Custom Machine Engineer & Welder

If you just weld to a drawing and clock off, this isn't your role.

We've never built the same machine twice.

Walco makes custom seed cleaning and agricultural machinery for clients who have a problem no standard machine can fix. Odd grain types, unusual flow requirements, tight specs that nothing off-the-shelf can handle. We work out what it needs, sketch something up, and build it. Usually there's no catalogue to reference. That's the job.

The person we need isn't just a skilled fabricator. They're someone who looks at a sketch early on and goes 'that's going to cause grief' before we've bought any steel. Someone who brings their trade knowledge into the design conversation, not just the workshop.

If that's you, keep reading.

About Walco

We're an agricultural engineering business based in South Australia. Our speciality is custom seed cleaning machinery — the kind of equipment that gets built because a client has a specific problem and there's nothing on the market that solves it properly.

The team is small. Everyone here does real work. There's no gap between what a client needs and what gets built.

The Role

You'll be fabricating and welding the machines we design. But it's not a head-down, weld-to-the-drawing situation.

We need someone who's part of the build process from the early stages — reading rough concepts, flagging what won't work, and contributing to how a machine actually gets designed. The person doing the welding usually has the best view of what's going to be a problem. We've learned to listen to that.

What You'll Own

Fabrication and welding

You're responsible for the quality of every component that leaves this workshop. MIG, TIG, structural work, detail work — all of it. You'll select materials, do the cutting and grinding, and finish to a standard that holds up in the field. Clean work, done right the first time.

Input on design

When a new machine is being designed — which is often — you're in the conversation. Not formally. More like: someone puts the sketch in front of you, and you tell them what's going to give trouble before it does. You'll catch things that look fine on paper but won't build, or won't hold up once it's running. That kind of input is worth a lot to us.

Assembly and testing

Once the parts are made, you'll assemble the machine and test it before it goes out. If something's not working, you find out why and fix it. If something could work better, you say so.

How We Measure Performance

• Machines out on time, built to spec

• Problems caught before fabrication starts, not during rework

• Rework rate stays low — first-pass quality is the standard

• Zero Work Cover incidents

Rework burns time and shifts schedules. We avoid it by hiring people who speak up early and take ownership of quality from the first cut, not the last inspection.

What We're Looking For

• Solid across MIG and fabrication work — and confident in your quality

• Can read drawings and follow a sketch, but also knows when something needs questioning

• Has built things outside the standard catalogue and enjoyed it

• Mechanically minded — you diagnose problems, not just symptoms

• Cares about how the finished thing looks and holds up, not just whether it passes inspection

• Works well in a team, doesn't need hand-holding

We don't want someone who stays in their lane.

We want someone who makes the whole machine better.

Why Work Here

• The work is genuinely different every time — your skills don't go stale

• Small team means what you think actually influences what gets built

• You'll work alongside the people drawing up what you're building

• Stable business with real roots in the Australian agricultural sector

• A culture that respects trade knowledge and backs people who take initiative

How to Apply

Send your application to adm••@walcoseed.com.au

Include your resume and three short examples:

1. A build you're proud of.  What made it unusual or difficult? What did you have to figure out?

2. A problem you caught before it became a rework.  What did you see, and what happened because you spoke up?

3. A time you contributed something beyond what was asked.  Didn't have to do it. Did it anyway. Made the result better.

If you take pride in the craft, have a view on how things should be built, and want to work on

machines nobody else is making — we'd like to hear from you.