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Job Description

Overview

Ingalls Shipbuilding is seeking Semi-Skilled Welders to join their team, where they will apply their welding skills to build advanced naval vessels. With over 11,000 employees, Ingalls Shipbuilding is a major manufacturing employer in Mississippi, contributing significantly to the economic growth of the region.

Responsibilities

  • Perform structural welding using SMAW and FCAW.
  • Join together various metal materials to fabricate and assemble ship components.
  • Read and interpret drawings, arrangements, weld symbols, and basic blueprints.
  • Work in shipboard environments including heights, confined spaces, and varying weather conditions.
  • Support production needs in a 24/7 manufacturing environment and be available for any shift.

Requirements

  • Experience with structural or industrial welding, including SMAW and/or FCAW.
  • Ability to read basic weld symbols, measurements, and drawings.
  • Strong commitment to safety, quality, and workmanship.
  • Willingness to work in active shipyard environments and continue growing welding skills.
  • Minimum of 6 months of work experience in FCAW and SMAW welding.
  • Ability to pass military standard tests in vertical, horizontal, and overhead positions.
  • Successful completion of a welding technical training certification program will be allowed in lieu of experience.

Benefits

  • Health Insurance
  • 401k
  • Tuition Reimbursement

Benefits

Health Insurance
401k
Tuition Reimbursement
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How this job compares in Pascagoula, MS

Pay in context

At roughly $28/hr, this posting comes in about 28% below the $39/hr median for welding jobs in Pascagoula, MS, where the middle half runs $28–$39/hr across 20 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 25% 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 Pascagoula, MS

We're tracking 29 other active welding openings in Pascagoula, MS right now, from 10 different employers. None of them were added in the last week, so this is a slower-moving market. Across Mississippi as a whole we're tracking 103 other active welding openings from 57 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Pascagoula, or widen the search to Mississippi.

HII currently has 12 other openings live in Mississippi, which is usually a sign of either steady growth or steady turnover — worth asking which in the interview.

The most active employers in Mississippi at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are HII (12), TIC - The Industrial Company (10), and Ingalls Shipbuilding, a Division of HII (8). 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 Stick and Flux-Core work. Stick (SMAW) burns a flux-coated consumable rod and needs no shielding gas, so it works in wind, rain, and on dirty or rusted steel. That tolerance for bad conditions keeps it the default for field, structural, and repair work. Flux-cored (FCAW) runs a hollow wire filled with flux, combining MIG-like deposition rates with the outdoor tolerance of stick. It is the workhorse on heavy structural steel and shipbuilding, where thick sections and long welds reward speed.

Similar openings near Pascagoula, MS

Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. Welder - SEMI Skilled (October 2026 Hiring Event) figures were last recalculated when this page was built.