Yard Manager – Shipyard

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced Yard Manager to lead day-to-day yard, equipment, facility, material-handling, and production-support activities at a shipbuilding and marine fabrication facility.

The Yard Manager will be responsible for ensuring that the shipyard, waterfront areas, equipment, work areas, material staging, and support services are safe, organized, and ready to support vessel construction and repair operations.

This position leads yard-support personnel and works closely with the Operations Manager, Project Management, Production, Procurement, Inventory, Quality, and Safety.

The successful candidate will be a hands-on shipyard leader who understands how to organize people, equipment, facilities, and material flow to keep production moving efficiently while maintaining a safe and well-managed yard.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead daily shipyard and production-support activities, including yard operations, equipment coordination, material movement, facility readiness, and waterfront support.
• Ensure fabrication areas, laydown areas, staging areas, waterfront areas, and access routes are organized and ready to support scheduled production.
• Coordinate availability and utilization of cranes, forklifts, telehandlers, aerial lifts, vehicles, welding equipment, and other yard and production-support equipment.
• Coordinate preventive maintenance, repairs, inspections, and equipment readiness to minimize operational downtime.
• Coordinate receiving, unloading, staging, and movement of materials, equipment, and major vessel components throughout the facility.
• Plan and coordinate yard resources and site preparation for major lifts, vessel movements, launching, haul-out, loading, and unloading activities.
• Lead and develop yard-support personnel, equipment operators, material handlers, maintenance personnel, and other assigned employees.
• Monitor yard-support labor utilization, overtime, equipment rentals, maintenance costs, and other controllable operating expenses.
• Maintain overall yard organization, housekeeping, access, and facility readiness.
• Identify yard, equipment, facility, or logistics constraints that could affect production and coordinate timely corrective actions.
• Promote safe work practices and ensure yard activities are performed in accordance with Company safety requirements and applicable procedures.
• Coordinate closely with the Operations Manager to support production schedules, workforce requirements, material staging, equipment needs, major lifts, vessel movements, and changing project priorities.
• Drive continuous improvement to reduce equipment downtime, unnecessary material handling, waiting time, excessive indirect labor, and other operational inefficiencies.
• Provide temporary operational coverage and support across production functions when required to maintain continuity of shipyard operations.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressively responsible experience in shipyard operations, ship repair, marine construction, heavy fabrication, waterfront operations, industrial facilities, or a comparable environment.
• Demonstrated supervisory, superintendent, or yard-management experience.
• Practical knowledge of shipyard equipment, material handling, lifting and rigging activities, facility operations, and yard logistics.
• Working knowledge of cranes, forklifts, aerial lifts, welding equipment, material-handling equipment, and common shipyard machinery.
• Experience coordinating equipment, material movement, maintenance, and production-support requirements.
• Strong leadership, communication, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage multiple operational priorities in a fast-paced shipyard environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Shipbuilding or ship-repair leadership experience.
• Experience supporting aluminum and/or steel vessel construction.
• Experience with vessel launching, haul-out, major lifts, and waterfront operations.
• Experience leading equipment operators, material handlers, maintenance personnel, or other yard-support teams.
• Familiarity with OSHA shipyard requirements and industrial safety practices.
• Familiarity with USCG, ABS, AWS, or similar marine requirements.
• Experience supporting commercial and/or government vessel programs.
• Experience with equipment preventive-maintenance programs and control of equipment rentals and operating costs.
• Technical, maritime, construction-management, industrial-management, or trade education is preferred; equivalent relevant experience will be considered.

What We Are Looking For

We are looking for a hands-on yard leader who is comfortable spending significant time throughout the shipyard and waterfront – not managing solely from an office.

The right candidate will anticipate what production needs next and ensure the required equipment, materials, work areas, access, and yard support resources are ready when needed. The candidate should be able to identify operational constraints early, coordinate multiple competing priorities, and maintain a safe, organized, and production-focused shipyard.

The Yard Manager will work closely with the Operations Manager. This position requires regular presence in an active shipyard environment and the ability, with or without reasonable accommodation, to access vessels, shops, waterfront areas, equipment locations, and production workspaces.