Weld School Manager

NABRICO Marine Products•Ashland City, TN

3d•Onsite

About The Position

NABRICO Marine Products is seeking a safety-oriented, experienced Weld School Manager to lead and develop the Welding School at its Ashland City, Tennessee, barge manufacturing facility. The role is responsible for creating and managing comprehensive welding training programs to build, qualify, and retain a skilled workforce that can safely produce high-quality barge products in accordance with approved welding procedures, applicable codes, fabrication drawings, and customer requirements. The Weld School Manager oversees curriculum development, classroom and hands-on instruction, welder qualification testing, and on-the-job training. The manager establishes consistent training standards, develops instructional materials, monitors employee progress, and ensures employees gain the technical knowledge and practical experience needed to meet production and quality expectations. Working with Welding School Instructors and the Production, Quality, Safety, Maintenance, and Human Resources teams, the manager identifies skill gaps, sets training priorities, supports employees’ transition into production, and improves training effectiveness. This is a hands-on leadership role requiring welding expertise, instructional and coaching ability, strong organization, and commitment to safety, quality, and employee development. NABRICO Marine Products, Inc., is part of NABRICO's Inland Barge Group and manufactures barges and marine products for the U.S. inland waterway system. Its products include dry cargo and tank barges, fiberglass hopper barge covers, and marine deck hardware.

Requirements

High school diploma or GED required.
Five or more years of progressively responsible welding experience in manufacturing, fabrication, marine, structural-steel, heavy-equipment, or a similar industrial environment.
Demonstrated proficiency in FCAW, SAW, and SMAW welding processes.
Ability to perform and evaluate flat, horizontal, vertical, and overhead fillet and groove welds, including 1F through 4F and 1G through 4G positions.
Experience conducting visual weld inspections and using weld-inspection tools, including fillet weld gauges, undercut gauges, amp/volt meters, wire-feed-speed meters, and gas-flow meters.
Ability to identify weld defects, determine likely causes, teach corrective techniques, and verify corrective actions.
Strong working knowledge of WPSs, weld symbols, fabrication drawings, and blueprint interpretation.
Working knowledge of AWS D1.1, ABS, and/or other applicable welding codes and standards.
Understanding of welding filler metals, base materials, consumables, shielding gases, flux handling, preheat, interpass temperature, weld sequencing, distortion control, and common weld discontinuities.
Ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to employees with varying levels of welding experience.
Strong instructional, leadership, coaching, problem-solving, conflict-resolution, and organizational skills.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including developing training documentation and communicating employee progress to management.
Ability to manage competing priorities and collaborate with Production, Quality, Safety, Maintenance, Human Resources, and plant leadership.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and ability to maintain accurate electronic and paper records.
Regular and predictable attendance, a strong safety mindset, a positive attitude, and ability to work effectively with a team toward operational and quality goals.
Ability to work first shift and support alternate shifts, overtime, or weekend training as business needs require.

Nice To Haves

Technical degree, vocational training, or formal coursework in welding technology, manufacturing, quality, or a related field.
Two or more years of experience in welding leadership, supervision, technical instruction, employee training, or workforce development.
Experience developing training curriculum, instructional materials, skill assessments, or structured employee training programs.
Experience overseeing OJT, mentoring employees, or coordinating trainees’ transition into production.
Experience with plasma cutting, oxyfuel cutting, and air-carbon-arc gouging.
Experience maintaining welder qualification, testing, training, calibration, and continuity records.

Responsibilities

Lead, coach, develop, and hold Welding School Instructors and welder candidates accountable for performance, attendance, safety, and training progress.
Manage daily Welding School operations and set priorities based on onboarding, qualification needs, employee development, production demands, and workforce needs.
Develop, implement, maintain, and evaluate structured welding training programs, learning objectives, instructional standards, performance expectations, and qualification benchmarks.
Create and maintain curriculum, lesson plans, instructional guides, presentations, visual aids, practice exercises, assessments, and other training materials.
Ensure training aligns with approved Welding Procedure Specifications (WPSs), applicable codes, company standards, and production requirements.
Establish training plans and measurable milestones for employees at varying skill levels.
Develop and oversee classroom and hands-on instruction covering welding safety, processes, equipment operation, welding symbols, blueprint reading, measurements, fit-up, joint preparation, weld inspection, and applicable procedures.
Develop training modules for FCAW, SAW, SMAW, plasma cutting, oxyfuel cutting, air-carbon-arc gouging, and other processes required by plant operations.
Standardize training exercises, weld practice requirements, testing criteria, and competency assessments across instructors.
Verify trainees meet required knowledge, technical proficiency, safe-work practices, and weld-quality standards before advancing or testing for qualification.
Revise curriculum as procedures, equipment, production processes, quality requirements, codes, or standards change.
Provide direct instruction, demonstrations, coaching, and remediation to support trainee development and welding performance.
Develop and oversee structured OJT programs that connect Welding School instruction with production requirements.
Coordinate OJT assignments with Production leadership, identify qualified trainers or mentors, and ensure appropriate hands-on experience.
Set OJT objectives, task checklists, competency requirements, evaluation methods, and completion criteria.
Monitor OJT performance, gather feedback, and verify employees perform assigned work safely and to quality standards.
Prepare employees for transition from Welding School to production and provide additional coaching or remediation when needed.
Track training and OJT progress, document competencies, and communicate readiness for production placement or qualification testing.
Partner with Production supervisors and Human Resources on onboarding, skill development, cross-training, career progression, and retention.
Identify recurring production skill gaps and implement refresher training or corrective instruction.
Oversee welder qualification, testing, requalification, and continuity requirements in accordance with applicable codes, approved procedures, and company requirements.
Prepare welder candidates for qualification testing and maintain training, testing, qualification, continuity, performance, and remediation records.
Monitor trainee progress and recommend advancement, further training, reassignment, or removal from the program when appropriate.
Inspect training and production welds as needed for compliance with approved WPSs, fabrication drawings, visual acceptance criteria, and applicable codes.
Troubleshoot and provide technical guidance on welding technique, defects, equipment, parameters, consumables, fit-up, and joint preparation.
Identify likely causes of weld discontinuities and quality issues, teach corrective techniques, and verify improvement.
Work with Quality and Production leadership to address weld defects, training gaps, rework trends, and production challenges.
Support root-cause analysis, corrective actions, and process improvements involving weld quality, welder performance, equipment, and nonconforming product.
Ensure Welding School activities meet company safety policies, hot-work requirements, PPE standards, housekeeping expectations, environmental requirements, and applicable regulations.
Promote a safety-focused training environment and ensure employees understand safe equipment operation, hazards, and proper work practices.
Recommend and implement improvements to training efficiency, qualification success, weld quality, productivity, safety, and graduate retention.
Participate in internal, customer, and third-party audits and code or regulatory reviews involving welding qualifications, procedures, training records, and quality systems.
Maintain Welding School equipment, training stations, inspection tools, consumables, and resources in safe, functional condition.
Monitor calibration status, preventive maintenance, consumable inventory, flux storage, and oven logs; coordinate repairs and maintenance as needed.
Ensure current WPSs, work instructions, curriculum, training materials, weld gauges, and inspection tools are available and controlled.
Maintain organized, accurate, accessible training records, qualification documentation, OJT evaluations, and employee progress reports.
Communicate school performance, trainee progress, qualification readiness, training capacity, quality trends, and improvement opportunities to plant leadership and stakeholders.
Support interviewing, onboarding, mentoring, performance management, attendance accountability, and workforce-development initiatives for Welding School personnel.
Perform other duties and special projects as assigned.