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Temporary Machine Operator Jobs in Washington, DC

B. L. Harbert

General Laborer

Quantico, VA

$17.25 - $21.50/hr

Signal equipment operators to facilitate alignment, movement, or adjustment of machinery, equipment ... Erect or dismantle scaffolding, shoring, braces, traffic barricades, ramps, or other temporary ...

Mintex Technology

Packaging Mechanic

Manassas, VA · On-site

  • Medical

  • Retirement

  • PTO

Guide and coach Packaging Operators in safe and effective machine operation and breakdown/cleaning ... Temporary housing * Full-time benefits including: * Healthcare * 401(k) with company match * Paid ...

Mintex Technology

Packaging Mechanic

Manassas, VA · On-site

$97K/yr

  • Medical

  • Retirement

  • PTO

Temporary accommodation * Full time benefits (healthcare, 401k matching, PTO) About the Opportunity ... Operators in the safe and effective operation of packaging line machines. This includes training to ...

Skilled Craft

General Laborer

Quantico, VA · On-site

$17.25 - $21.50/hr

Signal equipment operators to facilitate alignment, movement, or adjustment of machinery, equipment ... Erect or dismantle scaffolding, shoring, braces, traffic barricades, ramps, or other temporary ...

Infojini Inc

Slot Attendant

Hanover, MD · On-site

Fulltime / Temporary Client: Maryland Live! Casino SCOPE AND MAIN PURPOSE OF JOB: Monitor ... Ensures gaming devices are operating properly. Prompt call for technical or supervisory assistance ...

Aspect Inc

Tradesman

Annapolis, MD · On-site

$1.6K/wk

... operators to facilitate alignment, movement, and adjustment of machinery. Mixes, pours, spreads ... Erects or dismantles scaffolding, shoring, braces, traffic barricades, ramps, or other temporary ...

Aspect Inc

Tradesman

Annapolis, MD · On-site

$1.6K/wk

... operators to facilitate alignment, movement, and adjustment of machinery. Mixes, pours, spreads ... Erects or dismantles scaffolding, shoring, braces, traffic barricades, ramps, or other temporary ...

Aspect Inc

Tradesman

Annapolis, MD · On-site

$1.6K/wk

  • Retirement

  • PTO

... operators to facilitate alignment, movement, and adjustment of machinery. Mixes, pours, spreads ... Erects or dismantles scaffolding, shoring, braces, traffic barricades, ramps, or other temporary ...

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All JobsMachine Operator JobsTemporary Machine Operator JobsTemporary Machine Operator Jobs in Washington, DC

Temporary Machine Operator information

See Washington, DC salary details

$13

$20

$26

How much do temporary machine operator jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 17, 2026, the average hourly pay for temporary machine operator in Washington, DC is $20.60, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $18.51 and $22.07 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a temporary machine operator?

Temporary Machine Operators are workers who are hired for a short-term period to operate machinery in manufacturing, production, or warehouse settings. Their responsibilities typically include setting up machines, monitoring their operation, making minor adjustments, and ensuring quality standards are met. Temporary roles often fill in during busy seasons, employee absences, or special projects. These positions usually require basic mechanical aptitude and adherence to safety protocols. Prior experience operating similar machines is often preferred but not always required.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a temporary machine operator, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Temporary Machine Operator, you generally need basic mechanical aptitude, attention to detail, and a high school diploma or equivalent. Familiarity with manufacturing machinery, safety protocols, and sometimes experience with specific equipment or certifications like OSHA safety training are commonly required. Reliability, adaptability, and strong teamwork skills help individuals excel in this fast-paced and dynamic role. These skills and qualifications are vital for maintaining productivity, ensuring safety, and contributing to smooth operations on the production floor.

What are the typical challenges faced by temporary machine operators and how can they be addressed?

Temporary machine operators often face the challenge of quickly adapting to new equipment and workflows, as assignments may vary between different facilities. It's common to have a limited onboarding period, so being proactive in asking questions and seeking clarification from supervisors is essential. Another challenge can be understanding and complying with safety protocols unique to each workplace. Building strong communication with permanent staff members and remaining attentive to training resources can help overcome these hurdles and ensure success in the role.

What is the difference between Temporary Machine Operator vs Permanent Machine Operator?

