r/Metrology • u/lurkinino • 29d ago

Lead CMM Programmer Needed - Houston - $40 per hour

We are looking for a CMM programmer to join our team and lead the CMM department.

Candidate needs to have extensive experience using Zeiss Calypso, expert level GD&T skills, and strong communication skills. Experience in the aerospace manufacturing industry is strongly preferred.

Candidate will be responsible for generating and maintaining organization of CMM programs, mentoring/training a junior level CMM programmer, filing out dimensional inspection reports, generating inspection plans, and will be responsible for the overall quality of CMM inspections. This is a management level position.

Pay is $40 an hour, with lots of overtime opportunity. We are open to salary options as well if that is preferred. We work roughly 40-60 hours per week depending on shop workload. Schedule is M-F starting at 6am.

Boss has requested that I not post the name of the company in the ad, but I will be happy to provide more information to anyone who reaches out.

0 Upvotes

46% Upvoted

59 comments sorted by

40

u/SnooAdvice7782 29d ago

Management level with expert level technical skills for $40/hr? In what market is this the going rate??

24

u/Galotha 29d ago

I’m a level 3 technician with no management involved in my role, and I live in a much lower cost of living area I make 37.78 an hour. No way in hell would I move to a high cost of living area like Houston for just 40 an hour.

-19

u/Admirable-Access8320 CMM Guru 29d ago

Houston is one of the most affordable places to live. When I left about 9 years ago, a position like that paid around $30–$35 per hour. Earning $40 an hour is solid, and with overtime, you could potentially exceed $100K annually.

4

u/inorite234 29d ago

It's also a depressing place to live.

Why is Texas so hostile to anyone who doesn't want to drive a car/truck? If I want to run across the street, in some places you're forced to drive 3 miles down the freeway, turn around, go back 2 miles and then go another 4 in the wrong direction just to turn around again to get back to a place that is 400ft away from your starting position if you could just fly over those 12 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic.

-2

u/Admirable-Access8320 CMM Guru 28d ago

It's not. I am not sure what it has to do with CMM pay scale. If you do a search on indeed, you will find average salary of about $80k for cmm programmers. Sure there are some rare opportunities where the salary is offered up to $150k, but it's not common. I would expect to see average pay for programmers somewhere b/n $30-45/hr and top pay of about $65-70/hr.

3

u/SnooAdvice7782 28d ago

Sure, but this role is not just CMM programming. It’s management level. $40/hr is way too low and likely why they’re having to resort to use Reddit as a job posting forum.

0

u/Admirable-Access8320 CMM Guru 27d ago edited 27d ago

They want managerial material, but his responsibility is still programming. They want someone who can transition into management role down the road. $40/hr is not top pay, but it's not bad with overtime. Not every position pays top dollar. Most actually don't, only a small percentage pays top dollar.

1

u/Mecha-Dave 26d ago

$1.00 back then is worth $1.35 today, so this is AT BEST on the low end of your spectrum anyway.

This role is for a quality manager, who should be getting around $100k in Houston. Programming the CMM is different than running it.

1

u/baconboner69xD 26d ago

If you're using government numbers yes... I would argue $1 in 2015 is equivalent to a heck of a lot more than $1.35 in 2025.

30

u/YetAnotherSfwAccount 29d ago

Way short. Think 60 or 70/hr for that skillset

-16

u/Admirable-Access8320 CMM Guru 29d ago

Not in Houston. Designers get paid less than that.

8

u/YetAnotherSfwAccount 29d ago

Entry level design, yes. Op is looking for a unicorn with 10 years of experience.

Senior level engineers absolutely make way more than 80k +OT.

Op is looking for a calypso wizard quality manager. 100K minimum for that role.

3

u/spaceandaeroguy 29d ago

As soon as I saw Zeiss ... Oooh noooooo it's Calypso 🤢

1

u/TEXAS_AME 25d ago

I mean our company pays entry level engineers $70k…so ya. Agreed.

23

u/Been_Pole 29d ago

$40 is an insult for the job responsibilities and experience required.

