McKinstry Careers

Description

Build the future, spark innovation and align your career with purpose.

McKinstry is innovating the waste and climate harm out of the built environment and creating lasting impact. Together, we’re building a thriving planet.

Buildings are a leading contributor to the climate crisis, generating nearly 40% of total global energy-related carbon emissions. We’re making a lasting impact on our industry and within our communities by addressing the climate, affordability and equity crises through:

• renewables and energy services
• engineering and design
• construction and facility services

To get where we’re going, we need big thinkers, problem solvers and collaborative mindsets. Does that sound like you?

The Opportunity with McKinstry

We are adding a Director, Craft Labor & Workforce Development to our growing Platform Construction division in Seattle, WA. The Director, Craft Labor & Workforce Development is one of the Director-level seats within Modular Products’ Manufacturing Platform Services team, serving all four product families (Thermal, Power, Distributed Energy, and Specialty) simultaneously. This role owns the craft workforce strategy and execution that makes production possible — the skilled labor workforce is a key area of focus for our production facilities, and managing the gap between craft labor supply and production demand is a direct constraint on the business’s ability to meet production throughput expectations. This role is responsible for the skilled labor strategy, approach and workforce development efforts / programs associated with both our union (affiliated) and non-union (non-affiliated) workforce.   This is a specialized craft labor operations and strategy role supporting our manufacturing business that is scaling dramatically over the next 3 years across our network of manufacturing hubs and associated jurisdictional labor markets and multiple product families with distinct fabrication and assembly scope requirements.  The person in this role must understand and have had experience managing union labor workforces and associated collective bargaining agreements as well as non-union skilled production labor well enough to support the mixed / hybrid labor  workforce strategy and model being executed across our manufacturing network.

Affiliated Craft Labor

McKinstry Co. is the primary source of affiliated craft labor for our Modular Products business across existing manufacturing facilities. This director role represents the Modular Products business side of that relationship.  McKinstry, Co. manages and supports the requested affiliated labor operations themselves.  All labor draw-down coordination, Task Order structure, scope management, and workforce planning shall be the responsibility of this role as well as the close coordination with the McKinstry, Co. labor counterpart.

• Responsible for managing the existing MSA and Task Order framework with McKinstry Co.: draft, negotiate, and manage Task Orders for each hub and program, defining scope boundaries (welded fabrication and claimed electrical scope to UA/IBEW; downstream assembly to non-affiliated), headcount commitments, and rate structures.
• Responsible for “claimed vs. non-claimed” scope boundary at the production floor level: ensure jurisdictional compliance, minimize classification risk, and resolve scope boundary disputes before they become labor relations events or contract exposures.
• Coordinate the McKinstry Co. labor plan with MP production scheduling: headcount draw-down requests, Task Order timing, traveler coordination, and Local engagement — ensuring affiliated labor supply is matched to production demand rather than trailing it.
• Manage Local union engagement for craft retention and referral: share the MP growth story with existing and future local chapters to improve retention and build referral pipelines that supplement open-call hiring.

Non-Affiliated Production Workforce

The downstream assembly, test, and logistics scope — approximately 30% of daily production floor activity — requires a non-affiliated production workforce that operates with manufacturing consistency, not construction-industry transience. This role is responsible for building that workforce strategy and plan through a deliberate, legally defensible employment model.

• Own and advance the three-pathway model for non-affiliated workforce access: 3rd-party production staffing, MP direct-hire, and other means as applicable. 
• Evaluate each pathway against cost, continuity, absenteeism management, and legal defensibility — and deliver a recommendation on the right structure or combination by Q1 2027.
• Work with outside labor counsel to establish proper employment classification, benefit structures, and wage ladder design for the non-affiliated workforce — building a model that is competitive in manufacturing labor markets and defensible to regulators and trade unions.
• Address craft labor operating issues such as absenteeism rates, etc. as structural concerns, diagnose root causes (employment model, incentive design, workforce continuity, transportation, shift structure) and implement changes that move toward a manufacturing-grade continuity standard.
• Define and enforce the scope boundary between affiliated and non-affiliated work within each production line: the hybrid model is the business’s structural cost advantage, and it fails if the scope boundary erodes through management inaction or jurisdictional creep in either direction.
• Build the non-affiliated employment model audit trail: documentation of scope allocation, classification rationale, and role boundaries that is defensible to the UA/IBEW, to clients, and to state/federal labor regulators in each operating jurisdiction.

