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Imperial Zinc

Maintenance Welder – Day Shift

Location

Chicago, IL

Wage

$37/hr

Employment Type

Full-time

Required Skills & Certifications

MIG WeldingStick WeldingSteelStainless Steel
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Posted on November 3, 2026

Job Description

Overview

As a Maintenance Welder, you’ll keep manufacturing equipment and facility systems operating safely and reliably. You’ll perform welding, fabrication, and equipment repair while helping diagnose mechanical and hydraulic issues.

Responsibilities

  • Perform stick, MIG, and torch work on carbon and stainless steel equipment, structures, and components; inspect work for fit and quality.
  • Fabricate and repair parts, supports, and guards from drawings or verbal direction.
  • Complete mechanical repairs on heavy industrial equipment, including chains, gears, conveyors, hydraulics, and pneumatics.
  • Read blueprints and use precision measuring instruments to ensure accurate repairs.
  • Support preventive maintenance and document repairs and parts used.

Requirements

  • 5+ years of industrial welding and maintenance experience in a manufacturing or plant environment.
  • Strong stick welding and torch cutting skills; stainless steel welding a plus.
  • Solid mechanical background; welding-only experience will not be a fit.
  • Ability to read blueprints and troubleshoot equipment issues.
  • Ability to work in hot, dusty industrial environments and lift heavy materials.
  • Reliable attendance and a strong safety mindset.

Benefits

  • 401k
  • Health Insurance
  • Dental
  • Vision
  • PTO

Additional Information

  • Work Location: In person
  • Pay: $37.00 per hour
  • Expected hours: 40.0 per week
  • Ability to commute/relocate: Chicago, IL 60628: Reliably commute or planning to relocate before starting work (Required).

Benefits

401k
Health Insurance
Dental
Vision
PTO
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How this job compares in Chicago, IL

Pay in context

At roughly $37/hr, this posting lands within a few percent of the $39/hr median for welding jobs in Chicago, IL, whose middle half runs $30–$50/hr across 59 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 42% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. In other words it is a market-rate offer, so benefits, overtime, and shift schedule are where the real difference between this and the next posting on the list shows up.

The local market in Chicago, IL

We're tracking 87 other active welding openings in Chicago, IL right now, from 50 different employers. 10 of them were added in the last week. Across Illinois as a whole we're tracking 341 other active welding openings from 216 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.

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 The Boyd Group LLC (8). 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 $39/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 Stick 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. 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 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. Maintenance Welder – Day Shift figures were last recalculated when this page was built.