Millwright Job Description: Duties, Requirements, Template & Pay (2026)
A millwright installs, aligns, dismantles and moves the heavy machinery a plant is built around — and is the highest-paid of the three occupations BLS groups together as industrial machinery mechanics. This page has a millwright job description template you can copy, the requirements that belong in it, what millwrights are paid against the roles they are usually confused with, and why this is one of the fastest-growing skilled trades in the country.
What a millwright does — and how the role differs from a maintenance mechanic
BLS groups three occupations together, and they are paid differently because they do different work. Millwrights lead at a median of $65,700 a year, ahead of industrial machinery mechanics at $64,520 and machinery maintenance workers at $60,850.
The distinction is installation and precision. A millwright installs, levels, aligns, dismantles, moves and reassembles heavy machinery — rigging and lifting it into place, setting it on its foundation, shimming and grouting, laser-aligning shafts and couplings, fitting bearings and gearboxes, and commissioning it. An industrial machinery mechanic keeps installed equipment running: diagnosing faults, replacing worn parts, and doing planned maintenance. A machinery maintenance worker does the routine servicing around both.
Many plants use the titles loosely and many people do all three jobs. The reason it matters for a posting is that experienced millwrights self-identify strongly with the installation and precision work, and a posting that describes only preventive maintenance will not reach them — while a posting that promises rigging and alignment work and delivers filter changes produces a resignation inside three months.
Say which the job actually is, and say the split if it is both.
The work, in the order it happens
Rigging and moving. Reading drawings and load charts, rigging with slings, chainfalls, gantries, jacks and skates, working with crane operators, and moving a machine into a space that is usually too small for it.
Setting and aligning. Levelling to the foundation, shimming, grouting, anchoring, then precision alignment of shafts and couplings with dial indicators or laser tools, and setting belt and chain drives to spec.
Assembly and fitting. Bearings, gearboxes, seals, drive components, conveyor and pump assemblies, and the fabrication that goes with it — cutting, welding, bolting, and the odd bracket nobody drew.
Commissioning and troubleshooting. Running it, measuring vibration and temperature, correcting what the numbers say, and handing it over working.
Maintenance and dismantling. Planned maintenance on what has been installed, and taking machinery back out again when a line changes — which is a larger part of the work than most postings acknowledge.
Millwright job description template
Copy this into your ATS or job board, replace the bracketed fields, and delete what does not apply. It is written for a plant-based millwright; the customization section covers contract and travelling millwrights, food and beverage, power and heavy industry, and shutdown work.
Job title
Millwright — [Plant / Contract / Travelling], [Company name], [City, ST] — [Shift]
Summary
[Company name] is hiring a millwright for our [plant type] in [city]. The work is roughly [00]% installation, alignment and rigging and [00]% maintenance on [equipment: conveyors, packaging lines, presses, pumps, gearboxes, mixers]. Shift is [pattern], [00] hours, with [scheduled overtime / an on-call rotation / shutdown weeks in [months]]. Pay is [$00.00–$00.00] an hour [plus shift differential and overtime after 40], or [$00,000–$00,000]. [We supply all specialty tools, laser alignment equipment and rigging gear; you bring hand tools and we pay a [$000] annual tool allowance.]
Responsibilities
- Install, level, align and commission machinery to drawings and manufacturer specification
- Rig and move equipment safely using [slings, chainfalls, gantries, jacks, forklifts and cranes]
- Perform precision alignment of shafts and couplings [laser and dial indicator] and set drive components
- Fit and replace bearings, gearboxes, seals, belts, chains and couplings
- Dismantle, relocate and reassemble equipment for line changes and projects
- Fabricate, cut and weld brackets, guards and supports as required
- Troubleshoot mechanical faults and vibration issues and correct the root cause
- Carry out planned maintenance and record work accurately in [CMMS]
- Work safely: [lockout-tagout], confined space, hot work permits, fall protection and PPE
Requirements
- [00] years as a millwright or industrial mechanic, or a completed millwright apprenticeship
- Able to read mechanical drawings, use precision measuring tools and align to spec
- Rigging competence and safe use of lifting equipment
- Own hand tools; [we supply specialty, alignment and rigging equipment]
- Able to work [the shift], plus [shutdowns and scheduled overtime]
- Able to lift [50] lbs, work at height and in confined spaces, and pass a background check and [drug screen]
Preferred
- Millwright apprenticeship or journeyman card [UBC or equivalent]
- Welding certification [MIG, TIG, stick] and fabrication experience
- Laser alignment, vibration analysis or precision-maintenance training
- Experience with [our equipment: packaging lines, presses, extruders, conveyors, pumps, turbines]
- [Forklift, aerial lift, crane or rigging certification — we will certify you]
Pay and benefits
- [$00.00–$00.00] an hour with [shift differential] and overtime after 40
- [Guaranteed overtime during shutdowns / [00] hours a week average]
- [Annual tool allowance of [$000] and a boot allowance]
- [We pay for welding certification, rigging and precision-maintenance training, on the clock]
- [Health, dental and vision from day [00]], [401(k) with match], [PTO and paid holidays]
- [Per diem and travel pay for out-of-town work], [climate-controlled shop where possible]
How to apply
[Apply here / text MILLWRIGHT to 00000 / call [name] at [number]]. We reply within [24] hours and you are welcome to walk the plant before you decide.
