Machinist Job Description: 6 Templates
Free machinist job description templates for small shops: CNC, manual, apprentice, lead, and tool & die. With OSHA and FLSA notes. Download as DOCX.
Machinist Job Description Templates
6 free templates for small shops: general, CNC, manual, apprentice, lead, and tool & die, with OSHA safety and FLSA guidance built in. Download as DOCX.
The machinist job description is really six different jobs under one title, and the templates online give you one generic version. A CNC machinist programming machining centers, a manual machinist running lathes and mills by hand, an apprentice you train toward journeyman, and a tool & die machinist holding tenths all share the title, but they are different hires with different skills and pay. And the generic templates miss what matters most for a small shop: which machinist the posting is actually for, the FLSA classification (machinists are non-exempt and hourly), and the OSHA machine-guarding and lockout/tagout safety that comes with shop work.
At FirstHR, we build templates for exactly that situation: the job shops, custom fabrication shops, auto machine shops, and tool & die shops that hire directly, where the owner or foreman does the hiring. Most machine shops run under twenty people, so there is rarely a dedicated HR person. The six templates below cover the real roles: general, CNC, manual, apprentice, lead, and tool & die, each ready to fill in and post, with the classification and safety guidance built in. The guide to writing a job description covers the fundamentals.
What a Machinist Does
A machinist sets up and operates machine tools to produce precision metal parts to specification. The work spans reading blueprints, setting up and running manual or CNC machines, selecting tooling and fixtures, producing parts to tolerance, inspecting with precision instruments, maintaining machines, and following machine-guarding and safety rules.
What changes is the role. A CNC machinist programs and runs CNC equipment from CAD/CAM; a manual machinist runs lathes and mills by hand; an apprentice learns the trade; a lead runs the floor and signs off on quality; a tool & die machinist holds very tight tolerances. For scoping the role before posting, the guide to defining job responsibilities walks through the process.
Machinist Types and Roles
Machinist is an umbrella title that splits into several distinct roles, each with its own skills, experience level, and pay. Naming the right one keeps the posting credible and attracts the right candidates. Here is how they compare.
| Role | Core work | Typical level |
|---|---|---|
| CNC machinist | Program and run CNC, G-code, CAM | Skilled |
| Manual machinist | Lathe, mill, grinder by hand | Skilled |
| Apprentice / entry | Learn the trade toward journeyman | Entry |
| Lead / senior | Run the floor, mentor, sign off QC | Senior |
| Tool & die | Build dies and fixtures, tight tolerances | Specialized |
The right job description depends on which you are hiring, since the duties, the experience, and the pay all differ. Start from the matching version so the posting describes the real job, then fill in your specific machines, software, and tolerances. This page provides a template for each role plus a plain general version for any small shop.
Machinist Duties and Responsibilities
Machinist duties center on four areas: reading and planning, setup and machining, inspection, and maintenance and safety. Every role shares these, with the emphasis shifting by type. These are the duties grouped the way the templates use them.
A strong posting grounds these in your shop: the machines and controls, the software, the tolerances, the materials, and the reporting line. It also signals a safety-first culture honestly, since shop work carries real hazards and good machinists notice whether you take safety seriously. Candidates read a machinist posting for the machines, the role, the skill level, and the pay before applying.
Which Template Should You Use?
Pick the template by the role and your shop. The precision-parts-to-spec core runs through all six, but the skills, the experience, and the equipment differ enough that the matched version reads more credibly. Use this guide to choose.
6 Free Machinist Job Description Templates
Download all six as a single Word document or copy individual templates. Each follows the same structure: company overview, position summary, key responsibilities, qualifications, work environment, classification, compensation, and how to apply. Fill in the brackets, set the machines and reporting line, and post.
Template 1: General Machinist (Small Shop)
The universal, plain-language version for a job shop: read blueprints, set up manual or CNC machines, hold tolerances, and inspect parts. The right base to adapt.
Template 2: CNC Machinist
For a shop running CNC equipment. Adds setup and programming, G-code, CAM software, tooling and offsets, and tight-tolerance work with first-article inspection.
Template 3: Manual Machinist
For a traditional shop. Skilled on manual lathes, mills, and grinders without CNC, working from blueprints on short runs, repairs, and one-off jobs.
