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Job Description

Overview

The City of Chicago is seeking a Blacksmith in 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

  • Reads blueprints and work orders to assess work required and determine the type and size of parts to be shaped.
  • Removes worn and damaged parts on equipment using plasma cutters or burning torches.
  • Ensures adequate supplies of tools, equipment, and materials are at the work site to complete jobs.
  • Heats metal to proper temperature in a blacksmith’s forge or furnace and uses hand and power tools to hammer, punch, or cut metal to size and shape on an anvil.
  • Uses a variety of welding methods including electric arc, MIG, and TIG welding or oxy-acetylene welding to join parts.
  • Fabrics metal parts and frames for use in the construction, repair, and maintenance of street and traffic lighting equipment.
  • Checks part sizes using measuring instruments.
  • Fabrics customized tools for use in the installation, replacement, and repair of brackets, bars, wrenches, frames, and other metal parts.
  • Prepares work activity reports.
  • Cleans and maintains forge and furnace, blacksmith tools, and related equipment.
  • Cleans 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 performing Boilermaker/Blacksmith work.
  • Six years of journey level work experience as a Boilermaker/Blacksmith.
  • A valid State of Illinois driver’s license is required.

Additional Information

  • Location: 2451 S. Ashland
  • Days: Monday- Friday
  • Hours: 6:00AM- 2:30PM
  • This position is in the career service.
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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 65 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 Chicago, IL

We're tracking 95 other active welding openings in Chicago, IL right now, from 55 different employers. 34 of them were added in the last week. Across Illinois as a whole we're tracking 342 other active welding openings from 207 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 2 other openings 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 (16), S&C Electric Company (10), 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, Downers Grove at $36/hr, and Elk Grove Village at $34/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.