Craft Workforce Planning & Forecasting

Production output is a function of craft labor supply. This role owns the demand/supply model that connects the production schedule to headcount requirements — and the gap management that keeps the two from diverging.

• Responsible for the craft labor demand/capacity model: translate the production schedule (by product family, program, and hub) into headcount requirements by role type (welder, fitter, assembler, tester) and week — and maintain a real-time view of gap between supply and demand.
• Manage the craft headcount ramp plan and track actuals against it: ~225 today → ~245 by YE2026 → ~330 by YE2027, with specific attention to the March–July 2027 overlap period where Lightning MES, CMS 1.1, Google gCUB, and AWS SFN production lines all reach simultaneous peak demand.
• Present craft labor gap analysis at monthly forecast meetings: actual headcount vs. plan by hub, absenteeism-adjusted effective headcount, and forward-looking risk flagging — before the gap becomes a delivery miss, not after.
• Model the crew-level workforce implications of automation investments: T-drill, robotic welding, and flanging machines reduce labor intensity per unit — translate those productivity assumptions into concrete headcount plan adjustments rather than carrying them as unexamined model inputs.
• Responsible for the skilled labor workforce plan: making it visible, tracking against actuals, and flag when backfill is masking a structural workforce supply problem.

Workforce Development Program (WDP)

A craft workforce that can be built in one hub and reliably replicated in the next requires a Workforce Development Program — a structured onboarding, training, and skills progression framework that reduces the time from hire to productive contribution and creates a consistent craft workforce culture across all sites.

• Design, own, and deploy the Workforce Development Program (WDP): a repeatable framework covering structured onboarding, standardized training curriculum, skills progression pathways, and defined advancement criteria — applicable to both affiliated and non-affiliated craft.
• Define the production craft role families and skills progression ladder: from entry-level assembler to senior fabricator to lead, with clear advancement criteria and wage progression tied to demonstrated capability — making MP a viable long-term employer for craft production workers.
• Partner with McKinstry’s Construction Division and corporate HR team to build and maintain the WDP curriculum infrastructure, including training partnerships, certification pathways, and apprenticeship program integrations where UA/IBEW relationships support it.
• Deploy the WDP proactively in each new manufacturing hubs being ready to deploy training in advance of production line scheduled starts.
• Track WDP effectiveness with production metrics: ramp time from hire to productive contribution, quality yield by crew cohort, and absenteeism rate by employment tenure.

Labor Market Intelligence & Geographic Expansion Support

Each new manufacturing hub requires a labor ecosystem that can support the production model. This role provides the craft labor assessment that is one of the four gate criteria in the capital expansion process — labor market quality is a direct input to the margin model, not a check-the-box requirement.

• Own the craft labor ecosystem assessment for each candidate expansion market: characterize UA local depth and quality, journeyman wage floor, right-to-work environment, local absenteeism norms, workforce development infrastructure, and MP’s ability to staff to plan in that market.
• Partner with Dir. Growth Strategy & Expansion on Phase 2 market evaluation: Growth Strategy determines whether to enter a market; Craft Labor & Workforce Development provides the labor ecosystem evaluation that is a Gate 3 prerequisite to capital commitment. These roles are sequenced, not competing.
• Maintain a current intelligence picture of craft labor market conditions in active hubs: local competition for craft workers (data center construction, semiconductor fabs, industrial projects), UA/IBEW local capacity, and wage trend trajectory — flagging emerging constraints before they become delivery risks.
• Quantify per-diem and traveler cost exposure in each market: the financial cost of running travelers vs. local labor is a margin variable, and the decision to travel vs. recruit local must be made with full cost visibility.

Craft Labor Cost Management

Craft labor is the largest variable in cost-to-deliver. This role owns the workforce structure that determines that cost — and is accountable for making the financial impact of workforce decisions visible before commitments are made.

