Senior CNC Programmer (5 Axis)

Senior CNC Applications Lead(5 Axis PARTS PROGRAMMING)

Location: Scarborough, Ontario

Positions Available: 2 to 3

Pay: 110k -120k

Travel: Occasional travel to the United States for customer meetings

About the Opportunity:

We are seeking 2 to 3 experienced Senior CNC Applications Leads specializing in five-axis precision machining to support complex manufacturing projects and strengthen our technical engagement with customers.

This is a hands-on, customer-facing technical leadership opportunity for an experienced machining professional who can translate intricate engineering designs into practical, reliable, and cost-effective manufacturing solutions.

Key Responsibilities:

1. CNC Applications and Machining Process Development

• Review customer CAD models, engineering drawings, technical specifications, and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) requirements to assess manufacturability.
• Develop machining strategies for intricate precision components using advanced five-axis CNC machining.
• Determine machining sequences, setups, workholding and fixturing requirements, tooling selections, and cutting strategies.
• Develop, simulate, verify, and optimize CAM programs to support successful machine prove-out and production readiness.
• Personally contribute to programming, setup planning, and prove-out of complex five-axis components.
• Troubleshoot machining challenges involving tool access, part distortion, vibration, material removal, surface finish, dimensional accuracy, and repeatability.
• Support components through first-article inspection and resolve manufacturing issues before production release.
• Collaborate with CNC programmers, machinists, manufacturing engineers, and quality personnel to establish reliable, repeatable manufacturing processes.

2. Design for Manufacturability (DFM)

• Lead technical reviews of customer designs to identify manufacturing challenges, cost drivers, and opportunities for improvement.
• Recommend practical design changes involving internal radii, deep pockets, thin walls, tool accessibility, tolerances, datums, surface finishes, and workholding.
• Explain the manufacturing implications of design changes while preserving functional and performance requirements.
• Evaluate alternative manufacturing approaches to balance precision, quality, machining complexity, lead time, and cost.
• Identify opportunities to reduce setup time, cycle time, tooling costs, inspection complexity, and scrap risk.
• Document DFM recommendations, including the rationale, expected benefits, and potential trade-offs.
• Work collaboratively with customer engineering teams to resolve design challenges before production begins.

3. Customer Technical Engagement

• Represent the organization's machining expertise during customer design reviews, manufacturing discussions, and new product introduction meetings.
• Travel to customer sites in the United States as required to review components, discuss manufacturing challenges, and recommend appropriate production approaches.
• Lead technical discussions with customer design engineers, manufacturing engineers, and other stakeholders.
• Ask informed questions, clarify design intent, and constructively challenge requirements that introduce unnecessary manufacturing complexity or risk.
• Clearly explain machining strategies, manufacturing limitations, inspection requirements, and design recommendations to technical and commercial audiences.
• Build customer confidence through sound technical judgment, practical recommendations, and professional communication.

4. Quoting, Cost Analysis and New Product Introduction

• Support estimating and quoting by evaluating machining complexity, setup requirements, cycle times, tooling costs, material considerations, and inspection requirements.
• Identify cost, lead-time, and scrap-risk drivers during the initial drawing review.
• Recommend appropriate manufacturing approaches for prototypes, first articles, and repeat production quantities.
• Collaborate with estimating, engineering, operations, and quality teams to assess project feasibility and establish realistic manufacturing plans.
• Provide technical input to ensure quoted manufacturing approaches are practical, achievable, and commercially competitive.
• Support new product introduction from initial drawing review through successful first production runs.

5. Technical Leadership and Continuous Improvement

• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to CNC programmers, machinists, and other team members.
• Share machining best practices and strengthen internal programming and manufacturing capabilities.
• Establish and maintain clear documentation of machining strategies, DFM recommendations, and process decisions.
• Identify opportunities to improve programming methods, tooling strategies, process consistency, and manufacturing efficiency.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives that enhance quality, productivity, and manufacturing reliability.
• Help establish consistent technical standards for complex five-axis machining projects.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Approximately 10 or more years of hands-on experience in precision CNC machining, advanced manufacturing, machining applications, or a closely related discipline.
• Demonstrated experience programming, setting up, and proving out complex five-axis CNC-machined components.
• Proven ability to take challenging components from engineering drawing review through programming, machining, troubleshooting, and first-article inspection.
• Strong understanding of engineering drawings, GD&T, datum structures, tolerances, surface finishes, and inspection methods.
• Practical knowledge of DFM principles and the ability to recommend changes that improve manufacturability, cost, quality, or lead time.
• Strong CAM programming capability, with Mastercam preferred.
• Experience with hyper MILL, Siemens NX, or comparable CAM systems will also be considered.
• Experience with Fanuc and/or Heidenhain CNC controls.
• Familiarity with advanced five-axis machine tools, ideally including DMG MORI and/or Matsuura equipment.
• Strong knowledge of tooling selection, work holding, fixturing, cutting parameters, machining sequences, and process optimization.
• Experience supporting cost estimation, quoting, prototype development, or new product introduction is an asset.
• Excellent communication skills and confidence leading technical discussions with customers and engineering teams.
• Willingness and ability to travel to the United States for customer meetings as required.