Back to Jobs

gpac

Senior Stainless Steel Fabricator

Location

Northvale, NJ

Wage

$35 – $45/hr

Employment Type

Full-time

Apply for This Position

Posted on August 29, 2026

Job Description

Overview

A leading food manufacturing operation in Northvale, NJ is seeking an experienced Senior Stainless Steel Fabricator / Sanitary TIG Welder to join its Engineering and Maintenance team. This role involves taking projects from concept through installation, focusing on high-quality sanitary fabrication.

Responsibilities

  • Fabricate, modify, install, and repair stainless-steel production equipment, piping, structures, and components.
  • Perform high-quality TIG (GTAW) and MIG (GMAW) welding, including thin-gauge stainless and sanitary applications.
  • Work with 304 and 316L stainless steel and other food-grade materials.
  • Fabricate and install sanitary tubing, Tri-Clamp fittings, weld ferrules, and butt-weld connections.
  • Build and modify platforms, guarding, hoppers, chutes, tables, tanks, conveyors, piping, and processing equipment.
  • Take fabrication projects from field measurements and layout through installation and final turnover.
  • Read and interpret blueprints, weld symbols, schematics, P&IDs, and engineering drawings.
  • Grind, polish, passivate, and finish stainless-steel surfaces to sanitary standards.
  • Produce shop sketches and as-built information from field measurements.
  • Partner with Engineering and Maintenance on equipment modifications and continuous-improvement projects.
  • Support equipment installations, relocations, utility tie-ins, commissioning, and capital projects.
  • Fabricate replacement components in-house to reduce equipment downtime and OEM lead times.
  • Support preventive maintenance and equipment upgrades.
  • Document labor, materials, work orders, and equipment history using a CMMS.
  • Maintain a safe, organized, and inspection-ready fabrication shop.
  • Mentor junior fabricators and maintenance technicians on welding, layout, and sanitary fabrication practices.

Requirements

  • High school diploma or GED.
  • 7+ years of hands-on welding and fabrication experience.
  • 3+ years working in food, beverage, dairy, pharmaceutical, or another sanitary manufacturing environment.
  • Advanced TIG and MIG stainless-steel welding skills.
  • Experience with thin-gauge and sanitary stainless applications.
  • Experience with sanitary tubing and fittings, including Tri-Clamp fittings, weld ferrules, and butt welds.
  • Strong layout, cutting, grinding, polishing, and stainless-steel finishing skills.
  • Ability to read engineering drawings, blueprints, weld symbols, and P&IDs.
  • Understanding of sanitary design principles and food-grade fabrication.
  • Familiarity with CIP (Clean-in-Place) systems.
  • Ability to independently take fabrication projects from concept through installation.
  • Strong commitment to safety, quality, sanitation, and workmanship.

Additional Information

  • Location: Northvale, NJ
  • Schedule: Monday-Friday | 6:00 AM-3:30 PM
  • Employment: Full-Time | Onsite
  • Industry: Food Manufacturing
Apply for This Position

How this job compares in Northvale, NJ

Pay in context

At roughly $40/hr, this posting sits about 18% above the $34/hr median for welding jobs across New Jersey — toward the top of a $29–$40/hr middle band drawn from 154 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 69% 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 Northvale, NJ

Northvale, NJ currently has 4 other active welding openings besides this one, spread across 2 employers. None of them were added in the last week, so this is a slower-moving market. Across New Jersey as a whole we're tracking 214 other active welding openings from 139 employers. That's enough local activity to be worth comparing two or three offers before committing. Browse every welding job in Northvale, or widen the search to New Jersey.

gpac currently has 4 other openings live in New Jersey, which is usually a sign of either steady growth or steady turnover — worth asking which in the interview.

The most active employers in New Jersey at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are Rhoads Industries (13), Gpac (10), and Department of the Navy - Agency Wide (7). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within New Jersey, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Camden at $41/hr, Wayne at $39/hr, and Newark at $35/hr. If you can relocate or commute, that spread is worth factoring in.

What you'll be running

This posting calls for MIG and TIG 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 stainless steel welder openings if you want to compare this against similar roles.

Similar openings near Northvale, NJ

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