Working Shop Lead – Commercial Casework
Mooresville, NC (Lake Norman / north Charlotte metro) | Full-time | $70,000–$95,000 salary + overtime
Peppermodern builds commercial casework and architectural millwork in Mooresville, NC on a CNC-supported, sheet-goods production system — a C.R. Onsrud T-Series 5×12 4-axis CNC, an Altendorf edge bander and sliding table saw, Festool-equipped bench work, and Mozaik engineering. We already have trusted CNC operation and separate engineering support. We need the experienced woodworker who makes sure the work actually goes together.
This is a hands-on lead role. You will receive approved drawings, CNC-cut parts, purchased materials, and a required date. You will review the work for constructability, plan secondary operations, lead assembly, solve difficult details, and take the job to shop-ready completion.
What you will own
- Constructability and assembly review before production.
- Post-CNC work using table saws, router tables, jigs, fixtures, and hand tools.
- Assembly sequence, practical job priorities, in-process quality control, and final shop completion.
- Development of the existing production team through hands-on teaching.
- Clear feedback when a drawing or product-library detail must change.
- Daily status in plain words — what’s done, what’s blocked, what’s at risk — before anyone has to ask.
- Complete labeling, protection, packaging, and load readiness.
What you will not be asked to own
You are not the salesperson, estimator, CAD detailer, G-code programmer, or corporate plant manager. The owner retains customers and pricing. Engineering retains CAD and CNC-ready data. Your job is to own how approved work is actually built.
You probably fit if
- You have five or more years building casework, fixtures, production cabinetry, or architectural millwork.
- You understand particleboard, MDF, melamine, laminate, veneer, edge banding, hardware, and frameless assembly.
- You can read a drawing and see the build sequence and likely failure points.
- You enjoy solving difficult secondary operations and teaching another person how to do them correctly.
- You still want to build, not only supervise.
- You deliver bad news early — a part that won’t work, a date that’s slipping, a mistake you made. In this trade that’s rare. Here it’s the job.
How we work
We run the shop on seven written values — the same version we use inside the company, not a client version. Two matter most on the floor: We take long cuts (the hard things done right, especially when no one will see) and Bad news early (we own the message and we own the issue). Read all seven at peppermodern.com/values. If they read like how you already work, apply.
Pay and what we offer
- $70,000–$88,000 guaranteed salary based on demonstrated depth — up to $95,000 for exceptional constructability judgment, AWI fluency, or team development.
- Your salary is guaranteed — a slow week never shortens your paycheck. All hours are tracked, and overtime past 40 pays time-and-a-half on top of your salary.
- A $500/month tax-free health allowance (QSEHRA) from your first paycheck, toward the health plan you choose — usable for premiums and out-of-pocket medical costs.
- Two weeks paid time off plus 8 paid holidays.
- All shop tooling provided — you work with the Onsrud, the Altendorf iron, and a Festool-equipped bench, maintained and ready.
- A clean, safe shop — dust collection, electric material handling, no LP fumes on the floor.
- Paid training, direct owner access, and real authority over how approved work moves from parts to completion.
We are a small, growing shop. We pay above market in cash because our benefit plans are still being built — and the person we hire will help shape what we add next.
Schedule
Monday through Friday, 8:00 to 4:30, in the Mooresville shop — with occasional planned overtime tied to committed completion dates (always paid, never assumed) and occasional local site visits for problem solving.
How to apply
Apply with a resume — or just a short description of what you have built. Photos of your work are welcome. Prefer email? [email protected] with subject “Working Shop Lead.” Finalists complete a two-hour paid drawing, constructability, and shop review.
About Peppermodern
Millwork is our first trade. It won’t be our last. We’re a trade company built like a product company — founded in 2025, officially launched in January 2026, working out of a purpose-built shop in a Mooresville brick mill building with the newest CNC equipment in the area. Recently we’ve delivered a five-room law office package (ADA vanities, a kitchen, locked storage, a custom reception desk), eleven luxury closets across two homes — LED lighting, glass doors, shoe organizers — built on our own CNC closet library, and a six-suite golf simulator venue in green slate laminate and butcher block. Between projects the shop runs production CNC work for other cabinet shops and product manufacturers, from murphy beds to institutional furniture.
We’re a young company with more demand than we can serve. Today we’re a team of two — you’d be the third, in a shop deliberately equipped ahead of its headcount. We spec premium materials even when it costs us margin, and we keep investing in automation and tooling so the shop delivers real price-performance for customers — and strong compensation for the people who build here. See the work at peppermodern.com.
Peppermodern is an equal opportunity employer. Equivalent experience, apprenticeships, military service, and demonstrated skill are valid pathways.
Pay: $70,000.00 - $95,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- On-the-job training
- Paid time off
- Tools provided
Application Question(s):
- Briefly describe the most difficult piece you personally built — what made it hard and how you sequenced it.
Experience:
- commercial casework / cabinetmaking: 5 years (Preferred)
Ability to Commute:
- Mooresville, NC 28115 (Required)
Work Location: In person
