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Job Description

Overview

This position is located at the Veterans Administration (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), VISN 5, VA Medical Center (VAMC) Beckley, West Virginia. The primary purpose of this position is to install, modify, maintain, and repair industrial or domestic high-temperature water and medium to high pressure piping systems and equipment.

Responsibilities

  • Install, modify, and repair medium to high pressure piping systems and equipment.
  • Plan and complete the routing and placement of systems leading to the equipment.
  • Join, seal, and test systems and equipment for proper pressure and leak-free joints.
  • Install, maintain, and repair internal water lines and external soil pipes.
  • Weld joints and fittings using MIG, TIG, or electric arc welders.
  • Operate, repair, and maintain the reverse osmosis (R.O) system.
  • Implement and update the Engineering Service Automated Engineering Management System.
  • Install, maintain, and repair internal and external medical gas lines.
  • Document all required information relating to the medical gas system.
  • Attend training and certification in asbestos removal and backflow device testing.

Requirements

  • Journeyman level skills and knowledge in piping systems.
  • Ability to complete modifications and repairs of complex systems.
  • Knowledge of hydraulic systems, pumps, and steam heating equipment.
  • Ability to use shop mathematics for material sizing.
  • Willingness to obtain Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) Certification.

Additional Information

  • Work Schedule: 8:00am - 4:30pm, Monday - Friday.
  • Recruitment Incentive may be authorized for highly qualified candidates.
  • Physical requirements include working from ladders and in uncomfortable positions.
  • Working conditions may involve exposure to dirt, dust, and unpleasant odors.
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How this job compares in Beckley, WV

Pay in context

At roughly $34/hr, this posting comes in about 12% below the $38/hr median for welding jobs across West Virginia, where the middle half runs $32–$40/hr across 16 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 31% 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 Beckley, WV

Beckley, WV is a small market in our index: 2 other active welding openings alongside this one, from 2 employers. Across West Virginia as a whole we're tracking 26 other active welding openings from 19 employers. With this few local postings, most welders here end up either commuting or looking at travel work. Browse welding jobs across West Virginia.

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

The most active employers in West Virginia at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are Jennmar (5), Phillips Tank and Structure - Steel Valley Fabricators (2), and SHEET METAL WORKERS LOCAL 33 (2). 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 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.

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

Similar openings near Beckley, WV

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