A Day in the Life

Our employees are passionate about their roles and proud to be ambassadors for Affinity. We asked some of our team what it means to them to work for Affinity and what a day is like in the life of an Affinity crew member!

A Day in the Life of the IT Manager

How does your day start once you arrive at Affinity?

Every day starts by logging in to check my emails, Microsoft issue advisories, network status, and any faults that appear as users start their day.

List some of the key responsibilities you have:

IT Hardware faults
User Accounts and Access
Network
Phone System & Mobiles

Why did you want to become an IT Manager?

Natural progression from helping users with faults, configuring operating systems & phones to managing everything.

What do you enjoy the most about your job role?

The varied role, I can honestly say that two days are never the same and when I walk in the office in the morning, I have no idea what will transpire or what questions will need answered.

What do you like best about working for Affinity?

I’ll give 3 simple reasons;

As IT Manager I am given the responsibility to look after all the Information and Communication assets, I appreciate the trust between myself and management to deliver a service with minimal constraints.

The openness and friendliness of the company, when the Management say they operate an open door, they genuinely mean it.

Coming from a large Company where you are a name on a piece of Paper, in my opinion Affinity are different and do care about each individual, as a company Affinity are still relatively young, however as a team we are moving forward.

A Day in the Life of a Survival Equipment Supervisor

How does your day start once you arrive at Affinity?

My day starts with checking the flying programme and what work there is to do for the day.

List some of the key responsibilities you have:

I am a Survival Equipment Supervisor, which entails carrying out Fitting of AEA to Aircrew, Scheduled maintenance, rectifications, and repair of Aircrew Equipment.

Why did you want to become a Survival Equipment Supervisor?

Survival Equipment can be a very challenging and also satisfying and by becoming the Supervisor has made my job roll more full filling.

What do you enjoy the most about your job role?

I enjoy every aspect of my job, meeting new people, the challenges and satisfaction the job entails.

What do you like best about working for Affinity?

I like working for Affinity, due to fact that the company is fair, understanding and everyone is so friendly and cooperative.

A Day in the Life of RAF Barkston Heath Site Manager

How does your day start once you arrive at Affinity?

Typically on a standard day, when I arrive at Barkston the first thing I do is get a cup of coffee and check the diary and state of aircraft liaising with the B1 Engineer to then formulate the Daily State Sheet (listing the serviceability of the aircraft) and distribute this accordingly across all three sites encompassing the MOD and Ascent.

I then check my emails/calendar meetings and plan for the day. I often work closely with Ascent, and deal with any operational requirements that impact on the daily flying that need addressing, ensuring our dedicated customer care, the flight line activity is carried out in a safe, professional and enthusiastic manner.

Why did you want to become a Site Manager?

I am passionate about the work we do here and after leaving the RAF after 30 years and briefly working in Retail Management, I feel that my experience will be valuable in leading the team towards greater success. I had many years of managerial experience and learned primarily from leadership style choices and realized what works to motivate one person has the opposite effect on another.

What do you enjoy the most about your job role?

Being part of a decision making process and Continuous improvement to make our process more efficient, delivering good communications and building relationships with external customers. During my time as Affinity I have taken more responsibilities, as a relatively new company there are so many opportunities to improve efficiency.

What do you like best about working for Affinity?

I enjoy the people and team work. I like that I have room to grow within the company, and feel respected and valued for what I can bring to the company; the encouragement to come up with my own ideas and to provide input to the team is very important to me.

As Site Manager, I’m in charge of the day-to-day running of RAF Barkston Heath, which involves a range of daily activities; from liaising with Ascent, Licensed Engineers and Shift Leaders to keeping good communications with Cranwell and overseeing Flight Line Operations. There is such a wide range of activity on a Flight Line like this and as the students progress through their training no two days, or in fact any month, is the same.

A Day in the Life of the AEA Manager

How does your day start once you arrive at Affinity?

My day starts by having a cup of coffee with the staff and logging in and checking my calendar for the day and emails. I then either Teams or telephone my Aircrew Equipment Assemblies (AEA) staff at RAF Valley and RAF Barkston Heath to speak with them and check if there are any pressing issues that require my involvement. I then review what tasks need addressing for the day and make a start on these.

List some of the key responsibilities you have:

Responsibility for staff across 3 sites.
Ensuring AEA and Survival Equipment (SE) is maintained to the highest standards.
Ensuring that AEA is available for Qualified Flying Instructors’s and students.
Liaise with both the customer, the MoD and client, Ascent on all issues related to AEA and SE.
Provide SME advice on AEA and SE to departments within Affinity.

Why did you want to become an AEA Manager?

I left the RAF after 38 years’ service as a Survival Equipment Fitter having attained the rank of WO and was fortunate to have worked in a variety of posts from operational, training units to Project Teams as an Engineering Authority and Aviation Medicine units. I joined the KBR team at Leatherhead bidding for the UKMFTS Fixed Wing contract and having finally succeeded in being awarded the contract was asked to join Affinity as the AEA Manager and relocate to RAF Cranwell. One of the biggest attractions was having worked on the bid and then having the opportunity to deliver the service to the customer. In addition, being involved in a company right at the very beginning of its life has allowed allow me to have an influence in the development of the AEA and SE solutions.

