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Job Description

Overview

The Build/machining Mentor for the FIRST Robotics Competition at Wheelhouse Foundation will guide high school students in designing, fabricating, and assembling a competition-ready robot while fostering their engineering skills. Wheelhouse Foundation is a non-profit organization focused on youth robotics education in Coppell, TX, providing a hands-on mentorship-driven approach for students in grades 9-12.

Responsibilities

  • Coordinate several coding sessions per week during the MS and US build season.
  • Communicate with students and families about all team activities.
  • Ensure the safety and well-being of all children at all times.
  • Create an atmosphere where students feel valued and cared for.
  • Support children's emotional and social development through positive interactions.
  • Maintain a clean, safe, organized, and child-friendly shop environment.
  • Communicate promptly with Wheelhouse staff about any concerns or incidents.
  • Follow all safety, emergency, and health procedures diligently.
  • Promote inclusion, cooperation, and respect among all children.
  • Inspect and notify appropriate staff of any broken equipment or unsafe aspects.
  • Expose students to new technologies, skills, and knowledge.
  • Create opportunities for students to take on leadership roles.
  • Help students improve their problem-solving skills.
  • Help students feel empowered.
  • Lead hands-on instruction in mechanical design, fabrication, and assembly.
  • Teach and supervise safe use of shop tools.
  • Guide students through CAD design and translating drawings into physical mechanisms.
  • Run weekly build sessions during the build season and periodic pre-season sessions.
  • Check robot builds against FRC game rules and inspection requirements.
  • Support the pit crew with mechanical troubleshooting and repairs at competitions.
  • Collaborate with other mentors to keep the build on track.
  • Model Gracious Professionalism and the FIRST Code of Conduct.

Requirements

  • Hands-on experience with mechanical fabrication, machining, welding, or a related trade.
  • Comfortable and safe operating hand and power shop tools.
  • Able to commit to weekly build-season sessions plus competition weekends.
  • Comfortable working directly with students ages 14-18.
  • Willing to complete FIRST's Youth Protection screening and training.

Additional Information

  • Season runs January to April with pre-season sessions in the fall.
  • Weekly commitment of 6-10 hours/week during build season and 10-15 hours/week during competition season.
  • Compensation is $20 - $25 per hour.
  • Start date is immediate.
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How this job compares in Irving, TX

Pay in context

At roughly $23/hr, this posting comes in about 20% below the $28/hr median for welding jobs across Texas, where the middle half runs $23–$35/hr across 487 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 24% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. That gap is worth raising directly — in a market this size there is normally room to negotiate toward the median, particularly if you already hold the certifications the posting asks for.

The local market in Irving, TX

We're tracking 19 other active welding openings in Irving, TX right now, from 15 different employers. 8 of them were added in the last week. Across Texas as a whole we're tracking 1,424 other active welding openings from 736 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Irving, or widen the search to Texas.

The most active employers in Texas at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are Zachry Group (26), Welding Shop in Houston, TX (25), and Austin Industries (23). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within Texas, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Pasadena at $40/hr, San Angelo at $39/hr, and Midlothian at $38/hr. If you can relocate or commute, that spread is worth factoring in.

Similar openings near Irving, TX

Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. Build/machining Mentor - FIRST Robotics Competition figures were last recalculated when this page was built.