Job Description

Overview

As a Welder I, you will weld parts to blueprint specifications to meet production schedules and quality standards. This position is based in Houston, TX, and reports directly to the Production Supervisor.

Responsibilities

  • Identify parts and materials
  • Use process and set up sheets
  • Complete and maintain required paperwork
  • Read and interpret blueprints, machine drawings, and weld symbols
  • Read standard measuring devices to the nearest .0312 (1/32")
  • Understand basic geometric dimensioning and tolerances
  • Perform visual weld inspections to identify good and bad welds
  • Perform basic shop math
  • Read and use standard and metric conversion charts
  • Set up and use standard fixturing
  • Safely operate overhead cranes and jib hoists
  • Operate small hand and power tools
  • Read Jaeger #2 type vision lettering at 12"
  • Pass pulmonary function tests where required
  • Safely operate gas heating and burning equipment
  • Preheat and post heat parts per procedures using temperature sticks
  • Demonstrate cosmetic acceptability in all welds

Requirements

  • High School diploma or General Education Degree (GED) required
  • Must pass AWS D1.1 in the flat weld position - 2G - Grove test #20 within 2 weeks of training
  • Maintain certification by using the process at least once in a six-month period
  • Familiarity with welding methods and techniques, equipment, setup, and operation
  • Familiarity with assembly and fabrication practices
  • Ability to read and interpret routine welding and fabrication drawings
  • Use and interpret measuring devices such as rule, scale, square, and protractor
  • Ability to use and understand fractional, decimal, and metric measuring methods
  • Maintain departmental housekeeping and 5S standards
  • Perform job functions in a safe manner
  • Wear all Personal Protective Equipment (P.P.E.) required by Company Policy
  • Know and follow established job specific and facility wide safety and health procedures and rules
  • Actively participate in safety and health training and demonstrate competency based on training received
  • Bring safety and health issues, unsafe acts, and safety suggestions to management's attention or correct those you can
  • Eye examination prior to being assigned to a welding position and periodic eye exams every three years thereafter

Additional Information

  • Location: Houston, TX

How this job compares in Houston, TX

Pay in context

This employer didn't publish a rate. For reference, welding jobs in Houston, TX currently run a median of $32/hr in our index, with the middle half of them falling between $23–$41/hr across 75 postings with published pay. That median is a reasonable floor to anchor on when a recruiter asks what you're looking for.

The local market in Houston, TX

We're tracking 321 other active welding openings in Houston, TX right now, from 179 different employers. 80 of them were added in the last week. Across Texas as a whole we're tracking 1,132 other active welding openings from 498 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Houston, or widen the search to Texas.

The Manitowoc Company currently has 2 other openings live in Texas, which is usually a sign of either steady growth or steady turnover — worth asking which in the interview.

The most active employers in Texas at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are Zachry Group (33), Austin Industries (30), and Welding Shop in Austin, TX (21). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within Texas, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Arlington at $40/hr, Dallas at $39/hr, and Pasadena at $36/hr. If you can relocate or commute, that spread is worth factoring in.

Certifications this posting mentions

  • AWS D1.1 — the American Welding Society's Structural Welding Code for steel. It governs almost all building and structural steel work in the US, so a D1.1 qualification is the baseline credential for construction and ironworking.

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 Houston, TX

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