Business Unit Casting Process owner

Howmet Aerospace•Whitehall, MI

13d

About The Position

Howmet Engines is seeking a Business Unit Casting Process Owner who may be based at any of its U.S. Engines Business Unit facilities in Dover, New Jersey; Hampton, Virginia; Wichita Falls, Texas; La Porte, Indiana; or Whitehall, Michigan. The role is the Business Unit Single Point of Accountability for equiaxed, directionally solidified, and single-crystal casting processes, equipment, and process control across internal casting foundries. The owner provides technical leadership across casting processes for superalloy, titanium, and aluminum product lines. The role develops and maintains Business Unit standards and best practices, supports process and equipment optimization, assesses manufacturing compliance and improvement opportunities, and helps move new technologies from research and development into qualified, repeatable production. The position also represents the Business Unit in relevant external industry engagements and provides technical guidance to manufacturing, engineering, quality, and equipment teams.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science, Metallurgical Engineering, or a related field from an accredited institution.
At least 8 years of engineering or manufacturing experience in investment casting or related casting technology processes.
Experience developing engineering specifications, manufacturing standards, technical procedures, or process documentation.
Experience leading cross-functional technical initiatives across multiple manufacturing locations.
Strong understanding of statistical process control, process capability, root cause analysis, and manufacturing quality systems.
Excellent technical writing, communication, facilitation, and presentation skills.
Ability to influence manufacturing organizations and drive enterprise-wide process standardization without direct authority.
Willingness to travel 50% to manufacturing facilities and suppliers.
Must be legally authorized to work in the United States; employment eligibility verification is required at hire, and visa sponsorship is unavailable.
Must meet ITAR U.S. person status requirements: U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident, political asylee, or refugee.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Materials Science, Metallurgical Engineering, or a related discipline.
10 years of experience optimizing investment casting technology processes.
Six Sigma Green Belt and/or Black Belt; commitment to achieve Green Belt status within 24 months is required.
Experience leading enterprise process control, fixed process, or manufacturing governance programs.
Extensive knowledge of casting furnace internal materials, filtering systems, vacuum systems, foundry materials such as preheat trays, pour cups, and graphite systems, and casting parameter/control systems.
Experience with single-crystal, directionally solidified, and equiaxed casting processes, especially in superalloy, titanium, and aluminum.
Experience developing supplier qualification requirements and technical specifications for casting technology.
Familiarity with metal casting characterization, failure analysis, and process capability studies.
Familiarity with customer and industry specifications related to investment casting in aerospace and industrial gas turbine industries.
Experience developing executive-level KPI dashboards and process governance reporting.
Project management experience leading large, cross-functional manufacturing improvement initiatives.

Responsibilities

Provide technical leadership for equiaxed, directionally solidified, and single-crystal casting processes across superalloy, titanium, and aluminum product lines.
Establish, maintain, and standardize casting process best practices across Business Unit manufacturing locations to improve safety, quality, yield, productivity, and consistency.
Lead optimization of casting process materials and technologies, including furnace materials, mold insulation, vacuum systems, induction heating, equipment, and process parameters.
Lead cross-site best-practice workshops to identify, evaluate, and deploy proven improvements, technical solutions, and lessons learned.
Develop, implement, maintain, and periodically update Business Unit casting process standards, specifications, and best practices in internal BU Manuals.
Partner with the Research Center to communicate manufacturing challenges, prioritize technology development needs, and align research programs with Business Unit objectives.
Transition newly developed casting technologies, materials, and processes from research and development into qualified, repeatable production.
Conduct periodic internal casting process audits and manufacturing assessments, identify compliance gaps and improvement opportunities, and support corrective actions.
Collaborate with the Business Unit equipment build team to incorporate best practices, emerging technologies, and optimized process capabilities into new equipment and facility expansions.
Monitor emerging casting technologies, industry developments, and competitive best practices through external industry engagement, representing Howmet as appropriate.
Serve as the Business Unit technical authority for casting process questions and provide expert guidance to manufacturing, engineering, quality, and equipment teams to resolve complex issues and improve performance.