Trying to find staff - new Manager/Engineer

[Golfman]

I need to find a production manager (or whatever title they should have) to completely run the manufacturing side of our company. Someone with proper hand on skills, eg welding, fabrication, machining, reading CAD drawings etc. A general all round skilled person really.

The two main problems I have are:

1/ Where to advertise for someone with these types of skills.

2/ How much to pay someone for this role.

Any suggestions much appreciated.

[Olf]

You could try the Institute magazine for Mechanical Engineers. Has quite a wide audience.

http://www.profeng.com/

[Golfman]

Thanks Olf.

Any ideas what to pay someone for this role? 20k, 30k more/less ??

[CHIEF]

Depending on how big the operation is i'd say 25-30k.

My buddy has just been taken on at Borg Warner and he started on 26k

[M400 NBL]

Salaries depend on where your company is located and what the role/responsibilities are for the position.

And of course the skills and experience of the candidates. If you want a hands on engineer I wouldn't suggest employing a graduate who has only recently got his/her degree....

[Golfman]

We need someone with a good few years experience. They will potentially end up replacing my father who is currently overseeing around 5 guys. We are based in Luton, Bedfordshire. Currently 19 staff in total and growing very quickly!

[stainless_steve]

Pity your not near Yorkshire,just what i'm looking for.

[spikeyhead]

Once a manager has seven people to manage then they should rarely be doing any hands on stuff. In an ideal world you'd take the most emotionally mature person that's capable of being trained to move up the ladder and promote him to foreman, then bring in someone at the bottom of the ladder. If staff can see that its possible to climb the ladder in a growing company then they'll put more effort in. In an ideal world, the only time that someone should be recruited into a company as a manager is to bring in new skills. I appreciate that this isn't always realistic but giving someone the chance to develop will pay dividends in the long term.

You've got an advantage in that it will be easier to allow your father to retire gracefully and slowly, doing less and less hands on stuff and eventually doing little more than supervising and taking responsibility for the long term decision in manufacturing, such as what new equipment is needed, whilst the foreman gets to decide day to day planning and man management.

It may be that you don't currently have a member of staff that can grow into that position, in which case recruiting a person that is capable of that growth would make more sense.

If you want a longer discussion on this then PM me, its this sort of advice that I'm looking to take my consultancy company into, I'm local to you and don't mind giving you half a days free consultancy for free.

[sparkyb999]

I would say 35k ish for a guy running the production, its exaclty the role that i do, from Quoting / Purchasing / shop loading etc etc.. My machinists are on around 30k, so i would want more than them.

I suppose it totally depends on the company size etc etc. and the biggest, how much you can afford..