What do you enjoy the most about your job role and working for Affinity?

I enjoy working with people across the whole company and the teamwork involved, I feel valued as an individual and feel respected as a tradesman. Having responsibility for AEA Departments at RAF Cranwell, RAF Barkston Heath and RAF Valley provides me with a varied and challenging working day, I really feel a part of the wider Affinity Team.

A Day in the Life of a B2 Licenced Aircraft Engineer

How does your day start once you arrive at Affinity?

I take a handover from the Shift Supervisor regarding the previous shifts work carried out, and any outstanding issues. Followed by a coffee whilst checking my emails and start to plan for the day ahead.

List some of the key responsibilities you have:

Routine maintenance on the flight line and in the hangar, plus the rectification of avionic defects as they arise.
I also stand in as Shift Supervisor to cover leave and training
I currently assist the Chief Engineer and Site Manager by carrying out the production side of planning and liaising with the CAMO team.

Why did you want to become a Licenced Engineer?

Probably from a life long interest in aviation and aircraft, not just especially Avionics. You wouldn’t get up at 04.20am in the morning and work outside in the rain/fog/wind/snow/blazing sunshine (all typical Valley weather) if you did not love your job!

What do you enjoy most about your job role?

The variety. One day I could be heavily involved in planning the manpower for a major hangar check, the next I could be chasing up ground equipment, or helping other trades trouble shoot defects.

What do you like best about working for Affinity?

The fact it is still a young and upcoming business that can hopefully benefit from my extensive 30+ experience.

A Day in the Life of a Driver/Handler

How does your day start once you arrive at Affinity?

I get a cup of tea and check my emails. I then prepare the flight line with ground equipment ready for the aircraft.

List some of the key resposibilities you have:

Carry out refuelling of the aircraft.
Assist Technicians with the movement of the aircraft and to assist with the maintenance & repair of aircraft.
Maintain the transport fleet.

Why did you want to become a Driver/Handler?

As someone that has always had an interest in aircraft and living near the airbase, I wanted to be part of that team and have better job prospects with the potential to further myself within the company.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I enjoy working as part of the team here, working alongside the Technicians and learning new skills/knowledge of the Texans through them. Its also job satisfaction helping Affinity and the RAF train new pilots and getting them to the front-line squadrons.

What do you like most about working for Affinity?

I like working for Affinity because of what it stands for and its objectives. The shift patterns work well for my family life too.

A Day in the Life of a Safety & Compliance Engineer

How does your day start once you arrive at Affinity?

My typical day starts around 07:45am with logging on and checking emails. I will then go and make a cuppa before walking through to Control to gain an awareness of the flying program and any issues that may affect Safety. After this the Safety & Compliance (S&C) team have a virtual catch up.

The day will then take its own turn despite the best of planning and preparation…something invariably pops up……safety never sleeps.

In addition to this, the S&C Department covers all three Affinity sites, therefore travel to RAF Barkston Heath and RAF Valley is included in my working plan.

List some of the key responsibilities you have:

My primary duty is to audit internal departments and external suppliers as required. I issue engineering Authorisations, ensure compliance to Regulations, produce Safety awareness articles and undertake occurrence investigations.

Why did you want to become a Safety & Compliance Engineer?

Having left the RAF after 23 years I found myself employed in the Oil & Gas industry. This gave me a real insight into regulatory compliance, Health & Safety and, in particular, Root Cause Investigation. After all it is an industry where everyone needs to understand what’s gone wrong (when it does) and to deal with it. Additionally, the feeling of “Empowerment” bestowed upon every individual, no matter their experience, was, in my opinion, fundamental in establishing a feeling of value and accountability. No one walked past an issue….they took ownership and got it sorted.

Following on I returned to the RAF as a reservist undertaking an Occurrence Investigator role. This further tweaked my interest from what I had experienced offshore. I gained a grounding in understanding how Human Factors influenced incidents and the subsequent implementation of recommendations to prevent reoccurrence.

My previous RAF experience combined with these two forays secured my current position where I feel I, as part of a small but very experienced team, make a real difference. I have a passion to analyse where things can be improved and introduce change, this role allows me to indulge this desire.

What do you enjoy the most about your job role?

I really enjoy the unexpected twists the role can throw at me. I can start the day planning for an audit and preparing some authorisations and before I know it, an occurrence will require investigating. Being flexible and above all else personable are traits that are essential. Meeting people and engaging with them on a variety of topics whilst also establishing a feeling of honesty and openness fit well with my personality. These are the reasons I enjoy my role so much.

What do you like best about working for Affinity?

I like the challenges Affinity offer, the working relationship with the Military and their regulations combined with the civilian regulations makes for a unique environment. Affinity, being a young company in terms of operating (not employees), is an exciting place where challenges are dealt with and overcome. The company has a family feel to it, with friendly and engaging staff. Going to work is an enjoyable experience and I feel valued and supported.