KITTTERY, Maine — Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is seeking 160 individuals with experience in industrial work and is hosting a job fair at the Regatta Conference Center in Eliot to help find them.

The Tuesday, Nov. 14 job fair will be held from noon to 8 p.m. Public affairs officer Jeremy Lambert said the shipyard is looking to fill roughly 160 positions in fields such as chemistry, electrical work, engineering, insulation, mechanics, pipefitting, radiological work, sheet metal work and many others. The shipyard is asking applicants to bring copies of their resumes, professional certificates, academic transcripts and for former members of the military, their DD-214s.

“Our workload is increasing and to meet that demand we need to grow our workforce,” said Capt. Dave Hunt, commander of the shipyard. “The Navy looks to Portsmouth for quality work on time and on budget. We are looking to this job fair to find dedicated individuals who can help us continue to deliver excellence for the Navy and the nation.”

Lambert said desired candidates have experience working in industrial settings and for certain positions could be eligible for expedited hiring through a process called Direct Hiring Authority, or DHA.

“Ideal candidates would have more than two years of experience in an industrial work environment such as commercial shipbuilding, commercial marine vessel overhaul and repair, power plant construction, commercial building construction or bridge construction,” he said.

Lambert said the DHA allows resumes to be to be collected at one-day events like job fairs, which allows the local human resource office on the shipyard to begin an immediate qualifications review. Without DHA, he said, the shipyard would have to wait for a job announcement to be posted on USAJOBS.gov, which remains open for an average of five days, and then all applications, experienced or not, are reviewed at a regional human resource office.

Lambert said the need for more experienced and entry-level workers is a result of multiple submarines being due in for scheduled repairs and upgrades.

“Our hiring plan is based on submarine workload, budget and workforce attrition needs," he said. "Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is a vital element of the Navy’s submarine maintenance industrial base and continues to plan and prepare for the steady workload maintaining our Los Angeles- and Virginia-class attack submarines."

The Navy has a comprehensive Life Cycle maintenance plan for submarines to ensure safe, mission capable operations. Periodic maintenance and modernization begins immediately after construction and continues throughout the life of every vessel, Lambert said. In addition to the local workload, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Detachment-San Diego supports intermediate maintenance and emergent repairs on attack submarines home-ported and operating in the San Diego Area of Responsibility, Lambert said.

"Based on that workload, in FY18 we have approval to hire approximately 800 more employees to bring our end strength to about 6,100 employees," he said, but added individuals looking into entry-level positions cannot be considered for DHA.

“The shipyard is projected to hire approximately 800 positions this fiscal year," he said. "From that total number, about 650 entry-level trades and entry-level engineering positions will be filled through current recruitments such as Engineering Pathways, Worker Skills Progression and Trades Apprenticeship Programs, which are advertised on the USAJOBS.gov website.”

John Joyal worked at the shipyard for more than 40 years as a welder, welding instructor and later oriented new hires before retiring earlier this year. He said the DHA is “long overdue” and will make it easier for individuals with the sought-after skill sets to get their applications into the shipyard. He said because the positions are good paying jobs, the secondary benefits will amount to a “shot in the arm for the local economy.”

“The DHA opens up the whole flotilla for things people can apply for and if their background is diverse enough, skills-wise, there may be a lot of people who can apply cross-section,” said Joyal, chairman of Seacoast Shipyard Association's board of directors. “The shipyard has a work schedule past the year 2025 and then some, so I think this is a great way to make sure the entire workforce is up to speed and able to do all the work of the Navy and NAVSEA.”