Job Description

Overview

The Ironworker Helper 1 position involves assisting skilled craftspersons with supportive duties under immediate supervision. Responsibilities vary based on experience and assigned job step.

Responsibilities

  • Learn to read specifications or blueprints to determine the locations, quantities, or sizes of material required.
  • Assist skilled craftsman to fabricate metal parts, such as steel frames, columns, beams, or girders, according to blueprints or instructions from supervisors.
  • Assist with unloading and positioning prefabricated steel units for hoisting.
  • Hoist steel beams, girders, or columns into place using cranes or signaling hoisting equipment operators.
  • Learn to verify vertical and horizontal alignment of structural steel members using plumb bobs, laser equipment, transits, or levels.
  • Cut, bend, or weld steel pieces using metal shears, torches, or welding equipment.
  • Assemble hoisting equipment or riggings, such as cables, pulleys, or hooks, to move heavy equipment or materials.

Requirements

  • May require a high school diploma or its equivalent with previous years of experience in the field or in a related area.
  • Must possess knowledge, skills, and abilities for the position.
  • Ability to understand, follow, and transmit written and oral instructions and communicate effectively with management/supervision.
  • Field experience in chosen craft discipline.
  • Knowledge of the safe and efficient use of hand tools, power tools, and layout tools.
  • Able to meet all physical requirements.
  • Must have all required tools.
  • Expected to climb and work at heights and in confined spaces (may exceed 200 ft).
  • Able to work outdoors in all weather conditions.
  • Able to work overtime, nights, and weekends as required by the workload.
  • Observe and comply with all safety and project rules.

How this job compares in Houston, TX

Pay in context

This employer didn't publish a rate. For reference, welding jobs in Houston, TX currently run a median of $24/hr in our index, with the middle half of them falling between $22–$33/hr across 64 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 Houston, TX

We're tracking 230 other active welding openings in Houston, TX right now, from 129 different employers. 9 of them were added in the last week. Across Texas as a whole we're tracking 949 other active welding openings from 416 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Houston, or widen the search to Texas.

TIC - The Industrial Company currently has 14 other openings live in Texas, which is usually a sign of either steady growth or steady turnover — worth asking which in the interview.

The most active employers in Texas at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are Austin Industries (34), Zachry Group (24), and Welding Shop in Houston, TX (22). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within Texas, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Old Sixth Ward at $40/hr, Dallas at $36/hr, and Channelview at $32/hr. If you can relocate or commute, that spread is worth factoring in.

Similar openings near Houston, TX

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