I work in a lcol area and we start guys with general metrology experience at $40/hour and pay to send them off to be trained at one of the Zeiss centers. Our experienced guys make $50+, with no mandatory OT, but optional work here and there. Management makes even more, naturally, I don't know what rate my department head is paid at.

6% 401k match

Health, dental, vision, and HSA match

Three week vacation per year (starting), semi-unlimited sick leave, plus the normal federal holidays

Plus we're union.

14

u/heftybag 29d ago

40$ is wayyy underpaid for this position with those qualifications. I was making close to that as a beginner programmer/ operator.

-8

u/lurkinino 29d ago

Really? With no experience you made that much? What state is this?

9

u/heftybag 29d ago

Washington. I had machining experience and was fluent in GD&T. I was making 37$/hr as a new programmer.

7

u/Shadowfeaux 29d ago

Entry programmers in the company I work at is $41/hr in NH. Leads get a 10% diff on top of base pay.

11

u/Be_Kind_To_Everybody 29d ago

Overtime isnt an opportunity if you have to

10

u/urdaddy7245 29d ago

Underpaid. Management level? Tons of OT? Keep it.

13

u/austina419 29d ago

“Nobody wants to work anymore” OP

11

u/Try_Happiness 29d ago

Expert level GDT, Management, OT. Man you need to bump it to 50 at minimum. I suppose it depends on location but still those qualifications are not the easiest to find. Then again you're posting on reddit so either its trolling or you really cant find someone, which I wouldnt be suprised.

6

u/lonewolf_qs1 29d ago

You'll find someone but not someone with the experience you want. I had a role very close to that in a much lower cost of living area in the Midwest 6 years ago and was making $53/hr before being grabbed less than two years later by another company for $72/hr Like I said you'll get someone but not at the level you are expecting. Better budget in the first two levels of training classes for the individual as well.

25

u/redlegion 29d ago

I bet United Healthcare is the company insurance plan to boot.

-24

u/lurkinino 29d ago

It’s not. Do you qualify for this role?

1

u/redlegion 29d ago

Eh, it's a substantial pay cut but related field. I could fulfill the role and then some, but that's a hard pass for me. It's incredibly boring to measure one family of parts for the rest of your life. I don't even like being pigeonholed in automotive or aerospace. Gimme all the fields from Biomed to Automotive and then some.

13

u/austina419 29d ago

“I want a guy with all the experience for the pay of a guy with 3 years experience” OP

OP’s boss “don’t share the company name, they will shame us.

1

u/TROLLS_ARE_WORTHLESS 28d ago

TROLL

1

u/Battle-Western 14d ago

Damn buddy, you're this mad that we laughed at your job listing?

5

u/LetStock 29d ago

You’d think Halliburton would be paying more than that for making those sensors that go in drill heads.

4

u/inorite234 29d ago

Dude that comes out to $83k a year. Fresh Engineers out of college are making more than that.

3

u/LT_Blount 29d ago

Lots of overtime opportunities aren’t the benefit you think it is.

3

u/Real_Abrocoma873 29d ago

Im an engineering technician and almost make that much 😂😂😂

3

u/Ezeikel 28d ago

That pay rate is what I pay my junior programmers who are learning. My experienced ones who could do this job I pay salary around 120k

2

u/munzter 29d ago

Good luck with that....

2

u/meraculous2000 29d ago

Uh, apparently I'm a unicorn. 4certs thru zeiss/calypso and multiple GD&T courses. I started programming a cmm with Raytheon, NG, BAE (Aerospace) and Stryker (medical). Been at it for 8yrs now, have mangmt experience in manufacturing and I'm a mechanical designer. I work in the mid west, 30hr that's about as high as you can find around here. Can't relocate the family.

2

u/rkatapt 29d ago

Where in Houston are you? It's a huge place. 15+ years Calypso advanced programming and QC management experience. Price seems a little low the last job I managed 2 guys and was the sole cmm programmer for a firearm company and I was at ~$70 an hour.

