Back to Jobs

Job Description

Overview

The Staff Welding Engineer - Lead Engineer position at a Deep Tech company in Long Beach, LA involves overseeing welding quality, process development, and production execution for advanced thermal-management systems. The role requires collaboration with engineering and manufacturing teams to ensure compliance with ASME and AWS standards.

Responsibilities

  • Develop, qualify and optimise welding procedure specifications and procedure qualification records for GTAW, GMAW and FCAW processes.
  • Support welding of stainless steel, carbon steel and high-temperature alloys.
  • Own welding processes for pressure-retaining process piping and related hardware.
  • Review engineering drawings, joint designs and weld symbols for manufacturability.
  • Advise on weld accessibility, thermal distortion, heat input and non-destructive testing requirements.
  • Ensure pressure-retaining fabrication complies with ASME Section IX.
  • Ensure applicable structural fabrication complies with AWS D1.1.
  • Define weld inspection and acceptance criteria.
  • Coordinate non-destructive testing, including visual testing, penetrant testing, magnetic-particle testing and radiographic testing.
  • Support welder performance qualifications and provide technical guidance to welding technicians.
  • Troubleshoot welding, metallurgy and fabrication issues on the production floor.

Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree in Welding Engineering, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline.
  • At least five years of experience in welding engineering within aerospace, defence, industrial OEM or heavy-equipment manufacturing.
  • Direct experience applying ASME Section IX and AWS D1.1 requirements.
  • Experience developing, qualifying or controlling WPS and PQR documentation.
  • Knowledge of GTAW/TIG, GMAW/MIG and FCAW welding processes.
  • Understanding of weld metallurgy, heat-affected zones, thermal expansion and distortion control.
  • Experience supporting welding and fabrication activities in a production environment.
Apply for This Position

How this job compares in Long Beach, CA

Pay in context

This employer didn't publish a rate. For reference, welding jobs in Long Beach, CA currently run a median of $43/hr in our index, with the middle half of them falling between $31–$58/hr across 35 postings with published pay. That median is a reasonable floor to anchor on when a recruiter asks what you're looking for.

The local market in Long Beach, CA

We're tracking 41 other active welding openings in Long Beach, CA right now, from 16 different employers. 15 of them were added in the last week. Across California as a whole we're tracking 553 other active welding openings from 252 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Long Beach, or widen the search to California.

EVONA currently has 1 other opening 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 (34), Honeywell Aerospace (21), and Aerotek (17). 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 Redondo Beach at $72/hr, El Segundo at $58/hr, and Torrance at $47/hr. If you can relocate or commute, that spread is worth factoring in.

What you'll be running

This posting calls for MIG, TIG, 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. 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 lead welder openings if you want to compare this against similar roles.

Certifications this posting mentions

  • AWS D1.1 — the American Welding Society's Structural Welding Code for steel. It governs almost all building and structural steel work in the US, so a D1.1 qualification is the baseline credential for construction and ironworking.
  • ASME Section IX — the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code qualification. It covers welding on pressure-retaining equipment — boilers, vessels, and process piping — where a failed weld is a safety incident rather than a rework ticket.

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 Long Beach, CA

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