Lead Fabricator - Metal Fabrication

Job Description

Job Description

Fargo Woodworks builds heirloom-quality furniture by hand — conference tables, executive desks, reception desks and sideboards that ship to offices across the country. Every piece is made to order right here in Fargo. Nothing is mass-produced, nothing is outsourced, and nothing leaves this shop that we wouldn't put in our own homes.

We're growing, and we're building the kind of shop people want to stay at: clear standards, real ownership of your area, and the equipment and system to do the job right the first time. If you take pride in your work and want to get better at it, you'll do well here.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Hands-on working lead for Fargo Woodworks’ two-person Metal Fab team. This role fabricates custom

furniture components while owning daily priorities, deadlines, quality, problem-solving, teammate development, and the systems, tooling, and capacity the department needs to grow.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Perform hands-on fabrication for custom furniture components and related metalwork from start to finish.
• Read and work from drawings, dimensions, specifications, and project requirements.
• Lay out, cut, fit, MIG weld, grind, finish, and inspect work with a high standard for quality and appearance.
• Own the Metal Fab production schedule and meet the internal handoff dates that downstream departments and customer commitments depend on.
• Plan and coordinate daily priorities for a two-person department, balancing urgent needs with upcoming work so deadlines do not become last-minute surprises.
• Train, coach, and share practical fabrication knowledge with your teammate and future hires.
• Take ownership of jobs through completion, including identifying schedule risks, resolving issues, communicating status early and accurately, and creating a recovery plan when work is at risk.
• Develop practical shop standards, repeatable processes, fixtures, documentation, and quality checks that support greater capacity and consistency.
• Troubleshoot unfamiliar or one-off fabrication challenges and recommend solutions that balance design intent, strength, appearance, time, and cost.
• Collaborate closely with woodworking, design, engineering, production, and leadership to prevent handoff issues and keep the entire shop moving.
• Maintain an organized, safe, and production-ready work area, equipment, and material flow.
• Help evaluate and prioritize equipment, tooling, workflow, staffing, and department investments as the company grows.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• Strong professional experience in metal fabrication and MIG welding, with the ability to produce accurate, clean, high-quality work independently.
• Demonstrated experience leading, training, mentoring, or directing the work of at least one other fabricator or tradesperson.
• Proficiency in layout, cutting, fitting, welding, grinding, and finishing.
• Ability to read fabrication drawings and translate dimensions and specifications into completed work.
• Excellent mechanical reasoning and a practical, resourceful approach to problem-solving.
• A demonstrated ability to plan work, manage priorities, and consistently meet production or project
• deadlines.
• A strong ownership mentality: anticipate needs, communicate risks early, follow through on commitments, and understand how the work affects coworkers and customers.
• Ability to balance hands-on production with day-to-day coordination, schedule management, and process improvement.
• Resourcefulness and sound judgment when producing custom work with a practical, evolving set of shop tools.
• Consistent attention to safety, quality, organization, and on-time delivery.
• Willingness to work full-time on-site in Fargo, North Dakota.
• Ability to perform the essential physical functions of a fabrication role, with or without reasonable
• accommodation.
• Preferred: Experience fabricating furniture, architectural metalwork, fixtures, railings, or other appearance critical custom products.
• Preferred: Experience working with steel tubing, plate, and other furniture-grade materials and profiles.
• Preferred: Experience building jigs or fixtures and improving repeatability in a custom or low-volume
• production environment.
• Preferred: Experience with quality-control systems, shop documentation, production scheduling, estimating, or continuous improvement.
• Preferred: Experience helping a growing shop select, implement, or improve tooling and equipment.
• Preferred: Interest in growing into broader department leadership as the team and company expand.

WHAT WINNING LOOKS LIKE IN THIS ROLE

• This is a working lead role, not a desk-based supervisor position; spend most of your time actively
• fabricating while guiding the department’s daily work.
• Treat Metal Fab as a critical link in the production schedule: a late base or leg handoff can delay the entire shop and the customer’s order.
• Plan ahead, manage competing priorities, protect committed dates, and surface risks early rather than
• allowing last-minute surprises.
• When a deadline is at risk, communicate early, create and execute a recovery plan, step in wherever needed, and stay with the work until it is complete.
• Keep safety and quality first while delivering dependable, on-time work.
• Produce excellent work with today’s MIG welders, welding tables, and core cutting, fitting, grinding, and
• finishing equipment; large automated equipment is not currently available.
• Coach the existing fabricator and future hires with clear, practical direction and useful knowledge sharing.
• Help shape the department’s processes, tooling, equipment investments, staffing, and capacity as Fargo Woodworks grows.
• Embrace the opportunity to take on broader department leadership as the team and company expand.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

Ability to perform the essential physical functions of a fabrication role, including standing, moving, handling material, welding, grinding, bending, and lifting typical shop components, with or without reasonable accommodation.

WHAT WE OFFER

• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Steady, year-round full-time work — we're growing, not seasonal
• Real ownership of your area, not just a task list handed to you
• Modern equipment and a clean, organized shop that's set up to win
• Training and room to grow — as we grow, we promote from within
• Work you can point at: furniture built to last generations, shipped nationwide

WHO THRIVES HERE

• You take pride in what you build and you care how it turns out
• You show up on time, every day, and people can count on you
• You'd rather own your area than be told what to do all day
• You speak up when something's wrong instead of passing the problem downstream
• You want to get better at your craft, not just collect a paycheck
• Straight talk: this is real work at a real standard. If you're looking to coast, this isn't the shop for you.

Fargo Woodworks designs and builds premium handcrafted furniture for residential and commercial spaces across the country. Every piece is made to order in Fargo by a growing team committed to exceptional craftsmanship, dependable execution, continuous improvement, and creating products that last for generations.

Company Description

Fargo Woodworks designs and builds premium handcrafted furniture for residential and commercial spaces across the country. Every piece is made to order in Fargo by a growing team committed to exceptional craftsmanship, dependable execution, continuous improvement, and creating products that last for generations.