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Job Description

Overview

Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is seeking qualified pipe welders with a minimum of 10 years of hands-on PIPE WELDING experience. The company offers competitive pay and a range of benefits, including relocation assistance and a sign-on bonus.

Responsibilities

  • Perform structural and/or pipe welds in all phases of ship construction.
  • Use a wide range of welding filler metals and processes.
  • Perform tack, fillet, and full penetration welding on steel foundations and structural and pipe joints.
  • Satisfy all nondestructive test requirements.
  • Receive additional training in certified visual inspection, fire watch, carbon arcing, and troubleshooting minor welding equipment problems.

Requirements

  • Minimum of 10 years of PIPE WELDING experience.
  • Previous employment with NNS for a minimum of 1.5 years.
  • Ability to take measurements or willingness to learn.
  • Ability to work assigned shift as production needs.
  • Ability to work at extreme heights or in small confined spaces.
  • Ability to kneel, squat, crawl, bend, stoop, and climb.
  • Ability to lift 40 lbs and pass a respirator fit test.
  • Ability to work indoors/outdoors year-round in all weather conditions.
  • Ability to pass Physical Agility Test.
  • Willingness to undergo a background investigation and drug screen.
  • High school graduate or equivalent preferred.

Benefits

  • 401k
  • Health Insurance
  • PTO

Additional Information

  • Full-Time position with multiple shifts available.
  • Relocation assistance of $5,000.00 offered.
  • Sign-on bonus of $5,000.00 offered.
  • No telework opportunity.

Benefits

401k
Health Insurance
PTO
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How this job compares in Newport News, VA

Pay in context

At roughly $41/hr, this posting sits about 40% above the $29/hr median for welding jobs across Virginia — toward the top of a $24–$34/hr middle band drawn from 70 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 89% 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 Newport News, VA

Newport News, VA currently has 9 other active welding openings besides this one, spread across 8 employers. 3 of them were added in the last week. Across Virginia as a whole we're tracking 128 other active welding openings from 71 employers. That's enough local activity to be worth comparing two or three offers before committing. Browse every welding job in Newport News, or widen the search to Virginia.

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

The most active employers in Virginia at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are Innovative Refrigeration Systems, Inc. (14), General Dynamics NASSCO (10), and Atlantic Constructors, Inc. (7). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within Virginia, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Newport News at $31/hr, Norfolk at $30/hr, and Chesapeake at $28/hr. Newport News is among them.

What you'll be running

This posting calls for TIG, Stick, and Flux-Core work. TIG (GTAW) uses a non-consumable tungsten electrode with filler added by hand, giving the operator the most control of any process. It is slow, demanding, and the standard for stainless, aluminum, and anything where the bead has to look as good as it holds. 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.

See all pipe welder openings if you want to compare this against similar roles.

Similar openings near Newport News, VA

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