Welding Ops Lead: Manual & Robotic

Coats Company; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

The Coats Company is seeking a Senior Welding Supervisor to lead both manual and robotic welding operations on the shop floor. You will supervise welders, fabricators, and robotic cell operators, setting priorities and ensuring safe, quality-driven production across multiple cells.

The ideal candidate brings extensive welding experience, hands-on leadership, and strong knowledge of MIG/TIG/FCAW processes and robotic welding systems.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressive welding experience, including manual and robotic/automated welding.
• 3+ years in a supervisory or lead role in manufacturing or fabrication.
• Strong knowledge of MIG, TIG, and/or FCAW welding on steel/aluminum.
• Experience with robotic welding cells (Cloos, OTC, UR, FANUC, ABB, KUKA).
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, weld symbols, and GD&T.
• Solid understanding of welding safety standards and fume/ventilation requirements.
• Leadership, communication, and conflict-resolution skills for a diverse shop-floor team.
• Equivalent combination of hands-on welding and supervisory experience may be considered in lieu of formal education.

Responsibilities

• Supervise and coach welders, fabricators, and robotic welding cell operators across manual and automated work centers.
• Set production priorities and align with schedules, capacity, and customer delivery.
• Conduct performance reviews, coaching, and training of welding personnel.
• Escalate welding-related issues, quality concerns, and downtime to appropriate teams.
• Oversee manual welding processes (MIG, TIG, SMAW, FCAW) and verify WPS compliance.
• Support/adjust offline/online robot programs, weld paths, and process parameters to optimize cycle time and quality.
• Coordinate preventive maintenance and calibration with maintenance teams.
• Drive safety culture, ensure compliance with health and welding standards, and support root-cause analysis of defects.
• Maintain documentation: WPS/PQR, welder qualifications, production reports, downtime.
• Report on OEE, first-pass yield, scrap rate, and on-time delivery; focus on continual improvement.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Conflict resolution

Reading drawings

GD&T

Safety compliance

Problem solving

Education

High School Diploma or GED

Associate's/Technical Welding or Manufacturing certificate

Tools

CAD: Creo

CAD: SolidWorks

CAD: AutoCAD

ERP/MES systems

Welding codes (AWS D1.1, etc)

Robot programming software

Job description

The Coats Company is seeking a Senior Welding Supervisor to lead both manual and robotic welding operations on the shop floor. You will supervise welders, fabricators, and robotic cell operators, setting priorities and ensuring safe, quality-driven production across multiple cells.

The ideal candidate brings extensive welding experience, hands-on leadership, and strong knowledge of MIG/TIG/FCAW processes and robotic welding systems.