Operations Manager – Surface Protection, Hamburg

The Operations Manager – Surface Protection is accountable for leading the daily operations of surface protection services for aircraft at MAAS Aviation GmbH in Hamburg.

This role ensures production leadership and performance, quality leadership, and compliance with OEM standards and customer requirements. The position requires strong leadership of teams exceeding 25 employees and oversight of quality management systems (AS9100, EN9100, ISO9001). The position is responsible for, but not limited to:

• Leading and managing the Surface Protection production teams (>25 employees), ensuring efficient and safe operations.
• Overseeing daily production planning, execution, and delivery of surface protection services in compliance with Airbus and OEM standards.
• Ensuring compliance with and continual improvement of Quality Management Systems (AS9100, EN9100, ISO9001).
• Preparing, coordinating, and leading annual service-level and customer audits to maintain operational qualifications.
• Implementing performance management systems, KPIs, and reporting to drive operational excellence.
• Driving employee training, mentoring, and development to build a skilled, motivated, and high-performing workforce.
• Coordinating with other site functions (e.g., Materials, Planning, Safety) to ensure alignment of resources and priorities.
• Supporting the General Manager with strategic and operational projects.
• Promoting a culture of safety, quality, and continuous improvement throughout the organization.
• Support environmental compliance (REACH regulation) programmes
• Developing, implementing, and administering operations, quality assurance, and quality control policies, procedures and processes to ensure project deliverables in accordance with customer specifications and company expectations.
• Recruiting and hiring personnel, including temporary (contract) employees, to staff the surface protection programme’s existing and planned operations.
• Achieving and maintaining the special process qualifications for surface protection by aircraft type and facility.
• Coordinating all disciplinary actions, including terminations, for personnel working in the surface protection program (all levels).
• Developing and implementing a business continuity plan to mitigate risks specific to the surface protection programme.
• Monitoring project status and intervening as required to ensure project controls deliver performance in accordance with the company’s key objectives (financial and operational).
• Meeting with customer counterparts to evaluate programme performance, scheduling, and continuous improvement.
• Audit management, including planning, conducting, monitoring, and documenting internal audits for the company’s surface protection programme, coordinating, supporting, and responding to on-site audits conducted by external parties, and coordinating, responding to assessments and requests for information from the customer.
• Responsible for solving problems within the surface protection programme through research, analysis and decision making via formalised RCCA processes to be developed by the Operations Manager – Surface Protection.
• Continually evaluating and improving all aspects of the Company’s surface protection programme.
• Responsible for developing and maintaining the company’s document management systems related to surface protection.

As a senior-level member of team, the Operations Manager – Surface Protection may be assigned various secondary duties, including but not limited to the following:

• Participating with colleagues from other business units to identify and share best practices across the MAAS Aviation Group of companies.
• Collaborate with the Operations Manager – Painting Operations as a mutual backup leadership team.
• Supporting community and stakeholder engagement initiatives as required.

• Completed studies in the field of aerospace, material science, chemistry or a comparable qualification.
• Experience in surface and coatings technologies as well as corrosion protection.
• Experience in the aerospace industry and its related processes, such as qualification, certification and standardisation is preferred.
• Experience in project management.
• Knowledge of REACH.
• Knowledge of Lean Manufacturing practices and tools.
• Very good knowledge of MS-Office and Google Workspace.
• Fluent in German and English.
• Must comply with all company rules, policies, and procedures as outlined in the Employee Handbook.

• Ability to move around office and hangar environments throughout the day.
• Ability to climb stairs, ladders, and platforms safely.
• Must be able to sit, stand and possibly kneel for extended periods.
• Must occasionally lift and/or move up to 20 kilograms.
• Must occasionally crawl in confined spaces.
• Frequent use of hands, fingers, and wrists (including use of computer and office machines).

If you are interested in this position, please click here to complete the online application form.