Shipboard Manual Machining Training Specialist

Job Description

Job Description

Shipboard Manual Machining Training Specialist

Location: Newport News, VA
Position Type: Full-Time | 1st Shift
Relocation Assistance: Available
Travel: None

Your morning begins on the shop floor—reviewing a training plan, checking a lathe setup, and walking a small group through safe start-up procedures. By mid-morning, you’re interpreting a complex blueprint with trainees, translating tolerances into real-world micrometer readings. After lunch, you pivot to the classroom for a mini-lesson on shaft alignment, then head back to the deck plates to coach live installations on shipboard equipment. You close the day documenting progress, updating qualification records, and conferring with production leadership on tomorrow’s priorities.

• Lead hands-on and instructor-led training that spans outside machining and shipboard mechanical tasks.
• Teach core manual machining processes: turning on engine lathes, milling (vertical/horizontal), drilling, and boring.
• Coach precision measurement and alignment techniques using micrometers, calipers, and dial indicators.
• Guide trainees in reading blueprints, technical drawings, and work packages, and applying them at the machine and onboard.
• Create and continually refine lesson plans, exercises, and job aids to match evolving production needs.
• Embed safety, quality, and shipyard procedures into every session and on-the-floor coaching moment.
• Assess skills through practical demonstrations, quizzes, and performance check-offs; track results accurately.
• Collaborate with supervisors and leads to pinpoint skill gaps and tailor training interventions.
• Provide real-time coaching at the point of work to reinforce best practices and drive efficiency.

• High School Diploma or GED holder.
• One of the following pathways: 6+ years as an outside machinist/manual machinist, or an apprenticeship/technical degree with relevant shop experience.
• Depth in manual machining operations (lathe, mill, drill, boring) and shipboard mechanical installation/troubleshooting.
• Comfort with precision tools and alignment methods; confident interpreting drawings and specs.
• Clear communicator who enjoys mentoring in an industrial/shipyard setting.

• Background as a trainer, instructor, lead, or foreman.
• Exposure to shipbuilding, naval, or heavy industry.
• Hands-on work with shaft alignment, pumps, valves, turbines, or propulsion equipment.
• Familiarity with NAVSEA standards or comparable quality frameworks.
• Experience designing or facilitating structured training programs.

• Active shipyard environment with heavy machinery and equipment, confined spaces, heat, noise, and physically demanding tasks.
• Regular standing, climbing, and hands-on demonstration are required.

• Develop specialized machinists who support mission-critical naval systems.
• Influence quality, safety, and production outcomes across key programs.
• Build a long-term career with a leading defense contractor on stable, meaningful work.

Support a premier shipbuilding operation in the Charleston area while based in Newport News, VA.

Work Authorization: U.S. Citizenship Required

• Blueprint Reading
• Boring mill
• Drill press
• Engine Lathe
• Instruction and facilitation
• Micrometers and precision measurement
• Shipboard operations
• Shipboard mechanical systems
• Teaching and coaching
• Vertical/Horizontal milling machines
• NAVSEA systems