Quality Manager Becomes First Compass Employee of the Month at Pocasset
Jose Rodrigues has called Cape Cod home since he was four years old. He loves the Cape so much that about 17 years ago, he didn’t want to leave even to commute for work.
It’s only fitting that such a loyal resident would be Compass Precision’s first employee of the month at Pocasset Machine, the operating company located on Cape Cod.
Compass announced Tuesday it has named Jose its Employee of the Month for December. He is the 13th and final employee honored with the award in 2025.
” I think highly of my co-workers at Pocasset,” explained Mike Kane, the company’s VP & GM. “We have a great team. But there is no doubt in my mind that Jose is highly deserving of this honor. He just does a great job.”
In addition to being the first Pocasset worker with the honor, Jose is the 70th employee at Compass’ operating companies to be selected as employee of the month since the program started in March 2020. Jose is the 13th recipient of the award this year thanks to November’s co-Employees of the Month at Douglas Machining – Zak Douglas and Ben Neefe.
Prior to Pocasset, Jose worked 14 years for another small machining company on the Cape called Sapphire Engineering, which was located right down the street from Pocasset.
Over nearly a decade and a half at Sapphire Engineering, Jose served as a lead CNC machinist, second-shift supervisor, and production manager.
Sapphire Engineering went through several management changes with company acquisitions. In 2008, the company rebranded as Idex Corporation and planned to move to Middleborough, MA.
Strongly preferring to keep his commute short, Jose’s first job inquiry was up the road at Pocasset, where he stopped in one day to see if there was an opening. As the saying goes, the rest is history.
Since joining the company, Jose has been an intricate part of everything from first-piece inspection to final visual check in Pocasset’s quality department. Jose also regularly keeps in contact with customers, communicating with them about their parts and ensuring all their needs are met.
Jose will celebrate his 17th anniversary with the operating company on April 6, 2026.
He explained that being at another company going through significant managerial changes through a sale initially made him “a little jumpy.” But even with the change to Compass, Jose has continued excelling and enjoying his tenure at Pocasset.
“The people are great. I love living on the Cape. It’s close to home,” Jose said. “The people – they are decent guys, decent folks here. They have treated me well over the years.
“Now with Compass coming in, so far, so good. It seems like it’s going to be the same.”
Jose initially planned to have a career working on cars. But he said, “fate took me in a different direction.”
After attending Upper Cape Regional for autobody, Jose accepted a job at Augat Inc, because he needed work. At Augat, which Jose said is best remembered for developing the computer board for the Sherman tank in the 1980s, his love of machining flourished.
So when he again needed a job after Augat went out of business, Jose accepted an entry-level position at Sapphire Engineering. The company trained him in CNC machining, which he thoroughly enjoyed.
Jose has lived on Cape Cod almost his entire life, but he was born in Portugal. He moved to the United States when he was four years old.
Jose remains close to his parents, who moved the family straight to Cape Cod upon immigrating. His parents live eight houses down from Jose’s immediate family.
In his free time, the Pocasset quality manager loves spending time with family. He has been married to his wife, Kelly, who Jose called a “lovely woman,” for 25 years. The couple have a 23-year-old daughter, Lauren.
The family also has two pets – a Boston terrier named Enzo and a cat, Sydney.
When he’s not spending time with family, Jose enjoys helping his parents tend to their garden.
