Industrial Fabrication Division Manager (Sheet Metal/Contracting exp req)

Location: Appleton, WI

About the role

Our mechanical contractor client is looking for an Industrial Fabrication Manager to lead their $15M+ sheet metal and custom fabrication division. You will manage 6–8 direct reports while personally carrying a project workload (60/40 split) in a role that will evolve toward pure leadership as the division grows. This is a hands-on, low-bureaucracy culture — no suits or monthly reports, just doing things that drive value to the bottom line.

Responsibilities

• Schedule and oversee daily shop/field operations for sheet metal & custom fabrication division
• Lead and develop a team of direct reports; support hiring, training, performance management
• Review bids, pricing, and proposal quality; oversee estimating function before submission
• Oversee PM execution - schedule, budget, vendor coordination, customer communication
• Review project drawings and specs; coordinate fabrication sequencing with field installation
• Own procurement/purchasing and vendor management for the division
• Monitor division budget, job costing, and labor productivity; correct overruns
• Personally bid and manage select projects as PM; oversee division capacity and workload
• Ensure fabrication and installation meets codes, specs, and quality standards
• Enforce shop and jobsite safety; participate in incident review as needed
• Maintain shop equipment, tooling, and material inventory in coordination with shop personnel
• Report division status to senior leadership; participate in production/project planning meetings

Requirements

• 7+ years experience in sheet metal fabrication required
• 2+ years supervisory, leadership, or management experience required
• Ability to read and interpret shop drawings, blueprints, and project specs required
• Experience overseeing estimating, project management, or procurement required
• Working knowledge of job costing, labor productivity, and budget management required
• Experience using ERP, estimating, and scheduling software required
• Ability to travel up to 25% to client sites required

Pay

$150,000–$175,000 DOE + discretionary bonus

Benefits

• Medical (95% employer-paid)
• 401(k) with 3% employer contribution
• ESOP
• Paid holidays and PTO

Schedule

• Full-time, ~45-50 hours/week
• Flexible start time
• Up to 25% travel to local/regional customer sites (overnight travel 1x/month for 1-2 nights)

Start date: ASAP. Relocation assistance available.