Back to Jobs

Mistras

Certified Welding Inspector – Kingsport, TN

Location

Kingsport, TN

Wage

$208,000/yr

Required Skills & Certifications

TIG Welding
Apply for This Position

Posted on September 28, 2026

Job Description

Overview

Certified Welding Inspectors are responsible for checking welding bonds on job sites, requiring extensive knowledge of welding techniques, safety procedures, and industry standards. They perform inspections, craft reports, and ensure compliance with specifications.

Responsibilities

  • Possess extensive knowledge of industry standards including AWS D1.1 and ASME.
  • Read and understand written specifications for work orders.
  • Review fabrication and field erection drawings for compliance.
  • Perform welder qualification tests and visual weld exams.
  • Communicate with Project Manager, Fabrication shop, clients, supervisors, and other inspectors regarding specifications and qualifications.
  • Complete written reports in a timely manner.
  • Enforce company safety policies and ensure safe welding practices are followed.
  • Write Weld Procedures – not required, but preferred.

Requirements

  • High school diploma or equivalent.
  • AWS D1.1 Certified Welding Inspector (CWI D1.1) Certification.
  • Experience performing inspection to AWS D1.1 and ASME.
  • Knowledge and experience with quality/inspection processes such as VT, MT, UT, PT, RT, quality procedures and quality audits.
  • Knowledge of welding symbols and ability to read and interpret fabrication mechanical drawings.
  • Ability to read and understand company safety policies and programs.

Benefits

Vision
Apply for This Position

How this job compares in Kingsport, TN

Pay in context

At roughly $100/hr, this posting sits about 317% above the $24/hr median for welding jobs across Tennessee — toward the top of a $21–$27/hr middle band drawn from 24 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 100% 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 Kingsport, TN

Kingsport, TN currently has 3 other active welding openings besides this one, spread across 3 employers. None of them were added in the last week, so this is a slower-moving market. Across Tennessee as a whole we're tracking 65 other active welding openings from 49 employers. That's enough local activity to be worth comparing two or three offers before committing. Browse every welding job in Kingsport, or widen the search to Tennessee.

The most active employers in Tennessee at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are Welding Shop in Nashville, TN (4), Staffmark (3), and JOST International (3). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

What you'll be running

This posting calls for TIG. 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.

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.
  • CWI — the AWS Certified Welding Inspector credential. It is an inspection qualification rather than a welding one, requiring documented experience plus a three-part exam, and it is the usual route off the torch into QC.

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 Kingsport, TN

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