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Job Description

Overview

The HVAC Mechanic position at Ferrara in Itasca is a critical role responsible for maintaining HVAC systems to ensure efficient and reliable operations in candy manufacturing. This full-time position requires the ability to work overtime and varying schedules based on business needs.

Responsibilities

  • Maintain and optimize HVAC systems to support candy production quality and food safety.
  • Troubleshoot and service air compressors and related systems to minimize production downtime.
  • Support humidity control by maintaining dehumidifiers and related components.
  • Monitor and maintain chiller systems for efficient cooling performance.
  • Perform preventive and corrective maintenance on steam systems to maximize reliability.
  • Conduct water quality testing to protect equipment and support safe operations.
  • Manage water treatment chemical programs for system integrity and compliance.
  • Inspect and repair thermal oxidizer components for environmental compliance.
  • Maintain industrial heating equipment to ensure dependable process heat.
  • Identify opportunities for equipment performance improvement and energy reduction.
  • Respond quickly to equipment issues to maintain uninterrupted manufacturing schedules.

Requirements

  • High school diploma or GED; or one to three months related experience and/or training.
  • Minimum of 1 year experience with chillers and HVAC systems required.
  • Experience with SAP or similar, Microsoft Word and Excel.
  • Experience troubleshooting and repairing heat pumps and HVAC equipment.
  • Experience maintaining boiler room equipment and associated controls.
  • Experience performing welding repairs and fabrication work on industrial equipment.
  • Experience repairing and maintaining steam traps and filters.
  • Experience detecting and addressing refrigerant and oil leaks.

Benefits

  • PTO

Additional Information

  • This is a 1st Shift position, core days/hours are Mon-Fri, 6:00am to 2:30pm.
  • Position requires the ability to work overtime and varying schedules.

Benefits

PTO
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How this job compares in Itasca, IL

Pay in context

At roughly $40/hr, this posting sits about 24% above the $32/hr median for welding jobs across Illinois — toward the top of a $27–$40/hr middle band drawn from 254 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 74% 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 Itasca, IL

Itasca, IL currently has 5 other active welding openings besides this one, spread across 5 employers. 2 of them were added in the last week. Across Illinois as a whole we're tracking 354 other active welding openings from 214 employers. That's enough local activity to be worth comparing two or three offers before committing. Browse every welding job in Itasca, or widen the search to Illinois.

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

The most active employers in Illinois at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are Staff on Site (13), Gerber Collision & Glass (12), and S&C Electric Company (9). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within Illinois, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Chicago at $38/hr, Addison at $35/hr, and Skokie at $35/hr. If you can relocate or commute, that spread is worth factoring in.

Similar openings near Itasca, IL

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