Material Handler-Traveling

About the Role

JGM is looking for an experienced Traveling Material Handler to support structural steel erection crews on active job sites across the country. This isn't general labor — it's a skilled, safety-critical role that keeps a steel erection job moving. You'll be the person making sure the right piece is in the right place at the right time: receiving and verifying steel deliveries, staging members in erection sequence, rigging loads, and signaling the crane operator with precision. Ironworkers depend on you to have their next pick ready and correctly identified, and a mistake here can shut a crew down fast — so this role rewards someone who takes real pride in doing it right.

What You'll Do

• Receive incoming structural steel deliveries, verifying piece counts, piece marks, and condition against shipping tickets, bills of lading, and erection drawings.
• Stage and organize steel members in the yard or laydown area according to the erection sequence, so crews always have the next pick ready to go.
• Rig loads correctly for lifting — select appropriate slings, shackles, chokers, and spreader bars based on piece weight, shape, and lift plan.
• Give clear, accurate hand and radio signals to crane operators during picks and sets; work safely within the crane's swing radius and load path.
• Read and interpret piece marks, erection drawings, and shop tags to confirm the correct member is being pulled and delivered to the right location.
• Operate material handling equipment as needed — forklifts, all-terrain forklifts, and similar equipment — within certification and site requirements.
• Maintain an organized, hazard-free laydown yard; flag damaged, mislabeled, or missing material to the superintendent before it holds up the erection sequence.
• Support inventory tracking of incoming steel against the project's shipping and delivery schedule.
• Work directly alongside ironworkers, riggers, and the field superintendent as an integrated part of the erection crew, not a standalone laborer role.
• Follow all site-specific safety plans, rigging standards, and crane/lift safety requirements at every location.
• Travel continuously between active job sites nationwide as project schedules require, often on short notice and for extended durations.

What You Bring

• Minimum of 2 years of hands-on experience handling structural steel materials on an active construction or erection site.
• Working knowledge of rigging fundamentals — sling angles, load capacities, hardware selection, and safe lift practices.
• Experience giving and reading standard crane hand signals; radio signal experience a plus.
• Comfortable reading piece marks, erection drawings, and shop tags well enough to confirm the right member without guesswork.
• Forklift experience highly preferred; certification a plus (or willingness to certify through JGM).
• Comfortable working in close proximity to active crane operations and heavy equipment.
• OSHA 10 or OSHA 30 certification preferred.
• Willing and able to travel 100% of the time, including extended overnight and multi-week assignments away from home, with a valid driver's license.
• Able to pass a background check and drug screen; JGM is a drug-free workplace.
• Self-motivated and dependable — you're often working with minimal direct supervision once the crew knows you've got the yard under control.

Physical Requirements & Work Environment

• Regularly works in both indoor and outdoor environments — active construction/erection sites, laydown yards, and covered/indoor staging areas — in varying weather and temperatures, at a different site or region as assignments rotate.
• Ability to climb, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, and move over uneven, cluttered ground around staged steel and active equipment.
• Ability to lift and carry up to 50 lbs. and remain on your feet for extended periods, including 10-12 hour shifts.
• Required to wear all applicable PPE (safety-toed footwear, gloves, safety glasses, hearing protection, hard hat, high-visibility vest, etc.).
• Good vision and depth perception sufficient to read piece marks and safely judge clearances during rigging and picks; ability to work near dirt, dust, and noise typical of an active erection site.

Why JGM

JGM is an AISC-certified structural steel fabricator and industrial construction company with deep Pennsylvania roots and a national field footprint. Our erection crews move fast and rely on each other — this role is a core part of that team, not an afterthought, and the right person in this seat makes every ironworker on the crew more productive.

• Competitive pay, commensurate with experience
• Travel to site and per diem paid
• Safety training and OSHA 10 paid