• Own the craft labor cost structure as a direct input to program-level margin: per-diem exposure, overtime loading, wage premium above base rates, and the backfill cost of chronic absenteeism must all be quantified, tracked, and managed at the hub and program level.
• Partner with Dir. Business Finance & Performance on TCD and earned value reporting: craft labor hours and rates are the primary COGS driver, and variance attribution between plan and actual requires operational understanding of what changed on the floor.
• Maintain transparency on the non-affiliated cost advantage vs. affiliated draw-down rates: the business case for the hybrid model rests on a material cost differential that must be measured, protected, and defended — scope boundary erosion or misclassification destroys the differential.
• Provide forward-looking cost risk flags at each monthly forecast cycle: per-diem exposure in Texas (Samsung Taylor competition, tight Austin labor market), overtime trajectory in Spokane during the Lightning production ramp, and any traveler cost exposure that should be reflected in the forecast.

What You Need to Succeed at McKinstry

Required

• 8+ years in craft labor management, union relations, or workforce strategy, with direct experience in a manufacturing, construction, or industrial environment operating under CBA draw-down agreements with UA (Plumbers/Steamfitters), IBEW (Electrical Workers), or comparable building trades locals.
• Demonstrated experience managing a union/non-union hybrid workforce model: scope boundary management, jurisdictional compliance, Task Order structuring, and day-to-day enforcement of the claimed/non-claimed scope split at the production floor level.
• Working fluency in union jurisdictional structures, CBA labor law, and the mechanics of draw-down agreements and task orders — in a manufacturing or MEP prefabrication context, not general commercial construction.
• Experience building or scaling a non-affiliated production workforce: employment model design or evaluation (staffing, direct-hire, JV), absenteeism management, workforce development program design, and continuity planning.
• Operational command of craft labor demand/capacity planning: translating a production schedule into headcount requirements by skill type and managing the gap between supply and demand in real time.
• Strong communicator capable of navigating the union-management relationship, the McKinstry Co. affiliate relationship, and the internal leadership team simultaneously — without conflating the three audiences.
• Bachelor’s degree required; labor relations, workforce development, or industrial/manufacturing management background preferred.

Preferred

• Direct experience with UA Plumbers & Steamfitters locals (particularly Pacific Northwest or South Central markets), IBEW locals, or both in a manufacturing or MEP prefabrication context.
• Background in data center infrastructure, modular/prefabricated construction, or industrial manufacturing where craft labor is the primary production input and cost-to-deliver is dominated by labor rate and utilization.
• Experience designing and deploying a Workforce Development Program (WDP): structured onboarding, skills progression curriculum, certification pathways, and the role family design that makes a non-affiliated workforce a long-term workforce rather than a revolving door.
• Familiarity with right-to-work state labor markets and the operational differences between affiliated and non-affiliated workforce models across multiple states and UA/IBEW jurisdictions.
• Experience with labor law and employment classification in a hybrid union/non-union manufacturing context, including work with outside labor counsel on non-affiliated workforce employment structures.

PeopleFirst Benefits

When it comes to the basics, we have you covered:

• Competitive pay
• 401(k) with employer match and profit-sharing plan
• Paid time off and holidays
• Comprehensive medical, prescription, dental, and vision with low or zero deductible options and low out of pocket maximums

People come first at McKinstry, and we go beyond the basic benefits with:

• Family formation benefits, including adoption and IVF assistance
• Up to 16 weeks paid parental leave
• Transgender inclusive benefits
• Commuter benefits
• Pet insurance
• “Building Good” paid community service time
• Learning and advancement opportunities via McKinstry University
• McKinstry Moves onsite gyms or reimbursement for remote workers

See benefit plan documents for complete details.

If you’re driven by our vision to build a thriving planet together, McKinstry is the place to build your career.

The pay range for this position is $165,800 - $252,100 per year; however, base pay offered may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Base pay information is based on market location. A bonus may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the position offered.

The McKinstry group of companies are equal opportunity employers. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, race, color, creed, marital status, national origin, disability, veteran status, genetic information or any other basis protected by law. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment including, but not limited to employment, advancement, assignment, and training. This commitment to Equal Employment Opportunity is made equally as a social responsibility and as an economic and business necessity.

McKinstry is a drug-free workplace. Employment is contingent upon successfully passing a pre-employment drug and alcohol test, complying with the requirements of the Immigration Reform and Control Act and a Confidentiality Agreement, in addition to successful outcomes of background and reference checks.

Applicants for this role will only be considered if they possess current US Work Authorization, and do not require employer-sponsored VISA support to begin or remain in this role.

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