Skilled Laborer

Hampton Roads area, Virginia // Non-exempt, hourly

THE ROLE

You support MEB's utility and mechanical crews on the work that has to be right before the pipe goes in: potholing, trench prep and trench box setup, bedding, backfill, and testing. This is the rung between Laborer and the trades, and it is where you build the skill that makes you a pipelayer or a fitter.

WHAT YOU WILL OWN

• Your own safety and the crew's. Keep your training current, follow trench safety requirements including box use, ladder access, and excavation limits, and stop work and tell supervision the moment something is unsafe.
• Pipe support. Assist pipelayers with placement, alignment, and joint preparation across storm, sanitary, water, and ductbank, and learn the differences between the materials as you go.
• Locating and excavation. Pothole and hand-excavate to find existing utilities, and support trench preparation and trench box setup.
• Bedding and backfill. Place and grade stone bedding to contract requirements, and support backfill, compaction, and dewatering operations including sump pumps and well points.
• Layout and grade checks. Read stakes and markings, and use a tape measure and builder's level under direction.
• System components. Assist with valves, fire hydrants, cleanouts, valve boxes, and manholes, and support testing, flushing, and chlorination.
• Tools and materials. Use hand and power tools within your training and authorization, keep them clean and stored, and stage and protect pipe, fittings, and materials ahead of the crew.
• Your own progression. Learn the installation methods, the terminology, and the sequencing. The next step is Pipelayer, and your progression is driven by your performance and skill development.

WHAT YOU BRING

• 1+ years of construction field experience. This role is designed for laborers ready to advance into utility or mechanical work
• Willingness to work in and around open trenches and excavation equipment every day
• Ability to read stakes and markings and use a tape measure and builder's level. Additional skills are taught on the job
• Safe use of hand and power tools, and the judgment to stop when a task falls outside your training
• Reliability. Show up on time ready to work, and tell your Foreman in advance if you cannot
• The habit of staging tools and materials before the crew needs them rather than after
• OSHA 10 preferred. We provide and maintain the required safety training: trenching and excavation, confined space, rigging, overhead powerline, fall protection, silica, and the rest
• High school diploma or GED preferred. Valid driver's license

WORK ENVIRONMENT

• Strenuous manual labor; carry, lift, and move up to 50 lbs without assistance
• Work in trenches and confined spaces on uneven, muddy ground, outdoors in all weather
• Climb, stoop, balance, and perform shovel and pick work, including repetitive lifting
• Required PPE at all times

COMPENSATION

The anticipated starting hourly rate for this position is $20 to $28.75 an hour. This is the range we expect to pay someone starting in this position. Where an offer lands within it depends on the experience you bring, the certifications and technical skills that apply to this work, the scope you have carried before, and what we pay people already doing equivalent work here. The range covers base pay. It is a starting range, not a ceiling. People move up through it and past it as they grow with us.

WHY MEB

• Employee ownership. MEB is employee owned. Through our ESOP, the people who build the work own the business behind it.
• Benefits. MEB pays the medical and dental premiums for our employees. We also offer vision, disability, and life insurance, FSA and HSA options, a matching 401(k), tuition reimbursement, a health and wellness program, and paid time off.
• Room to grow. Every craft ladder here is defined, from helper through foreman to craft superintendent, and it keeps going into field operations leadership. You will know what the next rung takes and we will tell you where you stand against it.
• Core values. Clients First, Safety Matters, and Family by Choice. You will see them on the jobsite, not just in the handbook.
• Who we are. Founded in 1982, MEB is a Virginia-based construction firm with more than 475 employees, headquartered in Chesapeake with a regional office in Richmond. We build resilient environments: projects that improve the communities we work in, locally and nationwide.
• What we build. Heavy civil is the core of what we do: our own crews and equipment self-perform water and wastewater treatment plants, pump stations, pipelines, utility systems, and industrial facilities, scope most general contractors subcontract out. We also build schools, public libraries, recreation and sports centers, and civic facilities across Virginia, and we are a national leader in aviation fueling systems and storage on government and military installations nationwide.

MEB General Contractors, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, marital status, military status, status as a victim of family abuse, or any other status protected by law.

MEB is proud to support those who have served. Veterans are encouraged to apply.

MEB participates in E-Verify and verifies the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees.

Employment is contingent on a pre-employment drug screen and a motor vehicle record check (as required).

Equal Opportunity Employer, including disabled and veterans.