Finisher & Polisher
Production | Peoria, IL | Full-Time
Pay: $22 – $28 per hour
Reports To: Production Team Supervisor
Good pay. Great benefits. Work where the finish is what the customer actually sees. If you take pride in getting stainless steel exactly right and want a shop that respects your craft, keep reading.
Rheo Engineering designs and builds powder handling equipment used to make life-saving medicine. As a Finisher & Polisher, you’ll sand, polish, and clean the stainless steel that goes into every piece of equipment we ship.
What You’ll Do
- Prepare material surfaces per engineering guidelines and production protocols, supporting our welding fabricators and project assemblers and detailers
- Perform all levels of surface finish work — random orbital sanding, unidirectional polishing, and high-detail polishing on all types of equipment
- Run finishing and polishing equipment, including a wide-belt sander and pneumatic tools, with proper training
- Maintain surface finish tools and machines, including the wide-belt sander
- Complete cleaning processes on all equipment, including heat tint removal, water wash-downs, and passivation
- Read and understand fabrication prints from the Engineering Department
- Receive and inspect incoming stainless steel parts against the bill of materials and allocate them to the correct project bins
- Help train new members of the Surface Finish team
- Deliver quality work on time — quality, attention to detail, and efficiency are top priorities in this role
- Take on other tasks as assigned by your supervisor
What We’re Looking For
Experience
- No formal education requirements
- Familiarity with forklift operation
Software
- Basic computer skills for email and internal company communication
- Familiarity with Microsoft Office (Word, Outlook, Teams)
Traits
- Detail-Orientation — high attention to detail and strong organizational skills
- Respectful Communication — you communicate honestly and respectfully with your team
- Safe Operation — you run hand tools with skill and with safety first
- Hands-On Craftsmanship — you excel when working with your hands
- Self-Starter — you don’t wait to be told what to do; you take initiative
Values Alignment
- Initiative: instinct for taking action to improve, solve, and deliver.
- Collaboration: proactive communication with your stakeholders.
- Competence: ability to do your job well.
- Reliability: persistent follow-through on commitments.
- Bold Humility: courage to speak, act, and listen without arrogance.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience finishing or polishing stainless steel, especially to sanitary or high-polish standards
- Experience with passivation or other chemical cleaning processes
Why Rheo
Steady work in a stable industry — the equipment you finish is used to make life-saving medicine, and that work doesn’t dry up. A small shop where you’re a name, not a number — about 100 people and a team that has your back. Real variety — custom equipment, not the same part over and over. And great pay and benefits to go with it.
Benefits
- Leading medical insurance — consistently low rates compared to other businesses in the area
- Health Savings Account with employer contributions (plan-dependent)
- Dental, vision, and life insurance
- Short-term and long-term disability
- Identity theft insurance
- 401(k) with 4% employer match
- Generous PTO
- Paid paternity and maternity leave
- Paid cell phone plan with stipend for a new phone every 2 years
- Employee referral program
Working Conditions
This is a shop-floor position. You must be able to bend/stoop, climb stairs and ladders, squat, kneel, push/pull, lift up to 50 lbs, and use vibratory and other basic tools, on an occasional to frequent basis depending on the project. Appropriate PPE is required on the shop floor, including when handling chemicals during cleaning and passivation. Standard 8-hour workday, with overtime as requested by your supervisor. The physical requirements described here are representative of those that must be met to perform the essential functions of this role, with or without reasonable accommodation.
Rheo Engineering is an equal opportunity employer.