CNC Programmer - Lead

Overview

GTC Machining has grown from a very humble beginning to a major supplier of machining and engineering services throughout the Defense, Aerospace, Medical Devices, and Commercial market segments. Our mission is to engage customers and empower makers to deliver precision.

Reports to
:
Director of Engineering

Job Purpose
:
The Lead CNC Programmer is responsible for leading, standardizing, and overseeing all CNC programming activities across the organization. This role ensures CNC programs, processes, and documentation are developed and executed to defined standards while supporting New Product Introduction (NPI), quality improvement, and continuous improvement initiatives.

• Technical Leadership & Standards
  • Own, develop, and maintain CNC programming standards, best practices, and guidelines to ensure consistency, repeatability, and compliance across all CNC operations.
  • Lead and oversee CNC program development, validation, and release, ensuring programs meet engineering intent, quality requirements, and manufacturing standards.
  • Establish and enforce standards for setup sheets, documentation, revision control, and program handoff to production.
  • Serve as the technical authority for CNC programming decisions, machining strategies, and process optimization.
• CNC Programming and Oversight
  • Develop and write CNC programs using engineering drawings, models, and specifications.
  • Design and develop fixtures to support CNC setup and quick-change operations.
  • Select appropriate tooling for each job, considering speeds, feeds, cutter types, and machining strategies.
  • Create and maintain setup sheets and required documentation to support consistent and repeatable processes.
  • Run assigned first-article development parts to test CNC programs and validate that they produce conforming parts.
  • Oversee the development of all CNC programs.
  • Coordinate, prioritize, and assign all CNC programming projects and tasks, including New Product Introduction (NPI) and Continuous Improvement (CI) initiatives.
  • Review and approve CNC programs, tooling strategies, and setups prior to production release.
  • Guide all fixture design and development to support efficient setups, quick changeovers, and robust processes.
  • Oversee all first-article development builds, capability studies, and validation runs.
  • Support complex or high-risk machining challenges, troubleshooting dimensional, surface finish, and process capability issues.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Partner closely with Design Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, and Operations to ensure effective communication and seamless transitions from development to production.
  • Support NPI efforts by establishing machining strategies early and ensuring manufacturability is built into designs.
  • Collaborate with tooling suppliers, CAM vendors, and technical consultants to evaluate and implement new tools, technologies, and programming techniques.
• Team Leadership, Training & Capability Development
  • Develop, own, and maintain the training and development roadmap for CNC programmers, aligned with current and future business needs, equipment, and complexity.
  • Assess team capabilities and identify skill gaps across programming, machining strategies, tooling, GD&T application, and CAM proficiency.
  • Lead targeted skill-building initiatives, including hands-on training, mentoring, standard work development, and external training where appropriate.
  • Establish progression expectations and competency standards for CNC programmers to support consistent execution and career development.
  • Work proactively to build bench strength and cross-capability within the CNC programming team to reduce risk and improve flexibility.
  • Support onboarding and ramp-up of new CNC programmers through structured training plans and standard documentation.
• Continuous Improvement & Compliance
  • Drive continuous improvement in CNC programs, machining processes, cycle times, quality, and throughput.
  • Support root-cause analysis and corrective actions for machining-related nonconformances.
  • Ensure CNC programming and machining activities align with Lean manufacturing principles and quality system…