Back to Jobs

Job Description

Overview

The Welder Fitter performs TIG and MIG welding on various assemblies, supporting a journeyman welder with fit-up and fabrication while working from blueprints to produce high-quality welded components. This hands-on role operates in a fabrication environment using fixtures and hand tools to weld and assemble parts made from exotic materials.

Responsibilities

  • Perform TIG and MIG welding on various assemblies.
  • Support a journeyman welder with fit-up and fabrication.
  • Work from blueprints to produce high-quality welded components.
  • Use fixtures and hand tools to weld and assemble parts.

Requirements

Benefits

Additional Information

  • Location: El Cajon, CA
  • Shifts: 1st/2nd/weekend shifts
  • Compensation: $25-$30/hr
Apply for This Position

How this job compares in Rancho San Diego, CA

Pay in context

At roughly $28/hr, this posting comes in about 14% below the $32/hr median for welder fabricator jobs across California, where the middle half runs $26–$36/hr across 61 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 31% 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 Rancho San Diego, CA

Rancho San Diego, CA is a small market in our index: 1 other active welding opening alongside this one, from 1 employer. Across California as a whole we're tracking 459 other active welding openings from 225 employers. With this few local postings, most welders here end up either commuting or looking at travel work. Browse welding jobs across California.

Aerotek currently has 17 other openings live in California, which is usually a sign of either steady growth or steady turnover — worth asking which in the interview.

The most active employers in California at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are SpaceX (25), Aerotek (17), and Honeywell Aerospace (14). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within California, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Long Beach at $43/hr, Torrance at $43/hr, and Los Angeles at $38/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 welder fabricator openings if you want to compare this against similar roles.

Similar openings near Rancho San Diego, CA

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