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Job Description

Overview

Rappahannock Community College (RCC) is seeking an Associate Instructor for its Welding program, responsible for teaching and supporting student success. The position requires a commitment to academic excellence and involves a higher instructional load than regular faculty, with a focus on mentoring and tutoring students.

Responsibilities

  • Teach didactic and lab classes in the college’s credit and noncredit welding programs.
  • Facilitate student learning through in-class and out-of-class activities.
  • Review test plates for credentialing submission.
  • Cut welding materials and order welding supplies and materials.
  • Work closely with the Program Head to establish welding procedures, processes, and policies.
  • Travel between campuses and sites as needed.

Requirements

  • High school diploma or equivalent.
  • Five years or more of welding experience.
  • Working knowledge of welding shop safety practices and proper PPE.
  • Knowledge of metal fabrication, pipe fitting, and welding machine operation and maintenance.
  • Ability to lift 50 lbs and stand, walk, bend, push, and pull for continuous hours.
  • Knowledge of SMAW, GMAW, GTAW, and FCAW processes.
  • Good eyesight correctable to 20/20.
  • Competent with office computer and software programs such as MS Office, Excel, MS Word, MS Outlook.
  • Demonstrated understanding of and passion for the community college mission.
  • Preference for candidates with considerable teaching experience at the community college level.
  • Industry certifications in welding.
  • Associate’s degree or higher.

Additional Information

  • Position begins November 16, 2026, and ends May 15, 2027.
  • On-campus presence is required.
  • Teaching assignments may include day and evening assignments.

Benefits

Vision
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How this job compares in Gloucester, VA

Pay in context

At roughly $31/hr, this posting lands within a few percent of the $31/hr median for welding jobs across Virginia, whose middle half runs $25–$41/hr across 97 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 52% 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 Gloucester, VA

This is the only active welding job we're currently tracking in Gloucester, VA, which makes it worth moving on quickly — there is no local competing offer to weigh it against. Across Virginia as a whole we're tracking 166 other active welding openings from 84 employers. Browse welding jobs across Virginia.

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. If you can relocate or commute, that spread is worth factoring in.

What you'll be running

This posting calls for TIG, Stick, and Flux-Core 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. 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 Gloucester, VA

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