Heavy Equipment Operator

RJS Grading

Heavy Equipment Operator

Future Openings | Grading and Sitework | Wake County, North Carolina

RJS Grading is accepting applications for future Heavy Equipment Operator openings. We welcome candidates with practical grading, excavation, or utility experience. This posting is for future opportunities; no immediate opening or start date is promised.

Company

RJS Grading is a Raleigh-based civil excavation and underground utility contractor. We perform grading, sitework, utilities, clearing, demolition, hauling, and related site services. We value ownership, honest communication, quality work, safety, and learning together.

Position type

Full-time employee role working at assigned jobsites under a foreman and field leadership. Work is primarily in Wake County, with rare travel to jobs up to 1 hour away. Typical crew hours are 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with eligibility for overtime, and also with seasonal and project-related changes.

Description of duties

• Operate assigned equipment safely for excavation, grading, loading, backfill, or compaction within your training and demonstrated ability.
• Follow the work plan, grade references, and foreman's direction. Check work quality and report unclear instructions or changed conditions before proceeding.
• Perform daily inspections and routine care; promptly report defects, leaks, damage, and service needs.
• Coordinate with spotters, ground crews, and truck drivers. Respect utility markings, exclusion areas, and site safety requirements; stop and report unsafe conditions.
• Record time, job codes, equipment use, and completed work accurately. Assist with other site tasks as assigned and trained.

Skills and requirements

• Demonstrated 3 to 4 years safe heavy-equipment operation on grading, excavation, utility, or similar construction projects.
• Ability to follow grade and work instructions, maintain awareness around people and utilities, and communicate reliably with the crew.
• Dependable attendance and transportating with your own vehicle to the assigned reporting location; ability to perform essential outdoor site duties without reasonable accommodation.
• Valid Drivers Licence and own vehicle for transportation is required.

Helpful experience: Finish grading, utility excavation, GPS/machine control, or proficiency across several equipment types is helpful. List the machines you operate confidently; a CDL is relevant only for assignments that require it.

Compensation

$22-$28 per hour, based on demonstrated equipment skills and relevant grading/sitework experience, plus overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. The upper end is intended for operators with strong finish-grading, utility-excavation, machine-control, or multiple-machine skills relevant to the assignment.

Benefits

• RJS pays 50% of employee-only medical premiums; employees pay the other 50% and the additional premium for spouse or child coverage. Optional dental and vision coverage is employee-paid. Insurance eligibility begins on day 91 of full-time employment, subject to plan enrollment requirements.
• Up to 80 hours of PTO (10 eight-hour days) per calendar year, earned evenly each pay period from day one and prorated for partial-year employment. Earned PTO may be used with approval; overtime does not increase accrual.
• Six paid holidays: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Saturday holidays are observed on Friday; Sunday holidays on Monday.
• SIMPLE IRA retirement plan with company matching contributions up to 3% of compensation, subject to plan eligibility.

Application

Apply through this posting with a resume or brief work history. List the machines you operate, the work you have done with them, and your availability for future openings. Relevant equipment skills may be checked in a supervised evaluation. You may have to go through a drug test before completing the application process or after being hired.