Tacoma Supervisor – Ship Repair

Location: Tacoma, Washington

Position Summary

We are seeking a Tacoma Supervisor to oversee day-to-day ship repair operations in the Tacoma area. This role is responsible for supervising projects, coordinating labor and resources, managing customer relationships, supporting estimating activities, and ensuring work is completed safely, efficiently, on schedule, and within authorized project costs.

The Tacoma Supervisor will serve as the primary local contact for employees, customers, subcontractors, and company leadership, while supporting project execution, workforce development, and operational performance. This position focuses on local operations and project-level accountability rather than divisional budgeting or profit-and-loss management.

Key Responsibilities

• Operations & Project Management: Oversee daily ship repair activities across vessels, shipyards, shops, and facilities, ensuring projects meet safety, quality, schedule, and cost objectives.

• Workforce & Resource Coordination: Plan and allocate labor, subcontractors, materials, tools, equipment, and transportation to maintain productivity and minimize delays.

• Project Planning & Execution: Review technical drawings, specifications, work packages, and customer requirements to identify risks, resolve issues, and establish effective work plans.

• Cost & Schedule Control: Monitor labor hours, material usage, subcontractor expenses, and project progress. Identify potential overruns and implement corrective actions.

• Scope & Change Management: Ensure work remains within the approved scope, document additional work and changing conditions, and support change orders and customer notifications.

• Estimating & Business Development: Conduct vessel and site visits, assist with estimates and proposals, and identify opportunities to develop existing customer relationships.

• Customer & Stakeholder Relations: Maintain effective communication with customers, vendors, subcontractors, employees, and company leadership, addressing concerns promptly.

• Team Leadership: Direct, coach, and develop employees. Support recruitment, onboarding, training, scheduling, attendance, timekeeping, and performance management.

• Safety & Quality: Ensure compliance with OSHA requirements, environmental regulations, company policies, customer standards, and site-specific safety procedures. Maintain required inspection and project documentation.

• Asset & Facility Management: Oversee the safe use, maintenance, organization, and security of company vehicles, tools, equipment, and facilities.

• Operational Reporting: Provide regular updates to the Area Manager on project performance, staffing, workload, safety, customer concerns, and operational requirements.

Qualifications & Experience

Education

• High school diploma or equivalent required.

• Associate or bachelor’s degree in engineering, maritime studies, construction management, business, or a related technical discipline preferred.

Experience & Skills

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in commercial or naval ship repair, shipyard operations, marine construction, or a related industrial environment.

• At least 3 years of experience supervising crews, managing projects, or coordinating multi-trade operations.

• Strong working knowledge of ship repair processes, production methods, and marine industrial environments.

• Ability to interpret technical drawings, blueprints, specifications, schedules, and work packages.

• Experience monitoring project costs, labor hours, materials, subcontractor expenses, and additional work.

• Ability to assist with estimates, work plans, schedules, progress reports, and project documentation.

• Strong leadership, organizational, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to manage customer and subcontractor relationships.

• Experience in union and non-union environments preferred.

• Background in welding, rigging, mechanical, piping, structural, electrical, or other marine trades preferred.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, including Outlook, Word, and Excel.

• Flexibility to work nights, weekends, holidays, and travel as project requirements dictate.

• Must be authorized to work in the United States, eligible for access to ports, vessels, shipyards, and customer facilities, and able to pass required background checks.

Physical Requirements

The role requires regular access to vessels, docks, piers, shops, and active work sites. Duties include standing, walking, climbing, balancing, bending, kneeling, reaching, and working in noisy industrial environments. The ability to occasionally lift or move up to 50 pounds is required. Adequate vision, including depth perception and the ability to adjust focus, is also necessary.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position.

Work Environment & Safety

Work takes place in offices, workshops, shipyards, piers, and aboard vessels. Conditions may include outdoor weather, moisture, elevated or confined spaces, moving equipment, fumes, dust, and high noise levels. Appropriate personal protective equipment, including hearing protection, must be used where required.

Darwin Recruitment is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.

Kieran Mead