Senior Shipbuilding Production Advisor

Confidential Maritime Startup; United States; Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential Maritime Startup in the United States seeks a Senior Shipbuilding Production Advisor to run production on a shipyard floor and guide digital transformation. You will sit with software engineers and translate real-world workflows from steel receipt to erection, then help superintendents, foremen and planners adopt new digital tools without slowing work.

Travel to Gulf Coast yards, 10–25% of the time, and establish production metrics, lead pilot rollouts, and ensure the floor aligns

Qualifications

• 12+ years in steel ship new construction, with at least 5 years in a production leadership role
• Direct experience on medium to large steel vessels (roughly 200 ft and up)
• Hands-on knowledge of steel fabrication: plate and profile processing, CNC/plasma cutting, panel lines, welding processes and procedures
• Working knowledge of outfitting: pipe, electrical, HVAC, machinery installation, zone outfitting and pre-outfitting of blocks
• Experience with production planning: work packages, build strategy, schedules, labor estimating and progress measurement
• Comfortable working with software and data, and willing to explain production to engineers who have never been in a yard
• Clear communicator who can work at the deckplate and in the boardroom
• US citizen (required for work on defense programs)

Responsibilities

• Act as the shipbuilding subject matter expert for our software team: translate production realities into clear requirements and acceptance criteria
• Review and test automations and workflows against how the floor actually operates
• Lead digital transformation engagements at customer shipyards: map current-state processes from steel receipt through cutting, panel line, sub-assembly, block assembly, outfitting, erection and test
• Identify automation and data-capture opportunities on the floor, and help prioritize them by schedule, cost and labor impact
• Build trust with yard leadership, superintendents, foremen and planners. Run working sessions, walkthroughs and pilot rollouts on site
• Help define production metrics and KPIs that the software reports
• Coach our team on shipyard terminology, safety culture, union and trade dynamics, and Navy program expectations
• Support proposals and customer demos with credible production expertise

Skills

Production planning

Data-driven decisions

Cross-functional communication

Shipyard operations

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's degree in a related field

Tools

ShipConstructor

AVEVA

NX/Teamcenter

Primavera

Job description

Title: Senior Shipbuilding Production Advisor (Production Superintendent, Digital Transformation)

Location: US-based, hybrid. Regular travel to customer shipyards (Gulf Coast and beyond), roughly 10 to 25 percent.

Reports to: Head of Delivery / Programs

About us

We are an early-stage, dual-use AI startup building an AI-native production layer for complex industrial projects. Our platform turns fragmented engineering, planning, material and execution data into a living production model that connects what needs to be built, how it should be built, what it depends on, and what is ready to execute now.

We are starting in U.S. shipbuilding, where we work today with a major U.S. shipbuilder, and are expanding to work directly with the U.S. Navy and the energy sector. The team is small, senior and hands-on, and we build with AI agents as part of how we work every day.

About the role

We build software that helps shipyards plan, sequence and execute steel ship construction. We need someone who has run production on a shipyard floor and knows exactly where schedules break, where rework comes from, and which data nobody trusts.

You will be the production voice inside our product and engineering team. You will sit with our software engineers and tell them how a block really moves from plate to erection, then go into customer yards and help superintendents, foremen and planners adopt new digital tools without slowing the work down.

What you will do

• Act as the shipbuilding subject matter expert for our software team: translate production realities (work packages, sequencing, material flow, trades coordination, progress reporting) into clear requirements and acceptance criteria.
• Review and test automations and workflows (production planning, work package generation, progress tracking, material and labor forecasting) against how the floor actually operates.
• Lead digital transformation engagements at customer shipyards: map current-state processes from steel receipt through cutting, panel line, sub-assembly, block assembly, outfitting, erection and test.
• Identify automation and data-capture opportunities on the floor, and help prioritize them by schedule, cost and labor impact.
• Build trust with yard leadership, superintendents, foremen and planners. Run working sessions, walkthroughs and pilot rollouts on site.
• Help define production metrics and KPIs (earned hours, schedule performance, rework, throughput by work center) that the software reports.
• Coach our team on shipyard terminology, safety culture, union and trade dynamics, and Navy program expectations.
• Support proposals and customer demos with credible production expertise.

Required qualifications

• 12+ years in steel ship new construction, with at least 5 years in a production leadership role (production superintendent, hull or outfitting superintendent, production manager, ship construction manager or general foreman).
• Direct experience on medium to large steel vessels (roughly 200 ft and up): naval combatants, auxiliaries, OSVs, tugs and barges at scale, ferries, research vessels, cutters, or commercial ships.
• Hands-on knowledge of steel fabrication: plate and profile processing, CNC/plasma cutting, panel lines, welding processes and procedures, sub-assembly and block construction, and block erection.
• Working knowledge of outfitting: pipe, electrical, HVAC, machinery installation, zone outfitting and pre-outfitting of blocks.
• Experience with production planning: work packages, build strategy, schedules, labor estimating and progress measurement.
• Comfortable working with software and data, and willing to explain production to engineers who have never been in a yard.
• Clear communicator who can work at the deckplate and in the boardroom.
• US citizen (required for work on defense programs).

Preferred qualifications

• US Navy, Coast Guard or MSC new construction programs (e.g., DDG, FFG, LCS, LPD, LHA, T-AO, T-AGOS, T-ATS, OPC, PSC, submarine modules).
• Experience with group technology, product work breakdown structure (PWBS) and zone-based outfitting.
• Exposure to shipyard ERP/MES, planning or 3D product model tools (e.g., ShipConstructor, AVEVA, NX/Teamcenter, Primavera, Deltek, SAP).
• Prior involvement in lean, continuous improvement, automation or robotic welding initiatives.
• Welding certifications or a welding engineering / naval architecture / marine engineering degree.
• Active or prior security clearance.

What success looks like in year one

• Our engineers can explain a block’s path through the yard because you taught them.
• Two or more customer yards have adopted our workflow on the floor, with you leading the rollout.
• Product requirements for production planning and progress tracking carry your sign-off.