Wood Shop Build Manager

OM Internships; Portland (OR); On-site; USD 52,000 - 58,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Dental

Vision

401k and Roth

20 days PTO after year one

Paid holidays

Job summary

Axiom Custom Products in Portland, OR is seeking a Build Manager to lead floor operations in a fast-paced custom fabrication shop. You’ll translate daily plans into tasks, balance labor and parts, and ensure on-time assemblies with high first-pass quality.

You’ll coordinate with CNC, metal, and finish teams, coach crew members, monitor progress, prevent rework, and maintain a clean, safe, and organized shop.

Qualifications

• Experience leading teams in a custom fabrication environment.
• Strong on-floor planning and daily workflow coordination.
• Ability to balance labor hours and part flow to meet deadlines.
• Commitment to safety, quality, and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

• Lead shop floor operations, translate plans into tasks, and balance labor resources.
• Monitor progress, verify drawings against builds, and reduce rework.
• Coordinate with CNC, metal, and finish departments for smooth handoffs.
• Coach team members, promote cross-training, and maintain a safe workspace.
• Report status to leadership and adjust sequencing to protect deadlines.

Skills

Leadership

Team supervision

Problem solving

Communication

CNC familiarity

Tools

CNC

Woodworking machinery

Job description

Company Overview

Axiom Custom Products is a designer and custom manufacturer that services the creative, events, retail, and construction industries. Axiom leverages its digital manufacturing technologies and manufacturing expertise to deliver the highest quality products - an outcome unmatched by any in the industry. We offer our clients extensive in-house services and capabilities that allow us to take on projects at any stage of development from concept to installation.

When it comes to our team, they enjoy excellent pay, great benefits, including medical, dental, vision for the employee (with additional cost options for dependents). We offer 401k and ROTH investment options. After year one you accrue 20 days of PTO, yep, you read that right! Combined with paid holidays, our benefits are some of the best in our industry.

The Role - A Day in the Life of the Build Manager

Most mornings start in the shop.

Before the coffee’s even kicked in, you’re walking the floor, checking in with the build teams, scanning yesterday’s work, and mentally lining up the day. You already spoke with the Head of Manufacturing (HOM) and Assistant Manufacturing Manager (AMM) about priorities, so you know what absolutely has to move today and what has a little breathing room. Your job is turning that bigger-picture plan into something real, people on tasks, parts moving, assemblies progressing.

You gather the team leads for a quick huddle. Nothing long, just a clear plan: what’s shipping, what needs to be staged, what has to be ready for finish. You’re thinking about hours as much as output. Who’s at capacity? Who can flex? Does this project need your strongest assembler or is it a good cross-training opportunity for someone who’s ready to level up?

By mid-morning, you’re in execution mode. You’re checking drawings against what’s being built, reviewing models, making sure everyone’s working from the right revision. You catch a dimension that doesn’t quite make sense and flag it before it becomes an expensive pile of rework. You move between benches and build tables, answering questions, clearing roadblocks, occasionally jumping in to demonstrate a cleaner approach or a better order of events.

The schedule is always moving, so you track progress in real time. If one project is running hot and another is slipping, you rebalance. Maybe you shift a couple of deliverables from one team to another. Maybe you work with HOM to have CNC adjust sequencing so parts land exactly when Build needs them. You’re in constant communication with other departments—CNC, metal, finish—making sure handoffs are clean. Assemblies are labeled, counted, complete. No surprises downstream.

Throughout the day, you’re watching quality like a hawk. You believe in catching problems early, not sanding them out later. In-process checks are just part of the rhythm. You reinforce standards quietly but consistently. The goal is high first-pass quality, low rework, and work that everyone’s proud to sign off on.

You also keep an eye on the bigger picture: labor targets. Are you trending over hours? Are folks clocked into the correct job and deliverable? Is this job burning time faster than estimated? If something’s off, you dig in. Is it a documentation issue? A training gap? A problem prioritizing? You’ll bring solutions to the HOM and AMM, not just problems, whether that’s recommending overtime to protect a deadline or suggesting a tweak to how labor or part counts are tracked.

Safety and organization are never afterthoughts. You expect a clean, professional, yet fun shop, and you model it. When something looks sketchy, you address it. When someone’s ready to grow, you coach them.

You’re constantly thinking about cross-training so coverage is strong and the team isn’t dependent on one person for one critical skill. A flexible crew is a resilient crew.

By late afternoon, you’re circling back, checking what’s complete, what needs tech up, what’s ready to hand off to crating. You update the HOM + AMM with a clear snapshot: what’s on track, what’s blocked, where capacity is tight. No drama, just facts and a plan.

It’s a role for someone who’s calm when things get complicated. Someone who understands woodworking and cabinetry deeply, who can speak CNC and metal fabrication well enough to collaborate effectively, and who appreciates what it takes to get a project cleanly into finish. Someone who likes working with the manufacturing management team to bring order to a fast-moving, custom environment.

At the end of the day, success isn’t abstract. It looks like assemblies that move on time. Budgets that hold. Minimal rework. A shop that feels organized and safe. A team that knows what they’re doing and feels supported doing it.

It’s not about standing behind a desk. It’s about leading from the floor, chipping in as a working manager, solving problems as they happen, and making sure that when something leaves build, it’s done right.

Work Environment

Axiom Custom Products operates in a dynamic environment that adapts to the evolving needs of clients, our company, and the industry. We thrive as a small, collaborative team where adaptability and a proactive problem-solving approach are keys to success.

This job ad is not exhaustive and outlines the core responsibilities of the position. Additional responsibilities may be added to the evolving job description for this new role or be assigned based on business needs.

If you’re a strong communicator, calm under pressure, and have experience leading teams in a custom fabrication environment, we’d love to meet you. We’re looking for someone who takes pride in quality work, supports their crew, and knows how to bring order to complexity.

The wage range for the role is $38/hour - $42/hour, DOE.