Pipe Welding-Team Leadership role

Kernohan Engineering; Nelson; On-site; NZD 50,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Learning & development opportunities

Job summary

Kernohan Engineering in Nelson, NZ, is seeking a Team Leader for our pipe welding business. You will lead a hands-on crew of tradespeople, delivering pipe fabrication and welding solutions for fisheries, food production, and marine industries on site.

You will apply your extensive welding knowledge and leadership to coach and develop the team, read drawings, and maintain high safety and quality standards while growing the business.

Qualifications

• Trade qualification in welding or engineering is required.
• Minimum 5 years of hands-on pipe fabrication experience preferred.
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings.
• Excellent communication and team leadership skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a team of tradespeople in pipe welding projects.
• Oversee on-site production across fisheries, food, marine sectors.
• Drive safe work practices and continuous improvement.
• Proactively seek and secure additional work opportunities for the team.

Job description

Kernohan Engineering – Nelson City, South Island

• Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setter, Operator and Tender
• Great learning and development opportunity
• A great team, great brand, and a fast growing business
• Minimum 40-hour week, competitive hourly rate plus generous O/T and other allowances.

Due to company growth, we need a Team Leader for our pipe welding business. Is that you?

About the role

Our Team Leaders have really stepped up as our business has grown and are now a key part of our operations. they play a proactive hands‑on leadership role overseeing teams of professional tradespeople providing trade engineering expertise to a wide and varied range of customers including fisheries, food production, aquaculture and marine, sawmills, MDF/LVL manufacturing and more.

Working in both stainless and mild steel, you and your team will be creating pipe solutions for a varied range of industries, including fisheries, food manufacturing, waste water and marine.

So, in this role you will get to use your extensive pipe skills, knowledge and abilities to manage diverse on‑the‑job technical challenges. You will also get the chance to really extend your existing leadership experience through proactively leading, training and coaching your team.

About you

Trade qualified in a relevant engineering discipline, you could be in an existing foreman/supervisory role but ready for a changeup, or you could be an experienced tradie or leading hand who has demonstrated the leadership potential for that next step up. Either way you will be:

• An excellent communicator, able to build and maintain positive relationships with customers, suppliers, contractors and staff.
• Unafraid of proactively seeking additional work opportunities for your team
• Comfortable using computer software (e.g. word, excel, JobPro)
• Keen to use your excellent diagnostic and fault‑finding skills to resolve customer problems.

You don't want just a job, but a career step where you are expected to think for yourself and make decisions. You want to be given the opportunity to not only grow your leadership skills and to be fairly rewarded for your talent, but to also grow the skills of your team in order to create a group of high‑performance professionals like yourself.

You are definitely someone who relishes being trusted to do what you do best- work smart, work safe, find solutions, and own what you do.

As a minimum, you will ideally have:

• Practical hands‑on experience in pipe fabrication (minimum 5 years preferred).
• A solid knowledge of welding, including working to ASME IX or similar standards.
• A good working knowledge of machines, tools and equipment used in both pipe welding and fabrication work.
• Stainless steel experience (not essential but would be a definite an advantage).
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings.
• Current Drivers Licence - Class One, minimum or capable of gaining this.

About us

We have an excellent reputation as an employer, one that genuinely cares about the people who are part of our team, no matter what role they are in. Providing expert maintenance services to multiple industries has been a key part of our business since 1972.It can be a complex and risky job, and we stand by our commitment to deliver services safely, to the right standard, on budget and on time. We routinely help customers with:

• planned 24/7 shutdowns.
• emergency break downs and call outs.

Our Nelson facilities are a great base from which to service both local and nationwide customers.With years of experience providing specialist maintenance services to nationwide customers, we’ve had ample opportunity to refine our skills in mobilising people and plant.And now you can be part of all of this!

Applicants for this position will already have NZ citizenship or residency or if not, the capacity to gain a valid work visa.

Kernohan Engineering Ltd is an Accredited Employer with Immigration NZ.

You must also be able to pass a pre‑employment medical assessment, including a drug-and alcohol screen.