Template 4: Machinist Apprentice / Entry-Level
For a shop training new talent. Entry-level with a clear path to journeyman through on-the-job training, mentorship, and NIMS credentials. No experience required.
Template 5: Lead / Senior Machinist
For a growing shop. Runs the shop floor, sets up complex jobs, prioritizes work, mentors machinists, and signs off on quality and tolerances.
Template 6: Tool & Die / Precision Machinist
For a tool & die shop. Builds and repairs dies, jigs, and fixtures to very tight tolerances, fabricating and fitting the tooling that keeps production running.
Exempt or Non-Exempt?
Machinists are non-exempt under the FLSA, which means hourly pay and overtime. Get it right before you post, since misclassifying an hourly trade as salaried is a common and costly wage-and-hour mistake.
The Department of Labor's guidance on technologists and technicians is direct: the skilled-trade category machinists fall under generally does not qualify for the learned professional exemption, because the occupation has not attained recognized professional status requiring an advanced specialized academic degree to enter. A machinist learns the trade through experience, trade school, or apprenticeship, so the role is non-exempt and owed overtime over 40 hours a week. This holds for CNC, manual, apprentice, and tool & die roles. The one role to examine is a lead or supervisory machinist: if it genuinely meets the executive exemption tests, primarily managing the shop rather than running machines, it might qualify, but that is a duties test, not a title. The federal salary threshold for the white-collar exemptions is the 2019 rule's $684 per week. The exempt vs non-exempt guide covers the full test. This is general information, not legal advice; confirm with a professional.
OSHA and Shop Safety
A machine shop is a high-hazard environment, and safety belongs in both the job description and onboarding. Two OSHA standards come up so often they are worth naming. These standards have specific requirements, so treat this as a prompt to review them, not legal advice.
You do not put OSHA citations in the posting itself, but the job description should signal a safety-first culture and name PPE and safe-operation expectations, and onboarding should capture the safety orientation with records. For a small shop without a safety department, treating safety as a documented onboarding step rather than an informal walk-around is what keeps you compliant and credible to good candidates.
How to Write a Machinist Job Description
A strong machinist posting takes about 15 minutes once you settle the role, the machines, and the safety expectations. Here is the process the templates are built around.
Keep the posting neutral and inclusive, since the EEOC prohibits job advertisements that show a preference based on protected characteristics, and the SHRM guide covers the standard sections of a job description.
Machinist Pay and Outlook
Machinists are among the better-paid production trades, and with the workforce aging and skilled machinists scarce, you should expect to pay competitively.
The big variables are role, region, and skill. CNC programmers with CAD/CAM skills, tool & die machinists, and experienced leads command premiums above the median, while apprentices start lower and increase as they reach skill levels. Because machinists are non-exempt, the role is paid hourly with overtime, so it is usually expressed as an hourly rate. For your posting, benchmark to the specific role, your region, and the experience you need rather than the national median, and include a good-faith hourly range where your state or city requires it. In a tight labor market for skilled trades, a competitive, clearly stated rate helps you stand out. National compensation surveys and local listings both help you set the number.
Hiring a Machinist
A large manufacturer hires machinists through a recruiting team and a standard structure. A small job shop, custom fabrication shop, or tool & die shop makes the same hire directly, where the owner or foreman runs the whole process, often while machinists are scarce. Here is what actually matters.
After You Hire: Onboarding
The job description is step one, and because a machine shop is hazardous and skilled machinists are hard to find, the onboarding should center on credentials, safety, and the standards the machinist will work to, which also doubles as safety documentation. Send the offer letter with the hourly pay, the non-exempt classification, and the terms, collect the signed offer, complete Form I-9 within the first days along with the rest of the new hire paperwork, and gather tax forms.
For a machinist specifically, add the trade-relevant steps: verify and store any credentials (NIMS certifications, a journeyman card, or apprenticeship records), collect signed safety-policy acknowledgments, and run a documented safety orientation covering machine guarding, lockout/tagout, and PPE before the machinist works unsupervised, alongside the usual onboarding documents. A structured first weeks helps a new machinist learn your machines, standards, and safety culture, and a repeatable onboarding template makes it consistent, the kind of structured start the employee onboarding guide describes. Once terms are agreed, the offer letter template handles the core terms, and the employee handbook template covers your safety and conduct policies. FirstHR fits this directly for an owner-led shop: send the offer for e-signature with the classification stated, store NIMS and safety records in document management, and assign safety-orientation training with completion records. FirstHR does not run payroll or administer benefits, so pair it with your payroll provider. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a machinist do?
