Utility Foreman

MEB General Contractors; Virginia (MN); On-site; USD 43,000 - 54,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee ownership (ESOP)

Medical and dental premiums paid

Vision, disability and life insurance

401(k) matching

Tuition reimbursement

Health and wellness program

Paid time off

Job summary

MEB General Contractors is seeking an experienced foreman to lead a utility crew on heavy civil projects in the Hampton Roads area. You will run the daily plan, enforce safety rules, and perform hands-on pipe and structure installations with a focus on quality and schedule adherence.

You will establish grade control, read plans, and coordinate with the Utility Superintendent to optimize durations and productivity. A strong safety mindset and practical field experience are required.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in utility work with crew leadership
• Hands-on installation across DIP, PVC, HDPE, RCP and steel
• Enforce trench safety and protective systems on site
• Read plans and profiles; work from shop drawings and data
• Establish and hold grade control; perform basic surveying
• Give honest duration and production numbers to supervisor
• Carry required safety certifications and valid driver license

Responsibilities

• Lead daily safety briefing and pre-task plans
• Assign tasks and monitor quality/production
• Perform hands-on installation with the crew
• Install pipes (DIP, PVC, HDPE, RCP, steel) and structures
• Establish grade control and layout
• Schedule work to match look-ahead; communicate durations
• Ensure testing per specs and shop drawings; manage deficiencies
• Coordinate equipment inspections and rentals; raise risks early

Skills

Crew leadership

Safety enforcement

Hands-on installation

Plan reading & layouts

Plan duration & production

OSHA 30 & CERTS

Education

OSHA 30, First Aid/CPR, Confined Space, Trenching & Excavation, Fall Protection, Silica, Lockout/Tagout, Rigging & Signaling

High school diploma or GED preferred

Tools

DIP

PVC

HDPE

RCP

Steel & manholes

Job description

Hampton Roads area, Virginia // Non-exempt, hourly

THE ROLE

You lead a utility crew installing water, sewer, storm drain, and ductbank systems on MEB's heavy civil projects. You run the daily plan, work alongside the crew on the critical operations, and answer for what your crew builds and how safely they build it.

WHAT YOU WILL OWN

• Crew safety. Run the daily pre-task plan and safety briefing, enforce trench safety, protective systems, shoring, boxes, and ladder access, and stop work the moment a condition is unsafe. You do not ask permission for that.
• Daily crew leadership. Assign the day's tasks, communicate the plan and the expectations, and monitor quality and production as the work goes in.
• Hands-on installation. You are on the tools for the critical operations and the complex installations. This is a working foreman seat, not a clipboard.
• Pipe and structures. Install DIP, PVC, HDPE, RCP, and steel, and support layout, manhole installation, and system tie-ins.
• Grade and layout. Establish and hold grade control for the crew, including benchmarks and basic survey.
• Production against the schedule. Plan the crew to the look-ahead, feed real durations and productivity back to the Utility Superintendent, and make the dates.
• Quality and testing. Install to specification and approved shop drawings, run and document testing with QC, correct deficiencies, and hold erosion control and SWPPP compliance.
• Equipment and escalation. Verify daily equipment inspections, coordinate rentals with the Equipment Division, and escalation risks and constructability concerns early rather than at the end of the day.

WHAT YOU BRING

• 5+ years in utility work, including leading or directing a crew. Time spent running the work matters more than the year count
• Hands-on installation across DIP, PVC, HDPE, RCP, and steel, plus manholes, valves, hydrants, and tie-ins
• Working knowledge of trench safety that you can actually enforce with a crew: protective systems, shoring, boxes, access, and excavation limits
• Ability to establish and hold grade control, read plans and profiles, and work from shop drawings and manufacturer data
• Ability to run a daily pre-task plan and a safety briefing that the crew takes seriously
• Ability to give a Superintendent an honest duration and an honest production number, including when the news is bad
• OSHA 30, First Aid and CPR, Confined Space, Trenching and Excavation, Fall Protection, Silica, Lockout/Tagout, and Rigging and Signaling. We provide and maintain what you do not already hold
• High school diploma or GED preferred, or equivalent field experience. Valid driver's license

WORK ENVIRONMENT

• Strenuous manual labor; carry, lift, and move up to 50 lbs without assistance
• Work in and around open trenches and excavation equipment on uneven, muddy ground, outdoors in all weather
• Climb, stoop, balance, and perform shovel and pick work. Required PPE at all times
• Respirator medical clearance required. Where the work calls for a tight-fitting respirator, OSHA requires a clean-shaven seal area. If you need a religious or medical accommodation, tell us and we will work through the options with you

COMPENSATION

The anticipated starting hourly rate for this position is $31 to $39 an hour. This is the range we expect to pay someone starting in this position. Where an offer lands within it depends on the experience you bring, the certifications and technical skills that apply to this work, the scope you have carried before, and what we pay people already doing equivalent work here. The range covers base pay. It is a starting range, not a ceiling. People move up through it and past it as they grow with us.

WHY MEB

• Employee ownership. MEB is employee owned. Through our ESOP, the people who build the work own the business behind it.
• Benefits. MEB pays the medical and dental premiums for our employees. We also offer vision, disability, and life insurance, FSA and HSA options, a matching 401(k), tuition reimbursement, a health and wellness program, and paid time off.
• Room to grow. Every craft ladder here is defined, from helper through foreman to craft superintendent, and it keeps going into field operations leadership. You will know what the next rung takes and we will tell you where you stand against it.
• Core values. Clients First, Safety Matters, and Family by Choice. You will see them on the jobsite, not just in the handbook.
• Who we are. Founded in 1982, MEB is a Virginia-based construction firm with more than 475 employees, headquartered in Chesapeake with a regional office in Richmond. We build resilient environments: projects that improve the communities we work in, locally and nationwide.
• What we build. Heavy civil is the core of what we do: our own crews and equipment self-perform water and wastewater treatment plants, pump stations, pipelines, utility systems, and industrial facilities, scope most general contractors subcontract out. We also build schools, public libraries, recreation and sports centers, and civic facilities across Virginia, and we are a national leader in aviation fueling systems and storage on government and military installations nationwide.

MEB General Contractors, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, marital status, military status, status as a victim of family abuse, or any other status protected by law.

MEB is proud to support those who have served. Veterans are encouraged to apply.

MEB participates in E-Verify and verifies the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees.

Employment is contingent on a pre-employment drug screen and a motor vehicle record check (as required).

Equal Opportunity Employer, including disabled and veterans.