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Job Description

Overview

Vigor Marine Group is a national leader in marine maintenance and modernization, offering innovative services across multiple shipyards. The Pipe Welder Journey 1 position involves performing various welding tasks with minimal supervision while ensuring quality and safety standards are met.

Responsibilities

  • Perform GTAW and SMAW welding in various positions.
  • Prepare surfaces by grinding and chipping.
  • Recognize and trace various pipe systems aboard vessels.
  • Care for and safely use hand and power tools.
  • Comply with craft and shipyard safety and environmental measures.

Requirements

  • High school diploma or GED preferred.
  • 5 years relevant work experience.
  • Ability to read, write, speak, and comprehend English.
  • Four-hour fire watch certification must be obtained within 30 days of hire.
  • HAZWOPER – First Responder Awareness Level certification.
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How this job compares in Portland, OR

Pay in context

At roughly $39/hr, this posting sits about 34% above the $29/hr median for welding jobs in Portland, OR — toward the top of a $26–$33/hr middle band drawn from 19 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 95% 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 Portland, OR

We're tracking 29 other active welding openings in Portland, OR right now, from 14 different employers. 5 of them were added in the last week. Across Oregon as a whole we're tracking 76 other active welding openings from 43 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Portland, or widen the search to Oregon.

Vigor Marine Group currently has 1 other opening live in Oregon, which is usually a sign of either steady growth or steady turnover — worth asking which in the interview.

The most active employers in Oregon at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are Welding Shop in Portland, OR (15), AAON, Inc. (4), and Sulzer (4). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within Oregon, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Portland at $29/hr and Redmond at $26/hr. Portland is among them.

What you'll be running

This posting calls for TIG and Stick 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. 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 pipe welder openings if you want to compare this against similar roles.

Similar openings near Portland, OR

Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. Pipe Welder Journey 1 - Swing Shift figures were last recalculated when this page was built.