Your Guide to Shipyard Welding Careers in Virginia

Newport News Shipbuilding alone employs more than 25,000 people and needs a steady pipeline of certified welders to build and maintain Virginia-class submarines and Ford-class aircraft carriers. Across Hampton Roads, that demand extends to Norfolk Naval Shipyard, private repair yards, and commercial shipbuilders, all competing for skilled hands who can pass a weld test, such as the 3G SMAW Certification.

Most of these employers will take you with zero shipyard background if you can demonstrate a clean weld and are willing to earn the right certifications along the way, such as the 4G SMAW Certification. Trainee programs and apprenticeships exist specifically to move career-changers from classroom to production floor.

What separates a $40,000 entry-level position from a six-figure pipe welder role often comes down to certification level, security clearance eligibility, and how fast you clear the qualification tests that gatekeep this trade.

Virginia Shipyards and Dry Docks Hiring Welders

These are some of the major Virginia shipyards and repair facilities with welding-related openings as of September 2026. The list covers direct shipyard employers and one staffing route that feeds naval shipbuilding work in Newport News.

Types of Shipyard Welding Jobs in Virginia

What is the actual difference between a structural welder and a pipe welder in a Virginia shipyard? It comes down to what you are joining and how much of the weld has to pass X-ray. Both trades work the same hulls, but the pay bands, test requirements, and daily work differ enough that you should pick a lane early.

Structural Welders and Shipfitters

Structural welders build and repair the ship's skeleton: hull plating, decks, bulkheads, foundations, and superstructure. Much of this is heavy plate in flat, vertical, and overhead positions, often inside tanks and void spaces where access is tight and ventilation is forced.

Shipfitters overlap heavily with this work. Fitters read blueprints, lay out and cut plate, and tack assemblies into position before a welder burns out the final pass, skills you can begin building at Virginia Welding Schools. Many Virginia yards cross-train the two, and a fitter who can also weld is considerably more employable. If you enjoy layout, math, and rigging as much as arc time, fitting is a strong entry point.

Pipe Welders

Pipe welders handle shipboard piping systems: seawater, firemain, steam, hydraulics, fuel, and on nuclear-capable vessels, high-integrity systems with strict inspection standards. Pipe work is small-diameter, fixed-position, and frequently radiographed, which is why certified pipe welders typically sit at the top of the shipyard wage scale.

Processes You Will Actually Run

• SMAW (stick): Still dominant for structural steel and repair work in dirty or windy conditions.
• FCAW: High-deposition flux-cored wire for production hull and deck seams.
• TIG Welding (GTAW): Root passes on pipe, stainless, copper-nickel, and aluminum.
• MIG Welding (GMAW) and pulse arc: Aluminum superstructures, thinner sheet, and controlled-heat applications.

Naval work adds its own layer. Shipyards performing Navy contracts qualify welders to military and NAVSEA technical requirements rather than a single commercial code, so your qualifications are tracked by Welding Processes, material, thickness, and position, and must be maintained through continuous work in that configuration.

Shipyard Welder Pay in Virginia: State Averages and Specialty Differentials

Virginia welders in the broad Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers occupation earned a statewide median of $59,180 in 2025, with the middle half of earners falling between $49,020 and $65,400. Many 2026 shipyard postings show higher hourly pay for structural and pipe roles, especially once per diem, overtime, and shift differentials are added. Posted per diem amounts often range from $120 to $150 per day, overtime after 40 hours is common but not always quoted with a published multiplier, and shift differentials include $2.00 per hour in Chesapeake and 15% in Virginia Beach.

Salary Insight: Median Welder Pay in Virginia

Shipyard Welder Pay by Metro Area in Virginia

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish separate metro-area wage estimates for welding occupations in Virginia, so the table below shows statewide pay for three welding-related job categories. Hampton Roads is the center of shipyard hiring in Virginia, with major employers clustered around Newport News, Norfolk, and Portsmouth.

Salary Insight: Earning Potential for Top-Performing Virginia Welders

Virginia welders at the 75th percentile earn about $63,000 per year.

