Aerospace Titanium-Forging Allocation Recovery Leader

The mandate

The strategic-materials head was removed after a press outage at one forge exposed titanium billet and qualified slot reservations that exceeded realistic recovery output. Programmes counted metal by weight, while usable supply depends on alloy heat, billet dimension, buy-to-fly yield, dedicated dies, press envelope, heat treatment, machining, nondestructive inspection and customer-approved source. Expedites now compete for the same physical route, and moving one forging can strand downstream capacity already reserved for another.

The leader must start in Seattle within ten days for an eleven-month fixed term. The first 14 days will reconcile billet, work-in-process, tooling and qualified capacity and will reset unsupported programme promises. A common allocation room must control all seven programmes by day 45. Three forge cycles, two customer recovery reviews and one second-source failure exercise precede a five-week handover to the permanent strategic-materials executive.

Completion requires every constrained forging to have alloy and heat identity, billet form, die and press path, conversion yield, processing and inspection route, engineering effectivity, customer approval, schedule confidence and next allocation decision. Ten consecutive weeks must show no double-booked billet or forge slot and no avoidable assembly stop from sequencing. The successor receives unresolved qualifications, damaged tooling, customer concessions, premium-capacity commitments and the next three production cycles.

The interim may allocate company-controlled billet and qualified slots, change production sequence, reserve approved external capacity, recall idle material and approve recovery spending up to USD 18 million. Engineering and Quality retain material, design, process and release authority; suppliers retain safe operations; Procurement owns awards; programme presidents own customer commitments; the chief operating officer approves build-rate change, structural source transfer or capital beyond delegation.

Metallurgical specification, design approval, supplier quality disposition, airworthiness, long-term commodity strategy, customer contract renegotiation and construction of new forging capacity are outside scope. The leader cannot treat raw weight or an unqualified press reservation as aircraft-ready supply. Decisions must show what downstream machining and assembly the selected heat and forging path can actually protect.

Why this seat is open

The forge failure revealed that programme-level escalation had replaced portfolio allocation and that the former materials head reported purchased tonnes instead of executable parts. Customer pressure is rising while alternate qualifications continue. A temporary executive is required to control scarce metal and capacity through recovery before a permanent leader inherits the next ramp.

What you will own

• Reconcile constrained forgings across alloy, heat, billet, die, press, yield, processor, inspection, effectivity and programme demand.
• Allocate material and qualified slots using assembly consequence, conversion loss, alternative route, customer and schedule confidence.
• Sequence forge, heat-treatment, machining and test capacity so an upstream expedite does not strand a downstream reservation.
• Recover damaged or unavailable dies and establish evidence gates before alternate tooling enters a protected programme plan.
• Challenge supplier recovery using physical press hours, yields, WIP condition, inspection capacity and prior-job completion.
• Exercise loss of a second source while measuring billet, forge, programme, customer and cash consequences.
• Induct the successor through live allocations, customer conditions, qualification clocks and the next three production cycles.

Candidate qualifications

• Held executive aerospace raw-material, forging or structures supply authority across multiple aircraft or engine programmes.
• Has allocated titanium billet and forge capacity after equipment, source or quality disruption under customer pressure.
• Understands alloy heats, billet forms, dies, press envelopes, conversion yield, machining and nondestructive test operationally.
• Can command supply choices while preserving Engineering, Quality, supplier, customer and airworthiness accountabilities.
• Has challenged purchased-weight and nameplate-capacity claims using executable part routes and qualified output.
• Completed permanent handover after scarce forging allocation survived several cycles and a second disruption scenario.

Non-negotiables

• Available in Seattle within ten days and able to sustain approximately 55% mill, forge and customer travel.
• Brings direct aerospace forging allocation; metal trading or general machining procurement alone is insufficient.
• Accepts Engineering, Quality, supplier, Procurement, customer and chief-operating-officer decision boundaries.
• Will disclose interests involving mills, forges, machine shops, inspection providers, aerospace customers and material traders.

1. 49 words maximum. Describe titanium or another forging allocation you changed after buy-to-fly yield invalidated available weight.
2. 49 words maximum. Confirm your Seattle start date and the largest multi-programme forge crisis you commanded.
3. 49 words maximum. Which downstream reservation should change an apparently optimal press-slot decision?