Requirements: what is required, what is preferred, and what costs you applicants
This occupational group is projected to grow 14% between 2025 and 2035 — much faster than average — with about 51,900 openings a year. Demand is rising against a pool that is not growing at the same rate, so every candidate you want is currently working somewhere, and the posting is competing against a known alternative rather than against unemployment.
| Requirement | What to know |
|---|---|
| Years of experience | Defensible in this trade, because precision alignment and rigging carry real consequence. But state the work rather than the number: "can laser-align a coupling and rig a 4,000 lb gearbox into position" is checkable; "5+ years" reaches only people already holding the job. |
| Apprenticeship or journeyman card | A genuine marker and a fair basis for a higher rate. As a hard gate it narrows the pool sharply in regions without a strong millwright local. Prefer it, pay for it, and say whether you support people through one. |
| Welding | Extremely common in the job and worth naming. Better offered than required — "we pay for your certification" widens the pool and is cheap. |
| Own tools | Standard for hand tools. Say explicitly that you supply alignment equipment, rigging gear and specialty tooling — a posting that does not is assumed not to have them, which reads as an unserious shop. |
| Shift and shutdown work | Not a requirement so much as the fact that decides the application. Shutdowns, turnarounds and outage weeks are where much of the money is made. Say when they fall, how many hours they mean, and how they are paid. |
| Travel | If the role travels, say how much, how far, what the per diem is and whether a vehicle is provided. Travelling millwright work pays well and suits a specific candidate — hiding it wastes everybody's time. |
| Certifications | Forklift, aerial lift, rigging, confined space. Offer to certify rather than requiring; all are quick and portable. |
Millwright duties, written for a posting
Name the equipment. Packaging lines, presses, extruders, conveyors, mixers, pumps, turbines, CNC — a millwright reads that list and knows immediately whether their experience transfers. Say how old the plant is, how many lines, how many millwrights and mechanics are on the team, and whether there is a dedicated maintenance planner.
State the installation-to-maintenance split as a rough percentage. It is the single most useful sentence in the posting and almost nobody includes it. "Roughly 60% installation and line changes, 40% planned maintenance" tells a candidate what their week looks like better than nine bullet points.
Be honest about the conditions: heat, height, confined spaces, noise, whether the plant runs 24/7, and how often the work happens while production is down at night or over a weekend. Keep the list to eight or nine lines, ordered by how much of the month each one takes.
How to customize it by setting
Plant-based millwright
Lead with the equipment, the team size and the shift pattern, then the shutdown calendar. Your advantages over contract work are a stable schedule, benefits and knowing the plant — say them, because contract millwrights are your main competition and they are usually paid more per hour.
Contract and travelling millwright
Say the travel radius or the rotation, the per diem as a number, whether a truck is provided, and how the hours actually work — 50 or 60 hours is normal in this segment and it is the reason people take it. Specificity converts better than any adjective here.
Food and beverage
Add the sanitation layer: washdown environments, stainless, GMP, allergen changeovers and audit readiness. Say whether the work is in a wet environment and whether it is cold, because both materially change the job.
Power generation, heavy industry and mining
Turbines, large rotating equipment, precision alignment to tight tolerances, outage work and often a formal permit culture. This attracts a specialist and the posting should read as one — name the equipment and the tolerances you work to.
Shutdown, turnaround and outage crews
A different contract shape entirely: intense, finite, high hours, high pay. State the dates, the expected hours a week, the pay structure and the accommodation arrangement. Millwrights plan their year around these.
What it costs to reach millwrights on social
Skilled trades are among the more expensive audiences we buy, for the obvious reason: the people who can do the work are employed and few. In our 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark, the skilled trades role family — 35 campaigns — ran a median cost per applicant of $14.14, a middle half of $7.58 to $21.49, a blended figure of $10.74, a 15% apply rate and a 1.07% click-through rate. The wider Skilled Trades and Field Service sector, 335 campaigns, ran an $11.89 median at 18%. Technician and mechanic roles — our largest family at 145 campaigns — ran $13.41 at 16%.
For a role this specialised, two levers matter more than the budget. The apply rate: across all 891 campaigns, campaigns converting under 10% of clicks paid a median $53.77 an applicant and those over 20% paid $4.41. And frequency: the qualified millwright population within commuting distance of one plant is small, so impressions repeat quickly, and past three a month the median cost per applicant roughly doubles. The right response to an expensive skilled-trades campaign is a more specific offer, not more spend — rate, overtime, tools supplied, and what kind of work it actually is.
