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Job Description

Overview

The Welding Supervisor II directs daily operations, safety protocols, and quality standards within a welding department. This role involves hiring, supervising, and training welding personnel while ensuring compliance with industry codes and driving continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

  • Direct daily operations and safety protocols within the welding department.
  • Hire, supervise, train, and mentor welding personnel.
  • Assign daily production tasks and schedules.
  • Inspect welds for compliance with industry codes such as AWS and ASME.
  • Manage Welding Procedure Specifications (WPS).
  • Enforce safety rules and maintain department equipment.
  • Drive continuous improvement to keep projects on schedule and within budget.

Requirements

  • High School Diploma or GED.
  • 5+ years as a Journey-Level Welder with extensive hands-on experience in MIG, TIG, and Stick welding.
  • 5-10 years of lead experience in craft leadership or mentoring apprentice welders.
  • Proven experience working with various metals, including carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminum.
  • Clear verbal and written communication skills.
  • Ability to allocate manpower and manage materials to meet manufacturing deadlines.
  • Proficiency using precision measuring tools for quality control.
  • Knowledge of troubleshooting and maintaining welding machines.
  • Passion for training junior welders and administering weld tests.
  • Advanced ability to interpret welding symbols and engineering drawings.

Benefits

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

Benefits

Health Insurance
Dental
Vision
401k
PTO
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How this job compares in Norfolk, VA

Pay in context

At roughly $60/hr, this posting sits about 99% above the $30/hr median for welding jobs in Norfolk, VA — toward the top of a $27–$32/hr middle band drawn from 15 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 100% 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 Norfolk, VA

We're tracking 32 other active welding openings in Norfolk, VA right now, from 13 different employers. 3 of them were added in the last week. Across Virginia as a whole we're tracking 163 other active welding openings from 83 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Norfolk, or widen the search to Virginia.

BAE Systems Inc. currently has 2 other openings live in Virginia, which is usually a sign of either steady growth or steady turnover — worth asking which in the interview.

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. (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 Virginia, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Newport News at $40/hr, Norfolk at $30/hr, and Chesapeake at $27/hr. Norfolk is among them.

What you'll be running

This posting calls for MIG, TIG, 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. 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 lead welder openings if you want to compare this against similar roles.

Certifications this posting mentions

  • ASME Section IX — the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code qualification. It covers welding on pressure-retaining equipment — boilers, vessels, and process piping — where a failed weld is a safety incident rather than a rework ticket.

Read straight from this posting's text. Confirm the exact qualification the employer wants before you test — requirements vary by shop even under the same code.

Similar openings near Norfolk, VA

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