AspectTemporary Machine OperatorPermanent Machine Operator
CredentialsTypically requires a high school diploma and basic machine operation certificationsSame as temporary, often with additional certifications or experience
Work EnvironmentShort-term assignments, often in manufacturing or production plantsLong-term employment in similar settings
Employment StatusTemporary, often through staffing agenciesFull-time or part-time, directly employed by the company
Job ResponsibilitiesOperate machinery, follow safety protocols, and perform basic maintenanceOperate machinery, perform routine maintenance, and troubleshoot issues

The main difference between a Temporary Machine Operator and a Permanent Machine Operator lies in employment duration and stability. Temporary Machine Operators work on short-term assignments, often through staffing agencies, while Permanent Machine Operators are employed directly by the company with ongoing roles. Both roles require similar skills and certifications, but the employment structure and job security differ.

How much do you get paid as a temporary machine operator?

Temporary machine operators typically earn an hourly wage that ranges from $12 to $20, depending on experience, location, and industry. Overtime pay and benefits may be available for longer shifts or higher-skilled roles, and certifications in equipment operation can influence pay rates.

What are the most commonly searched types of Machine Operator jobs in Washington, DC?

The most popular types of Machine Operator jobs in Washington, DC are:

Temporary Machine Operator jobs near you

Senior Software Engineer, Perception (R5420)

Shield AI

Washington, DC

$163K - $244K/yr

Full-time

Posted 20 days ago

Job description

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube. 

The Hivemind Solutions Perception team develops the next generation of perception capabilities for autonomous systems by combining state-of-the-art machine learning with the proven foundations of computer vision. The team advances how autonomous platforms understand and interpret the world by developing vision, vision-language (VLM), and vision-language-action (VLA) models that tackle core perception challenges such as object understanding, scene interpretation, and mission-relevant environmental awareness. Working at the intersection of research and production, our engineers build the data pipelines, supervised fine-tuning (SFT) workflows, evaluation frameworks, and deployment infrastructure needed to transform cutting-edge AI research into reliable, mission-ready perception capabilities.
 

In this role, you'll develop and deploy advanced machine learning models that solve real-world perception challenges for autonomous systems. You'll own major features from model development through deployment, working closely with machine learning researchers, perception engineers, autonomy engineers, and platform teams to bring cutting-edge AI capabilities into production. This is an ideal opportunity for engineers who enjoy solving difficult perception problems while building reliable, production-ready ML systems that operate on autonomous platforms in complex operational environments.

What You'll Do:

Model Development – Design, train, fine-tune, and maintain state-of-the-art vision, vision-language, and vision-language-action models that improve perception and decision-making for autonomous systems. 

Data Pipelines & Model Training – Build scalable data pipelines, supervised fine-tuning (SFT) workflows, and evaluation loops that continuously improve model performance on mission-relevant tasks. 

Model Deployment & Optimization – Deploy and optimize machine learning models for embedded hardware using technologies such as ONNX, TensorRT, and hardware-accelerated inference frameworks. 

Perception & Autonomy Applications – Apply modern machine learning techniques to solve challenging perception and autonomy problems across aerial and other autonomous systems operating in complex, real-world environments. 

Research-to-Production – Translate cutting-edge machine learning research into production-ready capabilities by balancing model performance, robustness, computational efficiency, and operational reliability. 

Cross-functional Collaboration – Partner closely with perception, autonomy, platform, and software engineering teams to integrate machine learning capabilities into mission-ready autonomous systems. 

Model Evaluation & Validation – Develop benchmarks, testing methodologies, and evaluation frameworks to measure model performance, identify failure modes, and guide future improvements. 

Continuous Improvement – Improve training infrastructure, developer tooling, deployment workflows, and model lifecycle management to accelerate experimentation and production delivery. 

Required Qualifications:

  • Typically requires a minimum of 5 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 4 years and a Master’s degree; or 2 years with a PhD; or equivalent work experience.

  • Prioficiency of machine learning fundamentals. 

  • Experience training an deploying ML models for computer vision in a production setting. 

  • Strong understanding of 3D vision problems/algorithms. 

  • Experience with machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch and TensorFlow. 

  • Demonstrated expertise in deploying models using TensorRT and ONNX. 

  • Proficiency in C++ and Python. 

  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate research into practical applications. 

  • Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance 
Preferred Qualifications:

  • Experience with developing autonomous systems for defense customers. 

  • Experience with training/finetuning vision-language models, vision-language-action models, and/or world models.  

  • Contributions to open-source projects in machine learning or computer vision. 

  • Track record of publications in leading computer vision and robotics conferences and journals (e.g., CVPR, ICCV/ECCV, RAL, ICRA).

#LI-DS-1
#LC

Full-time regular employee offer package:
Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity
 
Temporary employee offer package:
Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)
 
Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.
 
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Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know. 

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.