A machinist sets up and operates machine tools to produce precision metal parts to specification. The core responsibilities are consistent across shops: reading blueprints, drawings, and work orders; setting up and operating manual or CNC machines; selecting tooling, speeds, feeds, and fixtures; producing precision parts to tolerance; inspecting parts with calipers, micrometers, and gauges; maintaining machines; and following safety and machine-guarding rules. The emphasis shifts by role. A CNC machinist sets up and programs CNC equipment and runs G-code from CAD/CAM. A manual machinist runs lathes, mills, and grinders by hand, often on short runs and repairs. An apprentice learns the trade under supervision toward journeyman. A lead machinist runs the floor and signs off on quality. A tool & die machinist builds dies and fixtures to very tight tolerances. What unites them is precision work to spec in a safe shop. This page offers a template for each common machinist role, with the OSHA and FLSA guidance generic templates leave out.
What is the difference between a CNC machinist and a manual machinist?
The core difference is the equipment and how the work is controlled. A CNC machinist sets up and operates computer-numerically-controlled machines, working from CAD/CAM models and G-code programs that direct the machine automatically; the skill is in programming, setup, tooling, and holding tolerances at volume, often with first-article inspection. A manual machinist operates lathes, mills, and grinders by hand, controlling the cuts directly, which suits short runs, repairs, prototypes, and one-off jobs where setting up a CNC program would not pay off. Many experienced machinists do both, and a strong manual foundation makes a better CNC machinist because they understand what the machine is actually doing. Worth noting for classification and pay: a worker who primarily programs or operates CNC equipment is technically grouped separately by the government from a general machinist. For your posting, name which you need clearly, since a CNC-only shop and a manual job shop attract different candidates with different skills, and a hybrid shop should say so. This page includes both a CNC and a manual template, plus a general version that covers both.
Is a machinist exempt or non-exempt from overtime?
Machinists are non-exempt under the FLSA, which means they are paid hourly and entitled to overtime. The Department of Labor's guidance states that technologists and technicians, the broad category skilled trades fall under, generally do not qualify for the learned professional exemption, because their occupations have not attained recognized professional status requiring an advanced specialized academic degree as a standard prerequisite for entry. A machinist learns the trade through experience, trade school, or an apprenticeship rather than the advanced degree the exemption requires, so the role is non-exempt and owed overtime for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. This applies to CNC, manual, apprentice, and tool & die roles alike. The one role to examine more closely is a lead or supervisory machinist: if that person genuinely meets the executive exemption tests, primarily managing the shop and directing other workers rather than running machines most of the day, the role might qualify as exempt, but that is a duties test, not a title. Many lead machinists who still spend most of their time at a machine remain non-exempt. The federal salary threshold for the white-collar exemptions is the 2019 rule's $684 per week. For the job description, mark machinist roles non-exempt and hourly. This is general information, not legal advice; confirm classification with an employment professional, since it depends on specific duties and pay and state rules vary.
What qualifications and certifications does a machinist need?
A machinist typically needs the ability to read blueprints, use precision instruments, and operate machine tools, gained through experience, trade school, or an apprenticeship, with certifications that add credibility rather than being universally required. The baseline is blueprint reading, knowledge of lathes, mills, and machine tools, precision measurement, and a safety-first mindset, with CNC roles also needing G-code and CAM software skills. On the credential side, the most recognized is NIMS (National Institute for Metalworking Skills), which offers Machining Level I and II credentials that validate specific competencies. The trade also has a strong apprenticeship pathway: a DOL Registered Apprenticeship combines paid on-the-job training with technical instruction and leads to a journeyman card, typically over several thousand on-the-job hours. For an entry-level or apprentice hire, you need mechanical aptitude and willingness to learn rather than experience. For a skilled or lead role, set the bar to years of experience and the specific machines and tolerances your shop runs, and list NIMS or a journeyman card as preferred rather than required so you do not screen out strong self-taught machinists, who are common in this trade and scarce enough that you do not want to lose good ones to an overly rigid posting.
