Defense Subcontractor — CAGE 83N19
Light Composites, Inc.
13860 Stowe Drive | Poway, CA 92064
CAGE 83N19
AS9100 CERTIFIED
Job Description
Machine Shop Lead — Second Shift
Full-Time | Non-Exempt (Hourly) | Reports to Machine Shop Supervisor | Mon–Fri 2:30 PM – 11:00 PM
Second ShiftWorking LeadCNC MachiningHaas VMCAS9100Composite MFG
Purpose
The #1 job of this lead is to keep machined parts moving through the CNC shop after first shift goes home. On second shift there is no supervisor, no engineer, and no manager in the building — this lead is the machine shop. They must be able to do everything the Machine Shop Supervisor can do at the machines: set up any job, prove it out, edit a program, troubleshoot a problem, and make the call on whether a part is good.
ⓘ
This is not a standard lead role. The day-shift Machine Shop Lead coordinates under a supervisor who handles technical escalations. On second shift there is no one in the building to escalate to — technical self-sufficiency is the defining requirement. The title says Lead because the people-management scope stays with the Supervisor; the technical bar is the Supervisor's.
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This is a working lead role. The majority of the shift is spent setting up and running CNC machines. The coordination, handoff, and shift-leadership responsibilities are layered on top of the machining work, not a replacement for it. If an operator is out, the lead runs that station. The schedule does not stop because it's dark outside.
Reporting Structure
Production Manager
Machine Shop Supervisor
Machine Shop Lead — Second Shift (this role)
Second-Shift CNC Operators
The Machine Shop Supervisor owns the department across both shifts — the master schedule, staffing, personnel decisions, and cross-department coordination. The Second Shift Lead executes the released plan after 2:30 PM with full authority to make technical decisions at the machines and re-sequence work within the shift when machines go down or jobs stall. People issues, pay, and discipline route to the Supervisor.
Scope & Authority
This role carries the full technical authority of the Machine Shop Supervisor — anything the Supervisor is qualified to do at a machine, this lead must be able to do without help, because after 2:30 PM there is no help. What it does not carry is the Supervisor's management scope: hiring, discipline, pay, and cross-department priority calls stay with the Supervisor.
Full technical authority — set up, prove out, edit programs, and buy off first pieces on any machine in the shop
Stop production when a quality or safety concern requires it — same authority as the Supervisor
Re-sequence jobs & operators within the shift when a machine goes down or priorities demand it
Escalate & recommend — people issues, schedule conflicts, and anything needing a morning decision go to the Supervisor via pass-down or phone
Essential
ResponsibilitiesShift Handoff & Communication
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On second shift, the pass-down IS the communication channel. Management is not there to see what happened — anything not written down or called in did not happen. A machine that ran perfectly all night and a machine that crashed both look the same at 6:00 AM unless this lead communicates.
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Overlap with the Machine Shop Supervisor at shift start — review the day's status, tonight's priorities, problem jobs, and what must finish before close
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Leave a written end-of-shift pass-down every night: what ran, what finished, what's still in a machine, what broke, what deviated from the plan and why, and what QC or the Supervisor needs to see first thing in the morning
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Escalate by phone when it can't wait until morning — know the difference between a note and a call (a crashed spindle is a call; a dull tool is a note)
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Document quality escapes, scrap events, tool failures, and near-misses to the same standard as first shift
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Give direct, honest feedback to second-shift operators in real time; report performance and attendance issues to the Supervisor
Production & Execution