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Job Description

Overview

Atlas Tube, a division of Zekelman Industries, is seeking a Floater Assistant Operator for their facility in Chicago, IL. This role involves safely operating machines and maintaining safety requirements in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

Responsibilities

  • Perform duties in accordance with company safety policies and report unsafe conditions.
  • Troubleshoot, solve, and communicate problems to the mill crew.
  • Communicate quality requirements to the mill crew and ensure they are met.
  • Maintain offline requirements to ensure quick-change operation.
  • Assist maintenance in making equipment repairs.
  • Calibrate micrometers at the start of each shift and during changeovers.
  • Assist in changeovers and inspect tooling condition at the end of each rolling, communicating the need for reconditioning.
  • Support other team positions and functions as necessary.
  • Maintain housekeeping standards in all work areas.
  • Perform other duties as assigned.
  • Participate in training and cross-training of new and current team members.
  • Perform preventive maintenance (PM) activities as assigned.
  • Ensure regular, full-time, predictable onsite attendance per the posted schedule.
  • Lead and promote health and safety work practices as required by regulatory agencies and company policy.

Requirements

  • 5+ years of manufacturing experience preferred.
  • Associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree, or trade certification preferred.
  • Strong mechanical aptitude and basic math skills.
  • Visual acuity to read and record numerical data.
  • Previous experience with precision instruments (micrometers, calipers, etc.) preferred.
  • Good communication and interpersonal skills.
  • Crane certification required.
  • Commitment to safe work practices and predictable attendance.

Benefits

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

Additional Information

  • Work environment includes a loud manufacturing/industrial setting.
  • Regular exposure to moving mechanical parts and fumes or airborne particles; occasional exposure to wet and/or humid conditions.

Benefits

Competitive Compensation
401k
Health Insurance
Dental
Vision
PTO
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How this job compares in Chicago, IL

Pay in context

At roughly $27/hr, this posting comes in about 28% below the $38/hr median for welding jobs in Chicago, IL, where the middle half runs $31–$50/hr across 79 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 15% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. That gap is worth raising directly — in a market this size there is normally room to negotiate toward the median, particularly if you already hold the certifications the posting asks for.

The local market in Chicago, IL

We're tracking 108 other active welding openings in Chicago, IL right now, from 62 different employers. 50 of them were added in the last week. Across Illinois as a whole we're tracking 368 other active welding openings from 212 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Chicago, or widen the search to Illinois.

Zekelman Industries 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 Gerber Collision & Glass (18), Staff on Site (13), and Sargent & Lundy (11). 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 Downers Grove at $44/hr, Chicago at $38/hr, and Elk Grove Village at $34/hr. Chicago is among them.

Similar openings near Chicago, IL

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