CNC Lathe Machinist

CNC Lathe Machinist

Phoenix Laser Solutions is the largest YAG laser welding house in North America. We run five facilities across the Midwest and serve aerospace, medical, defense, and injection mold customers — work that's harder to find under one roof anywhere else in the region. We do precision repair, modification and assembly that most weld shops can't touch. Our team machines the parts that go into our own laser-welded assemblies and the custom automation our engineers build for our customers.

What that means for you: your work is visible end-to-end. You see the customer, you know the part, and you watch it ship. There's no production black box.

What This Role Is

We're hiring a CNC Lathe Machinist with hands-on experience running and setting up lathes. This is an operator-track role — you'll run jobs, own setups, and edit programs at the machine when something needs tuning. You don't need to write programs in CAM (that's a separate role we hire for separately), but if you're curious, the path to programming is open to anyone who wants it.

You'll work in a high-mix shop with senior operators and programmers next to you, on lathes from a manual ProtoTrak through multi-axis DMG MORI turning centers.

Career Path

• Experienced Operator — Run jobs unattended, own standard setups, adjust offsets and feeds at the machine.
• Mid Operator — Own complex setups, troubleshoot independently, make basic program tweaks at the machine.
• Senior Operator — Own proto and development jobs, edit programs fluently at the machine, mentor floor operators.
• (Optional) Cross to Programmer track — Add CAM programming and move to the Programmer ladder.

Movement up the ladder is based on demonstrated skill, not tenure. We'll tell you exactly what each step requires.

What You'll Do

• Run CNC lathe jobs across a mix of materials and tolerances.
• Set up jobs from prints and travelers — choose tooling, dial in feeds and speeds.
• Read prints fluently (including GD&T callouts).
• Adjust tool offsets, feeds, and make basic program edits at the machine when something needs tuning.
• Inspect first articles and document FAIs.
• Troubleshoot when a setup or program isn't behaving — and lean on senior programmers or operators when you hit something outside your wheelhouse.
• Look for ways to shave cycle time, extend tool life, and improve quality. Your ideas will get heard.

What We're Looking For

Required

• 1+ year of CNC lathe operating experience. Other CNC backgrounds (mill, multi-tasking, manual) considered if you want to cross-train onto lathes.
• Comfortable reading prints, including GD&T symbols and callouts.
• Able to perform your own setups on standard jobs.
• Able to make basic edits to programs at the machine — tool offsets, feeds, speeds.
• Attention to detail and pride in tight-tolerance work.

Nice to Have (not required — we can train)

• Multi-axis turning experience.
• Reading G-code fluently.
• Experience with FANUC, MAPPS, or CELOS controls.
• High-mix / short-run shop experience.
• Background in aerospace, medical, or defense components.
• CAM exposure (ESPRIT, Mastercam, Fusion) — if you want to grow toward programming.

No formal degree required. If you've got the skills, we want to talk.

Schedule

Full-time, day shift, Monday–Friday. 40-hour (7:00am–3:00pm) or 45-hour (7:00am–4:00pm) weeks available.

Pay

$18–$29/hr depending on level and experience. Placement based on a skills assessment when you come in — experienced operators start in the middle of the band, senior operators at the top. We'd rather start you fairly than haggle.

Benefits

• Health coverage — Health, dental, and vision insurance — choice of two plans: a fully company-paid plan, or a premium plan with employee contribution.
• Income protection — Company-paid life insurance, short-term disability, and long-term disability.
• Retirement — Simple IRA with up to 3% employer match.
• Holidays — 8 paid holidays, including the day after Thanksgiving.
• Paid time off — Paid time off that grows with tenure, up to four weeks annually. Unused PTO is paid out each year, not lost.
• Leave — Bereavement leave, jury duty pay, and military leave as needed.
• Tool Purchase Account — Get the tools you need now and pay them back through payroll over time.
• Educational reimbursement — Tuition and books for approved coursework that builds your skills.
• Work environment — Climate-controlled, well-lit shop with modern equipment.
• Reviews — Annual performance reviews with merit-based raises.
• Career ladder — Experienced → Mid → Senior, with stated criteria at each step.