Engineering Build Supervisor

GTI Fabrication; Buffalo (NY); On-site; USD 106,000 - 142,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical Insurance

401(k) Matching

Paid Time Off

Holidays

Sick Time

Life Insurance

Disability Coverage

Career Growth

Manufacturing Exposure

Safety Culture

Job summary

GTI Fabrication is seeking an Engineering Build Supervisor to lead hands-on prototype, FOK, and pre-production fabrication activities on the shop floor in Buffalo, NY. You will supervise welders, fabricators, fitters, and other skilled trades, ensuring work is safe, correct, and aligned with engineering definitions.

The role requires strong welding and fabrication knowledge, frontline supervisory experience, and disciplined execution.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• 7+ years of progressive welding, fabrication, metalworking, or related manufacturing experience.
• 3+ years of lead/foreman/supervisory experience overseeing skilled trades.
• Strong practical knowledge of welding and metal-fabrication processes.
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, dimensions, tolerances, weld symbols, and specifications.
• Coordinate daily labor assignments and shop priorities across multiple active work fronts.
• Strong commitment to safety, quality, accountability, and disciplined execution.
• Strong communication skills for priorities, status, risks, and technical concerns.

Responsibilities

• Supervise daily prototype, FOK, engineering validation, and pre-production build activities.
• Translate build priorities into clear daily work assignments for welders and technicians.
• Monitor build progress, labor utilization, and schedule risks; provide frontline leadership and coaching.
• Ensure work adheres to approved drawings, specifications, and weld requirements.

Skills

Welding

Fabrication

Leadership

Blueprint reading

Safety

Communication

Quality focus

Labor planning

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Job description

GTI is a contract manufacturing partner supporting customers in renewable energy, power generation, infrastructure, and industrial systems.

We fabricate custom designed, purpose-built enclosures and skids for our customers and perform mechanical and electrical integration in-house, delivering a true turn‑key product to our customers. Our scope spans Engineering, prototype builds, through full production, requiring teams that can move fast, adapt, and execute with precision.

GTI Values: Safety I Quality I Customer Obsession I Speed I Agility

Position Overview

The Engineering Build Supervisor is responsible for the day-to-day supervision and execution of prototype, First-of-Kind (FOK), engineering validation, and pre-production fabrication activities.

Reporting to the Engineering Build Manager, this role directly supervises welders, fabricators, fitters, assemblers, and other skilled trades personnel. The focus is straightforward: build safely, correctly, efficiently, and to the approved engineering definition.

This is a hands‑on, shop‑floor leadership role requiring strong welding and fabrication knowledge, frontline supervisory experience, and disciplined execution. The Engineering Build Supervisor is expected to identify issues early, maintain strong visibility to active work, and elevate design, documentation, material, tooling, or quality concerns rather than allowing undocumented workarounds.

Practical fabrication expertise and frontline leadership are more important than a college degree for this position.

Key Responsibilities

Build Execution & Workforce Leadership

• Supervise daily prototype, FOK, engineering validation, and pre‑production build activities.
• Translate build priorities into clear daily work assignments for welders, fabricators, fitters, assemblers, and other assigned personnel.
• Monitor build progress, labor utilization, workmanship, rework, constraints, and schedule risks throughout the shift.
• Provide frontline leadership, coaching, performance feedback, and accountability to skilled‑trades personnel.

Welding, Fabrication & Quality

• Provide practical oversight of welding, fitting, fabrication, metalworking, assembly, and related shop‑floor activities.
• Ensure work is performed to approved drawings, specifications, weld requirements, tolerances, procedures, and acceptance criteria.
• Monitor fit‑up, alignment, dimensional condition, weld preparation, distortion, assembly quality, and overall workmanship.
• Verify correct materials, components, consumables, tooling, fixtures, and equipment are being used.

Drawing Compliance & Issue Escalation

• Ensure employees work from the latest approved drawings, specifications, redlines, BOM information, and authorized instructions.
• Identify fabrication, fit‑up, material, tooling, documentation, and design issues early and engage the appropriate Engineering or Quality owner.
• Stop and elevate work when requirements are unclear, conflicting, incomplete, or impractical.
• Prevent unauthorized modifications, material substitutions, obsolete documentation, and undocumented “make‑it‑fit” corrections.

Safety & Cross‑Functional Support

• Enforce applicable safety requirements, including PPE, hot‑work, LOTO, machine guarding, lifting, material handling, and housekeeping standards.
• Coordinate inspections, hold points, nonconformance activities, rework, and repair with Engineering and Quality.
• Maintain a clean, organized, controlled engineering‑build environment and support 5S, visual management, tool control, and continuous improvement.
• Partner with Design Engineering, Welding Engineering, Quality, and Manufacturing Engineering to provide practical feedback on manufacturability, fit, access, tooling, assembly sequence, and production readiness.

Requirements

Required Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• 7+ years of progressive experience in welding, fabrication, metalworking, industrial assembly, prototype fabrication, or a related manufacturing environment.
• 3+ years of lead, foreman, or supervisory experience overseeing welders, fabricators, fitters, assemblers, or other skilled‑trades personnel.
• Strong practical knowledge of welding and metal‑fabrication processes.
• Ability to read and interpret engineering and fabrication drawings, dimensions, tolerances, weld symbols, and specifications.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate daily labor assignments, shop priorities, and multiple active work fronts.
• Ability to distinguish workmanship issues from design, documentation, material, tooling, or engineering issues.
• Strong commitment to safety, quality, accountability, and disciplined shop‑floor execution.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to clearly communicate priorities, build status, risks, and technical concerns.
• Ability to perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.

Preferred Qualifications

• Trade‑school credential, apprenticeship, welding certification, or other relevant technical training.
• Experience supporting prototype, First‑of‑Kind, engineering validation, or low‑volume/pre‑production builds.
• Experience with large welded structures, fabricated enclosures, skids, modular equipment, or similar products.
• Experience working closely with Design Engineering, Welding Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, and Quality.
• Familiarity with weld procedures, dimensional inspection, nonconformance processes, rework controls, and engineering change control.
• Experience with 5S, visual management, continuous improvement, and shop‑floor organization.

Benefits & Perks

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) with company match (where applicable)
• Paid Time Off (PTO) and paid holidays
• Sick time in accordance with state and local requirements
• Company‑paid life insurance and disability coverage
• Career advancement opportunities within a rapidly growing organization
• Exposure to advanced manufacturing, modular infrastructure, and large‑scale industrial projects
• Collaborative, fast‑paced environment with strong operational and engineering leadership
• Employee‑focused culture centered on safety, quality, accountability, and continuous improvement
• Benefits eligibility and offerings may vary based on position, location, and employment classification.

$106,000 - $142,000 a year

GTI promotes a diverse and inclusive workforce and is an Equal Opportunity Employer that does not discriminate against employees or applicants for employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, age, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military or veteran status, marital status, or any other Federal or State legally‑protected classes. We also value the safety of all employees and work hard to maintain a Drug Free Workplace.

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