Back to Jobs

Job Description

Overview

Working as a Welder at BAE Systems involves taking pride in repairing and modernizing U.S. Navy vessels, contributing to important challenges while growing your career through training and development opportunities in a supportive environment.

Responsibilities

  • Perform precise welding on various materials in flat, vertical, or overhead positions.
  • Read and interpret blueprints, schematics, and engineering drawings to plan layouts.
  • Operate and maintain welding equipment, including torches, grinders, and welding machines.
  • Inspect completed welds for flaws and ensure compliance with industry standards and safety regulations.
  • Maintain a clean work area and strictly follow OSHA regulations.

Requirements

  • Completed an apprenticeship or possesses extensive experience (typically 5+ years) in advanced welding tasks.
  • Ability to accomplish welding processes aboard vessels and shops.
  • Able to pass a hands-on welding practical test on SMAW, FCAW, and GMAW.
  • Ability to interpret and understand NAVSEA drawings/blueprints.
  • Able to understand, read, and interpret welding symbols based on Military Standard 22-D.
  • Able to use hand tools and power tools safely and efficiently.
  • Able to read, write, and comprehend simple instructions.
  • Able to calculate and understand units of measure, including fractions and decimals.
  • Able to accurately use tape measures for measurements.
  • Able to obtain DBIDS credential/Government clearance to enter US Navy Vessels.

Benefits

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

Additional Information

  • Location: Norfolk, Virginia
  • Position will be posted for at least 5 calendar days.

Benefits

Health Insurance
Dental
Vision
401k
PTO
Apply for This Position

How this job compares in Norfolk, VA

Pay in context

At roughly $32/hr, this posting lands within a few percent of the $30/hr median for welding jobs in Norfolk, VA, whose middle half runs $27–$32/hr across 13 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 69% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. In other words it is a market-rate offer, so benefits, overtime, and shift schedule are where the real difference between this and the next posting on the list shows up.

The local market in Norfolk, VA

We're tracking 30 other active welding openings in Norfolk, VA right now, from 12 different employers. 5 of them were added in the last week. Across Virginia as a whole we're tracking 136 other active welding openings from 69 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Norfolk, or widen the search to Virginia.

The most active employers in Virginia at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are Innovative Refrigeration Systems, Inc. (14), General Dynamics NASSCO (10), and Newport News Shipbuilding, A Division of HII (8). 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 $40/hr, Norfolk at $30/hr, and Chesapeake at $27/hr. Norfolk is among them.

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.

Certifications this posting mentions

  • NAVSEA — the Naval Sea Systems Command welding standards used on US Navy shipbuilding and repair. Qualification is yard-specific and typically comes with a background check.

Read straight from this posting's text. Confirm the exact qualification the employer wants before you test — requirements vary by shop even under the same code.

Similar openings near Norfolk, VA

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