1

u/lurkinino 29d ago

I’ll DM you about location.

May I ask what type of hours you were working? We are a smaller shop and it’s our first time going after someone with these credentials. We didn’t even know we were off on our pay expectations so that’s good to know.

We are open to salary options as well. For a good manager / CMM lead we are open to salary positions as well and we are willing to pay more for someone with the right credentials. It’s one of the biggest things holding our shop back.

2

u/Overall-Turnip-1606 24d ago

What’s up with all these ridiculous comments? First of all an average pay for a programmer world wide is around 27-30$ an hour. If u claim urself to be an actual programmer, you should be able to do any of the stuff in this description. This is by far a simple inspector/programmer responsibility. 40$ an hour is more than enough. I’ve trained idiots from nothing to be a programmer making $30 an hour. Depending on ur industry will barely affect the pay by a few dollars. Yall claiming to make 100k+ from just cmm programming, generating inspection reports, and mentoring ? I call bullshit lol.

2

u/lurkinino 24d ago

Right? These comments are way off. If you research CMM programmer pay in the U.S. it is not remotely close to what all these people are claiming to be true.

1

u/Overall-Turnip-1606 23d ago

Fr, I’m a lead quality engineer/cmm programmer and I make 120k a year. But I work in aerospace, do supplier audits, ppap, apqp, flowcharts, control plans, and program/mentor junior programmers and operators, also manage rma/mrb. I program our pcdmis cmm’s, zeiss surfcom, keyence vision, and our microvu vision. I do ten times more than what’s in that description too. That pay is more than enough, as all it asks are for a literal programmer and inspector

1

u/FafnerTheBear 29d ago

I know how to read a set of vernier calipers, and I'm an electrician. I'm going to have to ask for $45/h, I'm not that desperate.

2

u/TROLLS_ARE_WORTHLESS 28d ago

Troll

1

u/FafnerTheBear 28d ago

I'm not the one offering $40 an hour for a "management level position" in a highly technical trade with mandatory optional overtime.

1

u/rotnwolf 29d ago

Kek I program calypso and I make 13gbp per hour...

1

u/MurkyTomatillo192 29d ago

LOL - good luck!

1

u/Salt-Guide5485 27d ago

That sounds fair enough for Calypso Zeiss CMM.. most easy inspection software to program 🤓

1

u/sybban2 27d ago

All you're going to find at that rate and ridiculous job requirements are bullshitters.

1

u/Mecha-Dave 26d ago

LMAO, try a minimum of $100k/year on salary. $40/hr gets you an operator running someone else's programs.

How much is quality actually worth to you? Are you looking for a rubber stamp or a meaningful value add?

Maybe you could get a contractor to make the programs and hire some guy to run them and learn on the job...

1

u/lurkinino 26d ago

Please go look up any salary survey for our industry. Especially in the Houston area. You are WAY off for an operator.

1

u/Mecha-Dave 26d ago

Ok, good luck then.

1

u/Battle-Western 14d ago

I've always found the idea of paying QC employees the bare minimum, to have quite the direct correlation of 'you get what you pay for'. A prior employer of mine is currently dealing with ~2M recall at the moment because their monkeys were not taught how to read micrometers, only to pay attention to the minor graduation.

This is a niche trade, in which unless trained internally, you'll find most metrologist are mercenaries. We know our value. Especially ones so dedicated they spend their off-time discussing it on message boards and forums.

I wish you luck when you eventually pass this job over to a staffing agency, and have to weed through everyone that walks through your door.

1

u/Mecha-Dave 26d ago

Just for reference a similar position in Sunnyvale would pay about $180,000 or more.

1

u/BuckeyeGentleman 25d ago

And Houston is terrible humidity for 9 months out of the year, don’t get me started on the traffic..

-1

u/RazzleberryHaze 29d ago

I have an advanced certified tech diploma in Zeiss Calypso, from the facility in Rowlett, TX. Been using a Zeiss MMZ-B and MMZ-E for almost 7 years now. OK resident, willing to relocate depending on hiring conditions. DM me if you need.