Job Description

Overview

The Fabricator position at ARMADA INC. involves the fabrication, assembly, and erection of steel structures using various tools and equipment. The role requires a strong understanding of technical specifications and safe work practices while working in shipyards and customer facilities.

Responsibilities

  • Ensure work is done safely and meets quality standards.
  • Lay out, fabricate, and brace metal structural parts.
  • Read and interpret blueprints or templates.
  • Align parts using jacks, turnbuckles, and other tools.
  • Perform structural and pipe welding for various materials.
  • Tack weld clips and brackets prior to permanent welding.
  • Measure, mark, and sequence welding to eliminate distortion.
  • Keep work areas clean and organized.
  • Work with team members to maximize productivity.
  • Verify conformance of fabricated layouts to blueprint specifications.
  • Prepare products for shipment.
  • Lift raw materials and finished products manually or using a hoist.

Requirements

  • High school graduate or GED preferred.
  • Minimum of 3 years of related experience.
  • Experience with steel, aluminum, and/or stainless steel required.
  • Must pass precertification company welding test.
  • Apprenticeship or certification in welding preferred.
  • Proficient at reading blueprints and technical documents.
  • Ability to perform simple shop math.
  • Ability to stand continuously for long periods.
  • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs and uses.
  • Ability to prep, fit, and weld with minimal supervision.

Benefits

  • Health Insurance
  • Dental
  • Vision
  • Life
  • LTD
  • Accident
  • Critical Illness
  • 401k

Additional Information

  • Work performed will be onboard a ship, in a dry dock or shipyard under fast-paced conditions.
  • Consistent exposure to extreme temperatures and outdoor elements.
  • Willingness to work 40+ hours a week.

Benefits

Health Insurance
Dental
Vision
Life
LTD
Accident
Critical Illness
401k

How this job compares in Portsmouth, VA

Pay in context

At roughly $35/hr, this posting sits about 21% above the $29/hr median for welding jobs across Virginia — toward the top of a $26–$36/hr middle band drawn from 112 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 73% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. Pay that far above local median usually comes attached to something: a harder cert requirement, travel, night shift, or overtime that isn't really optional. Worth establishing which before you accept.

The local market in Portsmouth, VA

Portsmouth, VA currently has 7 other active welding openings besides this one, spread across 6 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 171 other active welding openings from 117 employers. That's enough local activity to be worth comparing two or three offers before committing. Browse every welding job in Portsmouth, or widen the search to Virginia.

The most active employers in Virginia at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are HII (6), Colonna's Shipyard (6), 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, Portsmouth at $41/hr, and Norfolk at $32/hr. Portsmouth is among them.

Similar openings near Portsmouth, VA

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