room work and has since grown into leading a team.

Key Responsibilities: Set up, operate, and troubleshoot cold heading (header) machines to produce engineered bolts and fasteners to print and specification. Own tooling and die selection, wear monitoring, and change-out to sustain quality, throughput, and tool life. Diagnose and resolve process issues — wire feed, punch/die wear, heading defects — to minimize scrap and unplanned downtime. Lead and develop cold heading operators: scheduling, training, performance management, and safety enforcement on the line. Partner with Quality, Maintenance, and Engineering on process capability, new tooling qualification, and continuous improvement. Own safety compliance and housekeeping standards on the cold heading line. Build standard work and training materials so cold heading knowledge is documented and transferable, not held by one person. Track and report shift performance against scrap rate, uptime/OEE, and changeover time targets.

Required Qualifications: 5+ years of hands-on cold heading machine operation (e.g., National Machinery, Sacma, Nedschroef, Hatebur, or comparable header equipment).Demonstrated tooling/die expertise: selection, wear monitoring, regrind/replacement coordination, and troubleshooting. Prior supervisory or lead experience over a production team. Working knowledge of wire/material behavior and how it interacts with heat treatment and fastener quality specifications. Demonstrated safety-first mindset and the ability to enforce standards consistently. Basic computer literacy for shift reporting and ERP/production data entry.