Shop Manager – Industrial Rotating Equipment
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Employment Type: Full-Time
The Opportunity
An established industrial services organization is seeking an experienced Shop Manager to lead operations at a specialized repair facility supporting customers across the power generation, marine, manufacturing, and other heavy industrial sectors.
This is a hands-on leadership position overseeing the repair, refurbishment, machining, welding, inspection, and assembly of large industrial and rotating equipment.
The ideal candidate will have a strong background in precision machining and rotating-equipment repair, with enough technical depth to understand complex repair requirements, troubleshoot difficult jobs, support repair decisions, and effectively lead skilled machinists, welders, mechanics, and other shop personnel.
This is an opportunity for a highly experienced machinist or shop leader to take ownership of the day-to-day operation of a specialized industrial repair facility.
What You'll Be Doing
Shop Operations & Production
- Direct the day-to-day operation of the repair facility, including personnel, workflow, scheduling, equipment utilization, and production priorities.
- Plan and assign work based on project requirements, employee capabilities, available equipment, and current shop capacity.
- Review incoming equipment and components and determine appropriate inspection and repair requirements.
- Analyze work orders and establish realistic labor, machine-time, material, and completion requirements.
- Monitor production schedules and adjust priorities as customer requirements and job conditions change.
- Ensure repair work is completed efficiently, accurately, and within established deadlines.
- Maintain visibility into shop workload, manpower requirements, job priorities, and capacity.
- Step into hands-on machining or technical work when workload or specialized expertise requires it.
Rotating Equipment Repair
The facility supports repair and servicing of complex industrial equipment, including:
- Steam turbines
- Gas turbines
- Generators
- Diesel engines
- Pumps
- Marine equipment
- Other large rotating and industrial machinery
The Shop Manager will oversee repair activities from initial inspection and diagnosis through machining, fabrication, mechanical repair, quality inspection, assembly, and final delivery.
Machining & Technical Leadership
- Provide technical direction to machinists, mechanics, welders, and other skilled personnel.
- Review and interpret engineering drawings, blueprints, specifications, sketches, measurements, tolerances, and repair instructions.
- Diagnose difficult or unusual equipment conditions and help determine appropriate repair solutions.
- Assist Engineering with developing repair scopes, work instructions, drawings, specifications, and repair procedures.
- Evaluate whether damaged components should be repaired, reconditioned, or replaced.
- Determine whether work can be completed internally or should be outsourced to a qualified vendor or subcontractor.
- Coordinate machining, welding, mechanical repair, inspection, blasting, and other processes required to complete a repair.
- Ensure repair methods are practical, technically sound, and aligned with quality requirements.
Engineering, Quality & Customer Coordination
- Work closely with Engineering on technical requirements and repair approaches.
- Coordinate with Quality personnel throughout inspection, repair, and final assembly.
- Provide technical information to support estimates and customer quotations.
- Communicate with customers and sales personnel regarding project requirements, schedules, and changing conditions.
- Work with field-service personnel when components return from field outages for shop repair.
- Assist in resolving technical, scheduling, or production issues that could affect customer commitments.
Personnel Leadership
- Lead and supervise a team of skilled shop employees and contract personnel.
- Assign work according to individual skill levels, experience, workload, and project requirements.
- Monitor employee performance and provide ongoing feedback.
- Participate in hiring, performance evaluations, disciplinary actions, and other personnel decisions as appropriate.
- Schedule employee time off while maintaining appropriate shop coverage.
- Train and develop new and existing employees.
- Establish expectations for productivity, workmanship, safety, and professionalism.
- Build a strong team environment focused on quality and customer service.
Equipment, Tooling & Facility Management
- Oversee preventive maintenance activities for shop machinery and equipment.
- Monitor the condition and utilization of major machining equipment and determine when repair or replacement is necessary.
- Support specifications and purchasing decisions for new equipment.
- Maintain appropriate tooling, materials, and shop supplies.
- Ensure tools, equipment, containers, and inventory are properly maintained and accounted for.
- Coordinate purchasing and material requirements necessary to complete repair work.
Safety & Quality
- Enforce company safety policies and maintain a safe shop environment.
- Conduct or support regular shop inspections to identify safety and maintenance issues.
- Ensure required daily safety meetings are conducted and documented.
- Maintain good housekeeping and organization throughout the facility.
- Support internal quality procedures and ensure repair work meets established quality standards.
- Perform or participate in inspections of difficult or unusual repairs.
- Work with Quality personnel to address technical issues and ensure completed work meets requirements.
What We're Looking For
Required
- Approximately 10+ years of relevant experience in machine-shop operations, rotating-equipment repair, industrial maintenance, or heavy industrial repair.
- Strong machining background with comprehensive knowledge of machine-shop operations and precision machining.
- Demonstrated experience working with industrial rotating equipment.
- Ability to diagnose difficult or unusual equipment conditions and determine appropriate repair approaches.
- Strong understanding of machining equipment, tooling, materials, and repair processes.
- Ability to read and interpret technical drawings, specifications, blueprints, sketches, and job orders.
- Demonstrated ability to plan, assign, and supervise skilled technical personnel.
- Strong organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills.
- Computer proficiency, including the ability to use systems for scheduling, tracking, documentation, and reporting.
- High school diploma or equivalent.
Strongly Preferred
- Master Machinist-level experience or equivalent technical expertise.
- Previous supervisory or shop-management experience.
- Experience with turbine or turbomachinery repair.
- Experience with steam and/or gas turbine components.
- Background in aftermarket rotating-equipment services.
- Experience working with large conventional and/or CNC machining equipment.
- Experience coordinating machining, welding, mechanical repair, inspection, and assembly operations.
- Experience supporting power generation or other heavy industrial customers.
Technical Environment
This is a specialized industrial repair environment rather than a conventional high-volume manufacturing shop.
The operation utilizes large-scale machining and repair equipment, including lathes, milling equipment, boring equipment, saws, grinders, drills, welders, and related tooling.
The successful candidate should be technically capable of understanding what is happening on the shop floor and confident enough to challenge, troubleshoot, support, and make decisions regarding complex repair work.
Schedule & Work Environment
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Full-time
- Early-start shop environment, generally beginning around 7:00 AM
- Monday–Saturday operation, with actual hours varying according to workload and customer requirements
- Occasional overtime and schedule flexibility may be required.
- Some travel may be required for customer support, field-related jobs, or sales support.
Why Consider This Opportunity?
This is a hands-on leadership opportunity for someone who understands machining and industrial repair from the shop floor up.
Rather than managing a conventional production line, the Shop Manager will oversee technically demanding repair projects involving large rotating equipment where every job can have different requirements, tolerances, repair decisions, and customer expectations.
The role combines technical machining expertise, people leadership, production management, customer interaction, engineering coordination, and quality oversight—making it particularly well suited to an experienced Master Machinist, Turbine Repair Supervisor, Shop Foreman, or Rotating Equipment Shop Manager ready to take ownership of an entire operation.
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