Piping Stress Engineer 1 (Entry-Level) - Nuclear (January 2027)

Location

Chicago, IL

Wage

$62,998 – $90,586/yr

Employment Type

Full-time

Apply for This Position

Posted on November 10, 2026

Job Description

Overview

The Piping Stress Engineer 1 (Entry-Level) position at Sargent & Lundy is designed for recent graduates to learn and apply engineering principles in the nuclear sector, focusing on piping systems evaluations. The company is a leader in nuclear engineering and design, committed to safety and innovation in clean energy solutions.

Responsibilities

  • Under supervision, gathers data and prepares simple calculations.
  • Under supervision, prepares simple system/structural designs.
  • Gathers data for specifications.
  • Gathers data and prepares simple bid tabulations.
  • Gathers data for reports/studies.
  • Communicates technical information and results clearly.
  • Gains familiarity with accepted standards and processes.
  • Completes assignments within allocated time frames.
  • Develops personal capabilities on assigned projects.

Requirements

  • A Bachelor's or Master's of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Mechanics, Aerospace, or Structural/Civil Engineering.
  • Emphasis in solid mechanics, structural analysis, theory of elasticity, metallurgy, and finite element analysis.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
  • Proficiency with MS Office applications.

Benefits

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

Compensation

  • Minimum Salary: $62,998
  • Maximum Salary: $90,586
  • Salary Type: Yearly

Company Name

Sargent & Lundy

Benefits

Health Insurance
Dental
Vision
PTO
401k

How this job compares in Chicago, IL

Pay in context

At roughly $37/hr, this posting lands within a few percent of the $37/hr median for welding jobs in Chicago, IL, whose middle half runs $31–$45/hr across 66 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 47% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. In other words it is a market-rate offer, so benefits, overtime, and shift schedule are where the real difference between this and the next posting on the list shows up.

The local market in Chicago, IL

We're tracking 96 other active welding openings in Chicago, IL right now, from 51 different employers. 27 of them were added in the last week. Across Illinois as a whole we're tracking 329 other active welding openings from 201 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.

Sargent & Lundy currently has 7 other openings 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 (14), S&C Electric Company (11), and Venteon (10). 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 $37/hr, Elk Grove Village at $34/hr, and Franklin Park at $31/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. Piping Stress Engineer 1 (Entry-Level) - Nuclear (January 2027) figures were last recalculated when this page was built.