How do I write a machinist job description?
Start by identifying which machinist you need, since CNC, manual, apprentice, lead, and tool & die are different hires, then write the posting around the real work and your shop. Pick the version that matches: general, CNC, manual, apprentice, lead, or tool & die. Write an honest position summary and list the actual responsibilities, which span reading and planning, setup and machining, inspection, and maintenance and safety, calibrated to the role. Name the specific machines, controls, software, and tolerances your shop runs, since that is what skilled machinists read for. State the reporting line and classify the role as non-exempt and hourly, since machinists generally do not meet the exemption tests. Signal a safety-first culture and name PPE and safe-operation expectations, given the shop environment. Add the qualifications calibrated to the level, listing NIMS or a journeyman card as preferred rather than required, a work-environment section, the compensation with a good-faith hourly range where your state requires it, and an equal-opportunity statement. With machinists scarce, a clear, specific, professional posting stands out. The free templates on this page give you a starting structure for each role.
What OSHA rules apply to a machine shop?
A machine shop is a high-hazard environment with several OSHA obligations, and two stand out because they are among the most frequently cited standards every year. First, machine guarding (29 CFR 1910.212) requires guards that protect operators from hazards such as the point of operation, ingoing nip points, rotating parts, and flying chips and sparks; missing or inadequate guards are a perennial top-cited violation. Second, lockout/tagout (29 CFR 1910.147) governs the control of hazardous energy during setup, maintenance, and servicing of machines, requiring procedures so equipment cannot start unexpectedly while someone is working on it; it is also a perennial top-cited standard. Beyond these, a shop deals with PPE (safety glasses and hearing protection are standard), hazard communication for cutting fluids and chemicals, and general housekeeping. For hiring and onboarding, the practical point is that a new machinist should be trained on your machine-guarding practices and lockout/tagout procedures before working unsupervised, and that training should be documented. The job description should signal a safety-first culture, and onboarding should capture the safety orientation with records. This is general information, not legal advice; review the specific OSHA standards that apply to your equipment and processes.
How much does a machinist make?
Machinists are among the better-paid production trades, reflecting the skill required and persistent hiring difficulty. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for machinists was $56,150 in May 2024, with the lowest 10 percent earning less than $38,100 and the highest 10 percent more than $78,760; tool and die makers, a related and more specialized role, had a higher median of $63,180. The field held about 299,500 machinist jobs, and while overall employment of machinists and tool and die makers is projected to decline slightly through 2034, about 34,200 openings are projected each year, almost entirely to replace workers who retire or leave, which keeps demand for good machinists strong. Pay varies by role, region, and skill: CNC programmers with CAD/CAM skills, tool & die machinists, and experienced leads command premiums above the median, while apprentices start lower and increase as they reach skill levels. Because machinists are non-exempt, the role is paid hourly with overtime. For your posting, benchmark to the specific role, your region, and the experience you need, and include a good-faith hourly range where your state or city requires it. National compensation surveys and local listings both help you set a competitive number in a tight labor market.
What happens after I hire a machinist?
Once the candidate accepts, the hire moves into onboarding, and because a machine shop is a hazardous environment and skilled machinists are scarce, getting the offer, the credentials, and the safety training right matters for both retention and compliance. The base sequence matches any W-2 hire: send the offer letter with the hourly pay, the non-exempt classification, and the terms; collect the signed offer; complete Form I-9 within the first days; and gather tax forms. For a machinist specifically, add the trade-relevant steps: verify and store any credentials (NIMS certifications, a journeyman card, or apprenticeship records), collect signed safety-policy acknowledgments, and run a documented safety orientation covering machine guarding, lockout/tagout, and PPE before the machinist works unsupervised. For an apprentice, set up the wage-progression and training-hours tracking a registered apprenticeship expects. A structured first weeks helps a new machinist learn your machines, standards, and safety culture rather than picking them up ad hoc. FirstHR fits this directly for an owner-led shop: send the offer for e-signature with the classification stated, store NIMS and safety records in document management, assign safety-orientation training with completion records, and use the HRIS and self-service portal. FirstHR does not run payroll or administer benefits, so pair it with your payroll provider. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR; today the platform handles onboarding and document tracking once the candidate signs.