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Shipyard Structural Welder

Location

Marinette, WI

Wage

$62,922/yr

Employment Type

Contract

Required Skills & Certifications

Stick WeldingFlux-Core Welding
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Posted on August 25, 2026

Job Description

Overview

The Shipyard Structural Welder position is located in Newport News, VA, offering a one-year contract with the possibility of extension or full-time conversion. Candidates should have four years of experience in a naval shipyard as a first-class welder.

Responsibilities

Requirements

  • Four years of NNS or naval shipyard experience as a first-class welder.
  • Ability to perform multi-pass, all position fillet and butt welds using SMAW, GMAW, FCAW, and GMAW-P processes.

Benefits

Additional Information

  • Per diem of $140 per day.
  • Duration of 1 year contract with possibility of another year extension or full-time conversion.
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How this job compares in Marinette, WI

Pay in context

At roughly $30/hr, this posting sits about 16% above the $26/hr median for welding jobs across Wisconsin — toward the top of a $22–$30/hr middle band drawn from 115 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 82% 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 Marinette, WI

Marinette, WI is a small market in our index: 2 other active welding openings alongside this one, from 2 employers. Across Wisconsin as a whole we're tracking 171 other active welding openings from 117 employers. With this few local postings, most welders here end up either commuting or looking at travel work. Browse welding jobs across Wisconsin.

The most active employers in Wisconsin at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are QPS Employment Group (10), JARP Industries Inc (9), and SEEK Careers/Staffing (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 Wisconsin, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Oshkosh at $30/hr, Waukesha at $26/hr, and Hartford at $26/hr. If you can relocate or commute, that spread is worth factoring in.

What you'll be running

This posting calls for Stick and Flux-Core work. Stick (SMAW) burns a flux-coated consumable rod and needs no shielding gas, so it works in wind, rain, and on dirty or rusted steel. That tolerance for bad conditions keeps it the default for field, structural, and repair work. Flux-cored (FCAW) runs a hollow wire filled with flux, combining MIG-like deposition rates with the outdoor tolerance of stick. It is the workhorse on heavy structural steel and shipbuilding, where thick sections and long welds reward speed.

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

Similar openings near Marinette, WI

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