Advanced Ship Fitter
Location
Portsmouth, VA
Wage
$45/hr
Employment Type
Per-Diem
Required Skills & Certifications
TIG WeldingStick WeldingSteel
Apply for This Position
Posted on October 27, 2026
Job Description
Overview
Hutco, Inc. is seeking experienced Advanced Shipfitters / Fabricators for shipbuilding work in Newport News, Virginia, offering competitive pay and a limited benefits plan.
Responsibilities
- Perform advanced structural fabrication and multi-pass tack welding.
- Interpret complex structural drawings and blueprints.
- Lay out, assemble, fit, and replace structural piece parts, hull inserts, and penetrations.
- Use oxygen/propane burning and heating torches.
- Work in physically demanding shipbuilding and heavy steel fabrication environments.
- Utilize grinders, needle guns, and other vibratory tools.
- Complete the Multi-Pass Tack Welder Qualification Test using the SMAW process.
Requirements
- 4 years of documented commercial or naval shipfitting experience.
- Proficient in multi-pass tack welding.
- Experience using oxygen/propane burning and heating torches.
- Ability to read and interpret complex structural assembly drawings, blueprints, weld symbols, and fractional dimensions.
- Experience working in physically demanding shipbuilding, marine, or heavy steel fabrication environments.
- Familiarity with applicable shipbuilding OSHA safety requirements.
- Experience with air carbon arc gouging.
Benefits
- Health Insurance
- Dental
- Vision
Additional Information
- Job location is Newport News, VA.
- Shift is variable – all shifts.
- Per diem is available for individuals who qualify.
Benefits
Health Insurance
Dental
Vision
How this job compares in Portsmouth, VA
Pay in context
At roughly $45/hr, this posting sits about 55% 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 94% 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 Portsmouth, VA
Portsmouth, VA currently has 3 other active welding openings besides this one, spread across 3 employers. None of them were added in the last week, so this is a slower-moving market. Across Virginia as a whole we're tracking 128 other active welding openings from 70 employers. That's enough local activity to be worth comparing two or three offers before committing. Browse every welding job in Portsmouth, or widen the search to Virginia.
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 $38/hr, Norfolk at $30/hr, and Chesapeake at $28/hr. If you can relocate or commute, that spread is worth factoring in.
What you'll be running
This posting calls for TIG and Stick 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.
Similar openings near Portsmouth, VA
- Pipe Welder - DBIDS Required — NSC Staffing · Portsmouth, VA · $30–$34/hr
- Welder/Fabricator — CTR Corporation (dba CTR Group) · Portsmouth, VA · $24–$28/hr
- Welder Ship Repair — MILLS MARINE & SHIP REPAIR LLC · Portsmouth, VA · $58K–$58K/yr
- Structural Steel Welder/Fitter — Qualdoc · Ashland, VA · $26–$32/hr
- PIPEFITTER SUPERVISOR I — United States Fleet Forces Command · Naval Shipyard, VA · $47–$55/hr
- 3rd Class Shipfitter - Steel America (Job ID: 1461) — Colonna's Shipyard · Norfolk, VA · $20–$26/hr
Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. Advanced Ship Fitter figures were last recalculated when this page was built.