Journeyman Operator, Heavy Equipment

Location: Alaska

Employment Class: Part Time Regular

FLSA Classification: Non-Exempt Hourly (Davis Bacon)

Position Summary

Potawatomi Defense Operations (a federal government contractor is seeking a qualified part-time Journeyman Operator, Heavy Equipment will operate one or several types of power construction equipment, such as motor graders, bulldozers, scrapers, compressors, pumps, derricks, shovels, tractors, excavators, and front-end loaders to excavate, move, and grade earth, erect structures, pour concrete or other hard surface pavement. This position requires 75% travel; hours worked while in travel status could be up to twelve (12) hours per day.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

• Operate various heavy equipment including excavators, backhoes, and front end loaders on environmental and construction job sites.• Ability to operate precisely and safely in close proximity to others.• Requires the ability to properly wear, use, and maintain personal respirator equipment and other forms of personal protective equipment (PPE) on HAZWOPER sites.• Monitor job site for hazards and challenge unauthorized personnel on job site and maintain a safe working environment.• Maintain constant awareness of surroundings including eye contact with ground personnel and recognize job site specific hazards.• Possess good communication skills as well as take direction from environmental staff in all phases of field operations.• Maintain safe excavation areas to include benching, shoring, and barricading as necessary to allow access by site personnel when conditions permit entry.• Learn and follow safety regulations.• Take actions to avoid potential hazards and obstructions, such as utility lines, other equipment, other workers, and falling objects.• Adjust hand wheels and depress pedals to control attachments, such as blades buckets, scrapers, and swing booms.• Start engines, move throttles, switches, and levers and depress pedals to operate machines, such as bulldozers, trench excavators, road graders, and backhoes.• Monitor operations to ensure that health and safety standards are met.• Align machines, cutter heads, or depth gauge makers with reference stakes and guidelines or ground, or position equipment following hand signals of other workers.• Load and move dirt, rocks, equipment, and materials using trucks, crawler tractors, power cranes, shovels, graders, and related equipment.• Drive and maneuver equipment with blades in successive passes over working areas to remove topsoil, vegetation, and rocks, and to distribute and level earth or terrain.• Coordinate machine actions with other activities, positioning or moving loads in response to hand or audio signals from crew members.• Operate tractors and bulldozers to perform tasks such as clearing land, mixing sludge, trimming backfills, and building roadways and parking lots.• Check fuel supplies at sites to ensure adequate availability.• Perform routine maintenance in field as needed or directed.• Connect hydraulic hoses, belts, mechanical linkages, or power takeoff shafts to tractors.• Operate loaders to pull out stumps, rip asphalt or concrete, rough-grade properties, bury refuse, or perform general cleanup.• Select and fasten bulldozer blades or other attachments to tractors using hitches.• Test atmosphere for adequate oxygen and explosive conditions when working in confined spaces.• Operate compactors, scrapers, and rollers to level, compact, and cover refuse at disposal grounds.• Talk to clients and study instructions, plans, and diagrams in order to establish work requirements.• Signal operators to guide movement of tractor-drawn machines.• Operate road watering, oiling, and rolling equipment, and street sealing equipment, such as chip spreaders.• Perform specialized work using equipment such as pile drivers, dredging rigs, drillers, and concrete pumpers.• Push other equipment when extra traction or assistance is required.• Drive tractor-trailer trucks to move equipment from site to site.• Turn valves to control air and water output of compressors and pumps.• Operate equipment to demolish and remove debris and to remove snow from streets, roads, and parking lots.• Operate conveyors to remove grit and debris from digesters.• Perform any other duties as assigned by management.

Education, Experience & KSA Requirements:

• High School Graduate or General Education Degree (GED)• At least (ten) 10 years of experience as journeyman level operator• Valid driver's license with clean driving record• Proficient operating skills; ability to finish road grade with a motor grader, ability to excavate and install mainline utilities (waterline, sewer line, and storm sewer) to specified line and grade, operate an excavator while using a trench box productively, read and interpret grade stakes, install finish grade with a dozer and manage a fill site while operating a dozer• Proficient with Topcon / Trimble /Leica surveying equipment• Knowledge of construction, machines, and tools; including their designs, uses, repair and maintenance, and the practical application of engineering science/technology• Ability to wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) (Goggles, Hardhats, Safety Shoes, etc.) 

Working Conditions/Working Environment/Physical Demands

Working Environment:

• May be indoors or outdoors, subject to confined spaces, changes in temperature, weather conditions, and noise levels.

Physical Demands (including but not limited to):

• Frequent lifting, sitting, standing, stooping for prolonged periods of time, using hands/fingers requiring dexterity, should have good hand-eye coordination and motion control in coordination with handling tools, equipment, and other related components• Reaching with hands and arms for items above and below sight level, talking, hearing, and seeing (up close, at a distance, along the periphery, with depth, color perception, and the ability to adjust focus); walking from place to place within the project location with occasional use of stairs and no elevator available; bending, pushing, pulling, and standing for up to 12 hours.• May require frequent lifting up to 50 pounds, such as equipment, tools and other materials

Potawatomi Defense Operations is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing a workplace free from harassment and discrimination. We celebrate the unique differences of our employees because that is what drives curiosity, innovation, and the success of our business. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, pregnancy, parental status, genetic information, political affiliation, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. Accommodations are available for applicants with disabilities.