Permanent - Master Toolmaker/Toolroom Manager - Ekurhuleni (East Rand) - South Africa

Master Toolmaker / Toolroom Manager (NPD Specialist)

Overview

The Master Toolmaker / Toolroom Manager is a specialized technical leadership role dedicated entirely to New Product Development (NPD), prototyping, and tooling innovation.  This position transforms conceptual consumer product designs into highly efficient, high-volume production realities.

Rather than focusing on routine plant maintenance, this role operates at the cutting edge of the business, working embedded within the NPD project triangle alongside the Project Manager and the Stainless Steel Project Manager. The ideal candidate combines the elite craftsmanship of a master toolmaker with a strategic mindset for design-for-manufacturing (DFM), ensuring new houseware and cookware ranges are launched on time, at the right quality, and within strict margin constraints.

Key Responsibilities & Duties:

1. NPD Tooling Evaluation & Design-for-Manufacturing (DFM)

• Pre-Production Review: Review initial concept sketches and 3D CAD models from the design team, assessing technical feasibility, draw depths, and material limitations before tools are commissioned.
• Tooling Architecture: Design, program, and engineer highly precise progressive dies, deep-draw press tools, and specialized molds tailored for new product geometric profiles.
• Prototyping & Sampling: Fabricate alpha/beta prototypes and soft-tooling variants to test structural integrity, material flow, and aesthetic finishes.

2. Cross-Functional Project Triangle Integration:

• Project Manager Partnership: Align daily toolroom priorities directly with the Project Manager's master NPD Gantt charts, ensuring prototype runs and pilot testing milestones are achieved without friction.
• Costing Accountant Collaboration: Work shoulder-to-shoulder with the Costing Accountant to run cost-benefit analyses on raw tool steels, estimate machining/labor hours per die, and ensure tooling projects stay within approved capital expenditure (CapEx) targets.

3. Trialing, Commissioning & First-Article Sign-Off:

• Press Trials & Debugging: Lead physical press trials and tryouts on the factory floor, tuning new dies, adjusting clearances, and debugging tool behaviors to eliminate wrinkling, tears, or dimensional variations.
• First-Article Inspection (FAI): Collaborate with Quality Assurance to run initial batch inspections, optimizing the tool until parts systematically hit target design tolerances.
• Handover to Operations: Seamlessly transition approved, verified, and locked NPD tooling over to the general production and maintenance teams, providing clear operating guidelines.

4. Toolroom Asset & Team Leadership:

• NPD Toolroom Oversight: Supervise, train, and guide a precision-focused team of toolmakers, CNC programmers, and machinists dedicated to development work.

Advanced Machinery Management: Manage and optimize advanced toolroom equipment (CNC milling, Wire EDM, precision grinders) utilized for high-accuracy prototype machining

3. KPIs and Performance Measurables:

Performance will be evaluated quarterly against the following development-focused and financial metrics:

1. First-Time-Right (FTR) Tooling Verification:

• Metric: Percentage of new tools that pass First-Article Inspection (FAI) with minimal secondary revisions.
• Target: Achieve an 85% or higher First-Time-Right rate on newly designed tooling. Prevent avoidable post-trial tooling modifications that cause commercial or engineering delays.

2. NPD Project Timeline Compliance:

• Metric: On-time delivery of verified tools against the Project Manager's milestone schedule.
• Target: 100% on-time readiness of tooling for scheduled pilot production runs. Any technical bottlenecks must be flagged to the Project Manager at least 72 hours before the deadline.

3. Tooling CapEx & Scrap Budget Integrity:

• Metric: Variance between budgeted tool development costs and actual toolroom expenditure.
• Target: Maintain tool development costs within +/- 2.5% of the financial baseline established with the Costing Accountant. Minimize raw tool-steel waste and trial-run scrap materials.

4. Turnaround Speed on Prototype Iterations:

• Metric: Time taken to modify a tool following a design change or failed trial.
• Target: Execute minor tool modifications within 24 hours and major geometry re-cuts within 5 business days of receiving updated engineering data.

Skills & Qualifications:

• Education & Trade: Qualified Toolmaker (Trade Test Certificate) is mandatory. An advanced qualification in Mechanical Engineering, Tooling Design, or N6 technical diploma is highly preferred.
• NPD Experience: Minimum of 10+ years of master toolmaking experience, with at least 4 years focused heavily on New Product Development (NPD), R&D, or prototyping environments. Experience in high-volume metal pressing, deep drawing (aluminum/stainless steel), or hollowware is highly advantageous.
• Technical Software & Craft:
• Advanced proficiency with CAD/CAM packages (e.g., SolidWorks, Mastercam, or Cimatron) for tooling design and CNC programming code generation.
• Expert-level understanding of material characteristics, including metal spring-back, heat treatment parameters, and tool steel coatings.

Team Attributes:

Exceptional collaborative communication skills. Highly analytical and agile, capable of pivoting tooling parameters rapidly to accommodate fluid marketing or engineering design changes