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Job Description

Overview

The Marine Welder position at HII involves supporting skilled trades work on Weapon Elevators and Aircraft Elevators on U.S. Navy ships. The role requires welding expertise and offers a full-time opportunity in Chesapeake, VA, with potential travel requirements.

Responsibilities

  • Provides welding support certified in Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW), Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (TIG), and Gas Metal Arc Welding (MIG) on Plate or Pipe.
  • Uses brazing and/or flame-cutting equipment to weld or join metal components.
  • Welds components in flat, vertical, or overhead positions.
  • Ensures shop safety and housekeeping are followed.
  • Ensures all materials and equipment are properly and safely stored, protected, and maintained.
  • Recognizes, sets up, and operates hand and power tools common to the welding trade.
  • Lays out, positions, aligns, and secures parts and assemblies prior to assembly.

Requirements

  • High School education, or Trade School or equivalent, and 6 years of related experience.
  • Current or prior experience welding SMAW/Stick, GTAW/TIG, and GMAW/MIG.
  • Ability to obtain and maintain a DBIDS badge and Security Clearance, and must be a US Citizen.
  • Ability to read, interpret, and follow detailed oral and written instructions, schematics or drawings.
  • Must be able to calibrate, and make minor repairs on tools/equipment.
  • Ability to make decisions using sound judgment while complying with policies and regulations.
  • Must provide own hand tools as designated per trades specialty.
  • Must be able to demonstrate welding ability on needed processes through qualification testing.

Benefits

  • Health Insurance
  • Dental
  • Vision
  • PTO
  • 401k

Additional Information

  • This position does not provide relocation assistance.
  • Travel within and outside of the continental United States may be required.

Benefits

Health Insurance
Dental
Vision
PTO
401k
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How this job compares in Chesapeake, VA

Pay in context

At roughly $27/hr, this posting lands within a few percent of the $29/hr median for welding jobs in Chesapeake, VA, whose middle half runs $24–$32/hr across 11 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 36% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. In other words it is a market-rate offer, so benefits, overtime, and shift schedule are where the real difference between this and the next posting on the list shows up.

The local market in Chesapeake, VA

We're tracking 14 other active welding openings in Chesapeake, VA right now, from 10 different employers. None of them were added in the last week, so this is a slower-moving market. Across Virginia as a whole we're tracking 166 other active welding openings from 105 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Chesapeake, or widen the search to Virginia.

Mission Technologies, a division of HII currently has 5 other openings live in Virginia, which is usually a sign of either steady growth or steady turnover — worth asking which in the interview.

The most active employers in Virginia at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are Colonna's Shipyard (8), HII (7), and Mission Technologies, a division of HII (5). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within Virginia, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Newport News at $41/hr, Staunton at $34/hr, and Norfolk at $32/hr. If you can relocate or commute, that spread is worth factoring in.

What you'll be running

This posting calls for MIG, TIG, and Stick work. MIG (GMAW) feeds a continuous wire electrode through a shielding-gas nozzle. It lays down metal fast and is forgiving on clean material, which is why it dominates production and light fabrication work. TIG (GTAW) uses a non-consumable tungsten electrode with filler added by hand, giving the operator the most control of any process. It is slow, demanding, and the standard for stainless, aluminum, and anything where the bead has to look as good as it holds.

See all shipyard welder openings if you want to compare this against similar roles.

Similar openings near Chesapeake, VA

Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. Marine Welder - 28701 figures were last recalculated when this page was built.