Two machinists at an aerospace parts unit carry the same job title. One loads blanks, presses cycle start and deburrs. The other edits work offsets, proves new five-axis programmes on titanium and stamps first-off inspection. On paper they hold the same role. On the floor they are worlds apart, and pay, hiring and cover all go wrong because the paper cannot tell them apart.
Why task lists mislead in this trade
A typical description reads 'operate CNC machines, follow drawings, maintain quality, keep records'. Every operator in every cell does those things at some level. The list says nothing about the level. In small-batch aerospace and defence work, the level is everything. It decides who may run a part unattended at night and who signs the traveller. It also settles who covers a sick setter and who may open a controlled model.
Recruitment suffers too. A requisition copied from an old task list attracts loaders when the cell needs a prover, or prompts an interview that never tests drawing reading. The role design service we run starts from that gap.
Eight parts of a skill-based role sheet
- Purpose in one line: the parts and customers this post serves, rather than its duties.
- Unaided scope: machines, materials, part families and tolerance bands the holder runs alone.
- Supervised scope: jobs allowed solely while a named senior stands by.
- Authorisations: which traveller operations they may stamp, which gauges they may release, whether they may approve a first-off.
- Escalation: what they must stop and refer, such as thin-wall chatter, a revision mismatch or a failed functional test.
- Cover: whom this role stands in for and who stands in for it.
- Information access: which drawing folders and vault areas the role opens.
- Growth: the evidence needed for promotion to the following grade.
Drafting the sheet with the cell lead
- 1
Start at the machine, not the desk
Sit with the cell lead beside the actual spindle, bench or test rig. Ask what a strong holder handles on a calm shift, and then on a chaotic one.
- 2
List the work by difficulty
Order the part families and operations from easiest to hardest. Draw the line where unaided work ends for this grade.
- 3
Name the authorisations
Check the stamp register and gauge list with quality. Write exactly what the role may sign.
- 4
Write the escalation triggers
Ask the senior what mistakes they most fear from a junior. Those become the stop-and-refer rules.
- 5
Add cover and access
Agree with production and the document controller who covers whom and which drawings the role sees.
- 6
Test it on two real people
Read the draft against two current holders. If both fit it exactly, the grade may be too broad or the description too vague.
- 7
Tie it to grade and pay
Make sure the next-grade line matches what the pay structure rewards.
Purpose: set and run five-axis jobs on airframe brackets and housings so batches start on time and pass first-off.
Unaided: set work offsets and tool lengths, load proven programmes, run aluminium and stainless part families to drawing tolerance.
Supervised: first runs on titanium, any new programme, thin-wall parts below the cell's agreed limit.
Authorised to stamp: set-up and in-process operations on the traveller; not final inspection.
Escalate at once: chatter or tool breakage on a proven job, revision letter mismatch, any gauge with a lapsed tag.
Covers for: grade-one setters on all shifts. Covered by: grade-three setter or lead programmer.
Drawing access: current-issue prints and setup sheets for assigned part families only.
Next grade when: proves two new programmes under watch with no scrap, and teaches one loader to set a proven job.Adapting the idea across the sector
The same shape works beyond machining. For an avionics solderer, unaided scope means component pitch, rework types and board classes. For a sheet-metal former, it means alloys, gauges and the forming tools allowed. For a toolmaker, it means which fits the person may scrape and sign. Young drone shops face a special split between prototype technicians and batch builders. Our notes on drone-maker roles show how to keep that line clear as headcount climbs.
Using the sheet once it exists
A role sheet earns its keep in four places. In hiring, its unaided scope becomes the trade test. In induction, it tells the joiner which stamps they will not yet hold. In reviews, the next-grade line becomes the conversation. In planning, the cover lines show whether a night shift can run without the senior setter.
Keep the current version in the employee file and a copy with the cell lead. When an inspector earns a new stamp, update the sheet in the same week the stamp register changes. Out-of-step paperwork is how a unit ends up with someone signing work their own sheet says they may not.
Mistakes to avoid
- Copying a description from a general engineering firm, which leaves out stamps, revisions and controlled access.
- Writing years of experience in place of skill; ten years of loading is not one year of proving.
- Leaving cover blank because 'everyone helps out', which hides single-point jobs.
- Filing the description and never reading it again when a grade or authorisation changes.
Clear descriptions also make the key-person risk visible, as our post on scarce know-how in aero shops explains. They feed straight into a cleaner job requisition when you need to hire. Machining, fabrication, avionics, drone and tooling units are compared on our aero-components people hub.
