Foreperson
A foreperson is the ship's technician equivalent of a Task Unit leader, an individual experienced enough in a field that they are qualified to train others and direct a group's actions on the day to day level and in case of emergencies.
Qualifications
Depending on the branch of technician an individual works in, citizenship may be a requirement (especially for weapons techs). In all cases, however, at least several years of experience, sometimes as high as ten, are required before a candidate can even be considered fit to train others.
Requirements
Depending on the specialty of the technician, an individual may require up to or exceeding a decade of experience in the field before being considered for the position. The stand-out example is engine technicians, who work with the notoriously complicated inner workings of ships' engines, but second place in this regard goes to some branches of weapons technicians, which also often involve many moving parts (and in some cases, the ability to effortlessly and efficiently coordinate many people to perform a single action).
Appointment
Typically a foreperson is appointed by other forepeople, usually in an informal council of sorts, as someone who has demonstrated over their career up to that point sufficient skill and understanding in a given field to begin passing that knowledge on to others.
Responsibilities
The foreperson is responsible for managing the day-to-day tasks of a team of technicians, although many technicians are also by and large self-directed. Many forepeople also take it upon themselves to make rounds at the end of a workday in order to ensure everything remains in working order (this is a plot point in urban legends like The Attack on the Jaan).
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