Position Responsibilities:

All Heavy Equipment Operators:

• Implements and maintains a safe workplace program and ensures that safety is the highest priority
• Reads and understands the manufacturer’s operating manual for each piece of equipment before operating
• Is responsible for the safe and technically proficient oversight and operation of light vehicles such as pickups, heavy equipment such as bulldozers, articulating loaders, excavators, graders, backhoes, fork-lifts, trenchers, snow blasters, traverse equipment, tracked agricultural tractors, pistonBully, Mattracks, dump-trucks, snow/dirt moving and grooming equipment, etc, 
• Operates heavy equipment as required, including but not limited to the following activities in both dirt and snow: Road grading, ditch cleaning, trench excavation, movement, stockpiling, loading of aggregate/snow, snow plowing, snow removal, loading/unloading of trucks/trailers, material handling, disabled vehicle recovery, road construction and maintenance, airfield construction and maintenance, loading/unloading of shipping containers.
• Operates autonomously to complete specific tasks and projects
• Effectively leads small groups of people to achieve departmental goals on a daily, weekly, and sometimes longer-term basis under the guidance of a Foreman or the Supervisor.  These small teams may include equipment operators, heavy equipment operators, and others.
• Coordinate with other HEO Leads and Foremen to ensure department-wide goals and daily operations are met and department wide resources are used efficiently.
• Performs daily equipment inspections per the manufacturer to ensure all equipment is properly maintained and in safe operating condition.  Notates any repair or maintenance needs on the daily check list and notifies the appropriate foreman or supervisor of these items daily. 
• Performs daily safety inspection per the manufacturers daily check list and performs minor maintenance as required prior to operation of any equipment.
• Tracks equipment hours daily and notifies the appropriate foreman or supervisor when equipment is within 25 hours of its PM due hours.
• Ensure all team members are properly trained and evaluated in the safe use of any piece of equipment prior to allowing that team member to use the equipment unsupervised.
• Provide written reports as needed summarizing work completed, issues encountered, lessons learned, equipment status, etc to ensure effective passing of information from shift to shift.
• Attend meetings as needed to gain knowledge from and ensure coordination with all other departments in support of ASC operations.
• Provide input to the Foremen and the Supervisor aiding in the completion of preseason, mid-season, and end-of-season team member performance evaluations in accordance with established HR procedures.
• Ensure all spills are properly reported and cleaned up per existing SOP’s.

• Reports and documents incidents in a timely manner.

• Performs general duties as required in support of ASC goals and contractual commitments.
• Complies with and ensures all team members understand and comply with ASC Environmental Health & Safety and Quality Assurance requirements and goals and provides documentation to these divisions as necessary.
• Performs other duties as required.

SPoT Only:

• Operates heavy equipment as required, including the following activities: Grading, 9,000lb knuckle boom crane operation, snow removal, traverse and equipment recovery operations, fueling bladders, loading/unloading cargo, perform basic maintenance on sleds and housing modules, runway construction and maintenance, recovery of science equipment including NASA payloads.
• Counting, packing, and tracking supplies, food, fuel bladder filling, and gear for assigned traverses.
• Operates on assigned traverse for no less than a 50-day duration to the South Pole and back at least once, (twice if assigned to SPOT 1 and 3).
• Become proficient in reading Ground Penetration Radar (GPR) for crevasse detection to act as backup to the Supervisor and Mountaineer.
• Lubricates, checks fluids, and performs safety inspection and minor maintenance as required prior to operation of any equipment.
• Arranges equipment maintenance according to manufacturer recommendations or as directed by the Vehicle Maintenance Facility and Supervisor, Fleet Operations.

Required Education, Experience, Certificates and Licenses:

• High School diploma or GED
• Four years of experience as a heavy equipment operator (such as those outlined above) is required.
• SPoT positions require a minimum of 1 previous season with MCM Fleet Operations or South Pole Traverse

Expected Skills and Competencies:

• Team player and group dynamics are of the utmost importance.  

Preferred: 

• Prior supervisory/leadership experience
• General knowledge and understanding of project schedules and planning
• Understanding of grade and drainage.  
• Class A CDL Driver’s License
• Rigging certifications
• Familiarity with Microsoft Office
• Prior cold-climate equipment operations experience
• Ability to thrive in an equipment and resource limited environment
• Ability to work in an environment with regular Re-Directs and Change Orders in a calm, collected and respectful manner.  With McMurdo Station under a complete rebuild new tasking, weather and priorities are the norm rather than the exception.
• Snow grooming, moving experience.

Physical and/or Other Requirements:

• Willingness and ability to deploy to Antarctica for extended periods
• Successful completion of Medical and Dental examinations required by the NSF for deployment to Antarctica
• Successful completion of drug screening and background check required by employer
• Successful completion of Federal Background Check required by the NSF
• Must be willing and able to lift and move items, parts, assemblies, and equipment up to the safety regulation maximum as required by the position.
• Must be willing and able to perform physical activities including heavy lifting, climbing in and out of equipment, crawling, snow shoveling, ice-chipping, walking long distances daily, and working outdoors in extreme cold as required by the position.
• Must participate in community programs, such as “house-mouse” (chores), “daisy-picking” (cleaning-up around the station), recycling efforts & safety objectives.
• Valid Driver’s License issued in the United States
• Must be able to obtain and maintain facility credentials/authorization. Note: US Citizenship is required for facility credentials/authorization at this work location.

Boots Required:   Yes