Hiring across the maintenance department? See the maintenance technician, machinist and welder job descriptions, and manufacturing recruiting for the hiring side.
Writing the ad version
The description is the document. The advertisement is read on a phone by a millwright in another plant, probably on a break. It needs the rate, the shift and overtime reality, the equipment, and what you supply — in that order. Our campaign data puts the best-converting length at 201–400 words.
Four questions on the form: years as a millwright or industrial mechanic, what equipment they have worked on, whether they hold a card or certifications, and start date. In a trade this scarce, every extra field is expensive.
What millwrights earn
Millwrights are the best-paid of the three occupations in their BLS group, at a median of $65,700 a year in May 2025. The group as a whole — 547,300 people — had a median of $30.82 an hour, $64,100 a year.
| Occupation | Median annual pay (May 2025) |
|---|---|
| Millwrights | $65,700 |
| Industrial machinery mechanics | $64,520 |
| Machinery maintenance workers | $60,850 |
By industry, the group's medians run from manufacturing at $65,220 and construction at $63,870 down through wholesale trade at $62,450 to machinery repair and maintenance at $60,780 — a narrow spread of under $4,500, which tells you that pay alone will not differentiate your posting.
What will differentiate it is the growth picture. This group is projected to grow 14% from 2025 to 2035, much faster than the average occupation, with roughly 51,900 openings a year. That is an unusually strong combination — real growth on top of replacement — and it means the competition for millwrights is going to intensify rather than ease. The plants that will still be staffed in three years are the ones building their own: taking on apprentices, paying for welding and precision-maintenance certification, and saying so in the posting.
Frequently asked questions
What does a millwright do?
A millwright installs, levels, aligns and commissions heavy machinery; rigs and moves equipment using slings, chainfalls, jacks and cranes; performs precision shaft and coupling alignment; fits bearings, gearboxes, seals and drive components; dismantles and relocates machinery for line changes; fabricates and welds supports and guards; troubleshoots mechanical and vibration faults; and carries out planned maintenance on what has been installed.
What is the difference between a millwright and an industrial mechanic?
Emphasis, and pay. A millwright specialises in installing, moving, aligning and commissioning machinery — the rigging and precision work. An industrial machinery mechanic keeps installed equipment running through diagnosis, repair and planned maintenance. BLS reports them in the same group, with millwrights at a $65,700 median and industrial machinery mechanics at $64,520. Many people do both, but experienced millwrights self-identify with the installation work.
How much do millwrights make?
The median was $65,700 a year in May 2025 — the highest of the three occupations in the group, ahead of industrial machinery mechanics at $64,520 and machinery maintenance workers at $60,850. By industry the group's medians run from $65,220 in manufacturing to $60,780 in machinery repair and maintenance.
What qualifications does a millwright need?
A high school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education, with most millwrights coming through an apprenticeship or long-term on-the-job training. Employers commonly want the ability to read mechanical drawings, use precision measuring tools, align to specification and rig safely. Welding certification, laser alignment training and lifting-equipment certifications are widely valued and are usually better offered than required.
What should a millwright job description include?
The equipment and plant type, the installation-to-maintenance split stated as a rough percentage, team size, the shift pattern, the shutdown or turnaround calendar with hours and pay, the hourly rate and overtime structure, what tools, alignment equipment and rigging gear you supply, the tool allowance, the certifications you will pay for, and the physical and environmental conditions.
Is being a millwright a good trade?
By the numbers it is one of the stronger ones: a $65,700 median, 14% projected growth from 2025 to 2035 — much faster than average — and roughly 51,900 openings a year across the group. It is also physically demanding, frequently involves shutdown and weekend work, and carries genuine safety consequence in the rigging and lifting.
Do millwrights weld?
Frequently, yes. Fabricating brackets, guards, supports and modifications is a normal part of installation work, and many employers prefer or require welding certification. Because it is not universal, the best approach in a posting is to name the welding you actually need and offer to pay for the certification rather than gating on it.
Why is it hard to hire millwrights?
Because demand is growing 14% over the decade while the pool is not, so almost every candidate is employed — and because pay across industries sits within about $4,500 of the median, which leaves little room to out-bid. The postings that fill are specific about the four things millwrights check first: the rate, the overtime and shutdown reality, the tools and alignment equipment supplied, and whether the work is genuine installation work or maintenance with a millwright title.
Other job description templates
Hiring millwrights?
The description is the document. Reaching the few millwrights within driving distance who are already employed is the job. That is what we run.
Pay, employment and outlook figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Industrial Machinery Mechanics, Machinery Maintenance Workers, and Millwrights (May 2025 wage data, 2025–35 projections). Cost-per-applicant, apply-rate and frequency figures: Boostpoint 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark, 891 campaigns and 1,334 campaign-months.