Weld Shop Supervisor

Big Top Manufacturing, LLC•Flower Mound, TX

6d•Onsite

About The Position

For over four decades, Big Top has manufactured and installed high-performance fabric structures in the United States, delivering American-made quality, innovation, and reliability. We don’t just build shelters - we engineer solutions that optimize operations, safeguard assets, and provide a competitive edge for companies worldwide. With the support and financial backing of Altamont Capital Partners, we are in an exciting phase of growth, expansion, and innovation. This role leads department execution by setting priorities, aligning labor and resources, removing constraints, developing team capability, enforcing standards, and using performance data to drive decisions. The supervisor is accountable for building a reliable, disciplined, and scalable welding operation that supports current production needs and future business growth. This position reports directly to the Plant General Manager.

Requirements

Strong leadership skills with the ability to build accountability, coach employees, manage conflict, develop talent, and guide a diverse team.
Ability to lead through clear expectations, timely feedback, documented follow-up, and consistent accountability.
Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
Ability to read and interpret fabrication drawings, blueprints, work orders, travelers, specifications, and welding symbols.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, root-cause analysis, and decision-making abilities.
Detail-oriented, organized, and capable of managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
Ability to balance short-term production demands with long-term employee development, training, standard work, and process improvement priorities.
Ability to create, track, interpret, and improve departmental KPIs and performance measurements.
Ability to accurately use ERP/MRP systems, production tracking tools, production travelers, work orders, labor reporting, quality records, inventory transactions, and basic production documentation.
Ability to use ERP and operational data to identify constraints, evaluate performance, improve data accuracy, and support decision making.
Knowledge of steel fabrication processes, welding techniques, welding procedures, weld quality expectations, equipment operation, and shop safety requirements.
Proficient in Microsoft Office tools including Word, Excel, Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, and related business systems.
Reasoning ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, interpret technical instructions, evaluate options, and draw valid conclusions.
Mathematical ability to add, subtract, multiply, divide, and apply fractions, percentages, ratios, proportions, and production calculations to practical situations.
Language skills sufficient to read and interpret procedures, technical requirements, safety standards, work instructions, reports, business correspondence, and regulatory guidance; ability to write reports, procedures, correspondence, and employee documentation as required.
High school diploma or equivalent required.
Minimum 5 years of welding or fabrication experience in a manufacturing, production, or fabrication environment required.

Nice To Haves

Working knowledge of shop-floor KPIs, labor efficiency, schedule attainment, first-pass quality, rework reduction, 5S, Lean manufacturing, and continuous improvement practices preferred.
Minimum 2 years of demonstrated leadership, supervisory, lead, or equivalent shop leadership experience preferred.
Experience hiring, coaching, developing, managing performance, and addressing employee accountability preferred.
Experience developing employees, leading training, maintaining qualification expectations, and building bench strength preferred.
Experience implementing process improvements, solving recurring operational problems, and improving department performance preferred.
AWS welding certification, CWI/CWE exposure, or equivalent documented welding qualification experience preferred.
Experience using ERP/MRP, production reporting, labor tracking, quality records, work orders, production travelers, or manufacturing data systems preferred.
Experience in a quality-driven manufacturing environment preferred.

Responsibilities

Owns welding department performance for safety, quality, delivery, productivity, labor effectiveness, cost control, and employee capability.
Leads Welder I, Welder II, and Welder III employees by setting clear expectations, assigning work, coaching performance, addressing gaps, and enforcing consistent accountability.
Plans and adjusts daily department execution by aligning labor, equipment, materials, priorities, and constraints to meet production commitments.
Verifies work requirements by reviewing drawings, work orders, travelers, specifications, welding requirements, quality standards, and delivery expectations before and during execution.
Owns safe execution of welding work by ensuring compliance with PPE, equipment authorization, safety practices, documented procedures, and required inspections.
Owns weld quality and department conformance through first-piece checks, in-process inspections, quality reviews, handoff verification, and corrective action on nonconformance, rework, scrap, or recurring defects.
Develops workforce capability through onboarding, training, cross-training, qualification tracking, skills matrix maintenance, development planning, and succession/bench-strength preparation.
Supports full-cycle talent management for the welding department, including workforce planning, recruiting support, interviewing, selection input, onboarding, performance reviews, corrective action, and retention in partnership with Human Resources.
Creates, tracks, monitors, and improves department KPIs tied to safety, quality, delivery, productivity, labor efficiency, rework reduction, training completion, schedule performance, and continuous improvement.
Uses ERP, production, labor, inventory, quality, and employee capability data to identify risks, set priorities, allocate resources, solve constraints, and communicate department performance to plant leadership.
Owns ERP discipline and data integrity for labor reporting, production reporting, routing compliance, traveler completion, inventory transactions, work order execution, rework/scrap reporting, and employee transaction compliance.
Identifies and corrects reporting errors, transaction gaps, routing issues, inventory discrepancies, process breakdowns, and data integrity concerns that affect operational reliability.
Owns welding department SOPs, work instructions, standard work, training requirements, and operating procedures by ensuring they are implemented, followed, audited, updated, and improved as conditions change.
Converts tribal knowledge and undocumented practices into repeatable standards in partnership with Quality, Safety, Engineering, Operations, and plant leadership.
Ensures welding equipment, tools, fixtures, and supporting assets are inspected, maintained, calibrated as required, available for production, and escalated before risks affect safety, quality, or delivery.
Maintains accurate department records for production output, labor hours, training, qualifications, employee performance, material usage, rework, scrap, quality findings, safety concerns, and corrective actions.
Builds a disciplined and engaged work environment by promoting teamwork, addressing conflict early, reinforcing accountability, and correcting performance or behavior issues promptly.
Leads continuous improvement actions that improve safety, quality, throughput, labor utilization, standard work, employee capability, and overall department performance.
Performs other duties as assigned.