Hartwell Manufacturing is a family-run engineering business with nearly 50 years of experience delivering high-quality acoustic enclosures and heavy steel fabrication projects. From our Sheffield facility, we support clients in the power, data centre and industrial sectors with engineered solutions built on precision, collaboration and reliability. The culture is hands-on, team-focused and proud of the work we produce.
We are looking for an experienced Night Shift Supervisor to oversee our welding and fabrication team at our Sheffield site.
This is a hands-on supervisory role with responsibility for the effective day-to-day running of the night shift. The successful candidate will provide visible leadership on the shopfloor, coordinate labour, maintain production standards and ensure the team works safely, efficiently and in line with the agreed production plan.
A strong background in welding and fabrication is essential, together with proven experience managing people within a busy manufacturing or engineering environment.
Main Responsibilities
Night Shift Supervision
- Provide visible, hands-on supervision throughout the night shift.
- Allocate employees to the correct jobs and production areas.
- Ensure employees understand their priorities and expected output.
- Monitor attendance, punctuality, breaks, conduct and general shift discipline.
- Keep the team focused, productive and working to the required standards.
- Address poor performance, inappropriate behaviour or lack of effort promptly and professionally.
- Support new starters and less experienced employees.
- Maintain a calm, controlled and professional working environment.
- Escalate serious staffing, production or behavioural issues where necessary.
Welding and Fabrication
- Supervise employees working across welding, fabrication and plating activities.
- Use your fabrication knowledge to understand the work being completed.
- Ensure employees follow drawings, job instructions and agreed working methods.
- Identify workmanship, quality or fabrication issues.
- Ensure the correct jobs are completed in the correct order.
- Support fabricators with practical questions where appropriate.
- Raise technical issues with the relevant manager or technical colleague.
- Monitor progress against the production plan and highlight potential delays.
Production Control
- Ensure the shift follows the production priorities set by the management team.
- Monitor output throughout the night.
- Move labour between areas where required to maintain production flow.
- Identify shortages of labour, materials, equipment or information.
- Record downtime, delays, incomplete jobs and production issues.
- Ensure urgent and customer-critical work is prioritised correctly.
- Complete a clear and accurate handover for the day-shift management team.
- Provide updates on output, staffing and any issues encountered during the shift.
People Management
- Lead by example and maintain professional standards.
- Give employees clear instructions and reasonable expectations.
- Manage day-to-day attendance and conduct matters.
- Complete return-to-work meetings where required.
- Record absence, lateness and relevant employee issues accurately.
- Support performance conversations and improvement discussions.
- Recognise when an issue should be referred to senior management or HR.
- Encourage teamwork, accountability and respect across the shift.
- Maintain consistent standards across the team.
Quality and Housekeeping
- Ensure employees complete work to the required quality standards.
- Challenge poor workmanship and prevent avoidable rework.
- Report recurring quality issues or non-conformances.
- Ensure work areas remain clean, organised and safe.
- Make sure tools, materials and equipment are stored correctly.
- Maintain acceptable housekeeping standards throughout the night.
- Ensure completed work is clearly identified and moved to the correct area.
Health and Safety
- Ensure employees follow site safety rules, risk assessments and safe systems of work.
- Make sure required PPE is worn correctly.
- Challenge unsafe behaviour immediately.
- Report accidents, near misses, hazards and equipment concerns.
- Ensure walkways, work areas and emergency routes remain clear.
- Support a safe and controlled night-shift working environment.
- Act as a responsible point of contact during the night shift.
Essential Experience
Applicants must have:
- Previous experience supervising or leading employees within a manufacturing or engineering environment.
- A background in welding, fabrication, plating or heavy steelwork.
- A practical understanding of welding and fabrication processes.
- Experience managing people on a busy shopfloor.
- Confidence dealing with attendance, behaviour and performance issues.
- The ability to give clear instructions and maintain discipline.
- Experience working to production priorities and deadlines.
- A good understanding of health and safety within an engineering environment.
- The ability to complete basic shift reports and handovers.
- The confidence to work independently during the night shift.
We are particularly interested in candidates who have previously worked as a:
- Manufacturing Team Leader
- Lead Fabricator with people-management responsibility
Personal Attributes
The successful candidate will be:
- Visible, approachable and respected on the shopfloor.
- Firm, fair and consistent when managing employees.
- Confident maintaining standards and addressing poor performance.
- Organised, dependable and able to manage competing priorities.
- Comfortable making practical decisions during the shift.
- Able to communicate clearly with employees and management.
- Proactive in identifying and resolving day-to-day issues.
- Reliable and comfortable working nights.
- Committed to maintaining a safe, productive and professional working environment.
What Success Looks Like
Success in this role will include:
- Employees are organised and working in the correct areas.
- Production priorities are understood and followed.
- The night shift remains productive throughout the shift.
- Standards of behaviour, attendance and housekeeping are maintained.
- Welding and fabrication work is completed to the required standard.
- Problems are dealt with promptly or escalated appropriately.
- Shift records and handovers are clear and accurate.
- The day-shift management team has confidence that the site has been properly supervised overnight.
Pay: £40,000.00-£45,000.00 per year
Benefits:
Work Location: In person
