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Job Description

Overview

The City of Chicago is seeking a Blacksmith for the Department of Transportation, Division of Electrical Operation. This position involves skilled blacksmith work in forging, shaping, and bending metals for equipment repair and maintenance.

Responsibilities

  • Perform skilled blacksmith work in forging, shaping, and bending metals.
  • Read blueprints and work orders to assess work required.
  • Remove worn and damaged parts on equipment using plasma cutters or burning torches.
  • Ensure adequate supplies of tools, equipment, and materials are at the work site.
  • Heat metal to proper temperature in a blacksmith’s forge or furnace.
  • Use hand and power tools to hammer, punch, or cut metal to size and shape.
  • Utilize various welding methods including electric arc, MIG, and TIG welding.
  • Fabricate metal parts and frames for street and traffic lighting equipment.
  • Check part sizes using measuring instruments.
  • Fabricate customized tools for installation and repair of metal parts.
  • Prepare work activity reports.
  • Clean and maintain forge, furnace, and blacksmith tools.
  • Clean work sites after repairs.

Requirements

  • Successful completion of a US Department of Labor registered Boilermaker/Blacksmith apprenticeship training program and journeyman status, OR successful completion of an industry or company sponsored apprenticeship training program as a Boilermaker/Blacksmith plus two years of journey level experience.
  • Six years of journey level work experience as a Boilermaker/Blacksmith.
  • A valid State of Illinois driver’s license is required.
  • Substantial lifting (up to 50 pounds) is required.
  • Ability to stand and walk for extended periods.
  • Ability to quickly bend, stretch, twist, or reach with one's body.
  • Ability to climb staircases, ladders, and/or step stools.
  • Ability to operate applicable hand tools, power tools, and equipment.

Additional Information

  • Location: 2451 S. Ashland
  • Days: Monday - Friday
  • Hours: 6:00 AM - 2:30 PM
  • Applications accepted until 11:59 PM CDT on 11/9/2026.

Benefits

Vision
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How this job compares in Chicago, IL

Pay in context

At roughly $59/hr, this posting sits about 56% above the $38/hr median for welding jobs in Chicago, IL — toward the top of a $30–$46/hr middle band drawn from 43 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 95% 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 Chicago, IL

We're tracking 62 other active welding openings in Chicago, IL right now, from 37 different employers. 1 of them was added in the last week. Across Illinois as a whole we're tracking 242 other active welding openings from 146 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.

City of Chicago currently has 1 other opening 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 (12), S&C Electric Company (9), and Crash Champions (9). 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 $38/hr, Elk Grove Village at $34/hr, and Bedford Park at $30/hr. Chicago is among them.

What you'll be running

This posting calls for MIG and TIG work. MIG (GMAW) feeds a continuous wire electrode through a shielding-gas nozzle. It lays down metal fast and is forgiving on clean material, which is why it dominates production and light fabrication 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.

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. BLACKSMITH figures were last recalculated when this page was built.