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Job Description

Overview

The Marine Welder position at HII involves supporting fleet modernization through various welding processes and mechanical techniques on active class surface ships. HII is a trusted partner to military customers, providing advanced technologies and solutions for national defense.

Responsibilities

  • Support trades team by working on active class surface ships to assist with alterations and installations for fleet modernization.
  • Perform all work in accordance with established quality and safety procedures.
  • Execute a variety of tasks related to shipboard maintenance to meet standards on various contracts.
  • Work from blueprints, engineering sketches, charts, or work orders.
  • Fabricate, maintain, repair, and modify structural elements and equipment.
  • Lay out and mark points and lines on parts or subassemblies using tools.
  • Cut, fit, assemble, and position pieces to be welded into jigs and fixtures.
  • Apply welding processes to join, surface, fabricate, and repair metal parts.
  • Maintain effective communications and provide reports to team and senior management.

Requirements

  • Must be a U.S. citizen.
  • High School education or Trade School or equivalent required.
  • 4 years of related experience welding aboard naval vessels preferred.
  • Ability to obtain medical clearance to wear a half-face respirator.
  • Experience with stick welding (SMAW), Flux Core (FCAW), and Aluminum MIG (GMAW) processes.
  • Experience reading and interpreting drawings, blueprints, and technical manuals.
  • Ability to accurately read measuring devices to 1/16 of an inch.
  • Experience working in a team environment and effective communication skills.
  • Must provide hand tools and trade specific PPE.

Benefits

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

Additional Information

  • Required travel of 51 - 75% to shipyards and military bases.
  • Per Diem provided based on location when on travel.

Benefits

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

Pay in context

At roughly $24/hr, this posting comes in about 17% below the $29/hr median for welding jobs in Chesapeake, VA, where the middle half runs $25–$32/hr across 12 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 25% 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 Chesapeake, VA

We're tracking 17 other active welding openings in Chesapeake, VA right now, from 12 different employers. 3 of them were added in the last week. Across Virginia as a whole we're tracking 185 other active welding openings from 110 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 6 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 HII (10), Colonna's Shipyard (8), and Newport News Shipbuilding, A Division of HII (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 Virginia, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Newport News at $34/hr, Verona at $33/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, Stick, and Flux-Core 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. 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.

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) Mastertradesperson 3- 29380 figures were last recalculated when this page was built.