Shipyard Welding Requirements: Certifications and Weld Tests

Getting hired for shipyard welding jobs in Virginia is less about the welder certifications hanging on your wall and more about what you can prove in the test booth. Yards want to see a clean, all-position weld before they put you on a hull, so plan on qualifying by test rather than by paperwork alone.

The Weld Tests You'll Actually Take

The baseline across Hampton Roads is knowledge of AWS D1.1, the American Welding Society's structural steel code.¹ On top of that, most yards add their own qualification tests tied to Navy standards such as NAVSEA, MIL-STD-1688, and MIL-STD-1689. The Virginia Ship Repair Association, for example, has required qualification under MIL-STD-248D (Paragraph 5.3.3) before a welder's first day of productive work.

Expect multi-pass, all-position fillet and butt welds. Common test setups include:

• SMAW (stick): butt tests in 2G, 3G, and 4G positions
• FCAW (flux-cored): the same 2G, 3G, and 4G range
• GMAW (MIG): often tested at 2G, and at some yards as pulse arc (GMAW-P) across 2G, 3G, and 4G⁴
• Air carbon arc gouging: added at some ship repair yards as a separate skill check

A 6G pipe welding test (the all-position groove weld on fixed pipe) shows up where pipe welding is the focus, while structural roles lean on plate positions.

Processes and Where They Fit

SMAW, GMAW, and FCAW are the workhorses at Newport News, Hampton, and Norfolk yards. GTAW (TIG) is common in local training and qualification programs³, so some employers will accept or test it even when a posting emphasizes structural processes. Pulse arc GMAW-P tends to be contract-specific rather than universal, so read each posting carefully. AWS D1.1 itself allows qualification across SMAW, SAW, GMAW, GTAW, FCAW, ESW, and EGW.²

TWIC and Screening

Because yards sit inside secured maritime facilities, a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) is generally the access card you need to get through the gate. It is not a welding certification, just port access. Employee drug screening is also part of the hiring process.⁴ A classroom certificate helps, but the on-site test is what earns the job.

Security Clearance and Citizenship Requirements for Virginia Shipyard Jobs

A security clearance is a government background vetting that lets you access classified information or controlled Navy work areas. Not every Virginia shipyard welding job requires one. Many commercial welder positions only need a TWIC card, a clean background check, and passing weld tests. Whether clearance enters the picture depends on the employer, the contract, and whether the work touches Navy vessels or restricted facilities.

Roles That Typically Require Clearance

Jobs supporting Navy new construction, nuclear vessel work, and government shipyard repair are the ones most likely to require clearance, usually at the DoD Secret level or the ability to obtain it before starting.

• Serco Marine Welder (Norfolk): Requires ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Secret clearance, U.S. citizenship, background check, and drug screening.
• HII Mission Technologies (Chesapeake): Marine Welder - Chesapeake, VA and Welder/Fitter roles require ability to obtain a DoD Secret clearance, with U.S. citizenship called out on Welder/Fitter postings.¹
• Department of the Navy Welder (Portsmouth): Requires U.S. citizenship and an interim or final clearance before entering duty, typical of Norfolk Naval Shipyard civilian roles.
• Ingalls-affiliated shipyard welding jobs (Newport News area): Some postings specify an active clearance already in place, not just the ability to obtain one.

Citizenship and Commercial Yards

U.S. citizenship is non-negotiable for any cleared position. Clearance investigations check financial history, criminal record, foreign contacts, and drug use, so applicants need a clean record and the ability to pass those reviews.

Commercial repair yards and staffing contractors operate differently. CraftForce, for example, lists clearance as something that may be required depending on the contract and treats citizenship the same way. Some HII welder postings in Virginia state clearance is not required to start. If you are not a U.S. citizen or cannot pass a clearance investigation, focus on commercial repair work, private-sector fabrication, and contractor roles that only demand a background check, drug screen, and shipyard access credentials.

How to Get Hired at Virginia Shipyards: Apprenticeships and No-Experience Paths

The tradeoff for newcomers is speed versus structure: Shipyard Apprenticeship Programs build deep credentials and an associate degree over several years, while entry-level trainee routes can put you on the shop floor in weeks, with less guarantee of long-term advancement built in.

The Apprentice School Route

Newport News Shipbuilding runs The Apprentice School, a highly regarded employer-run apprenticeship that pairs paid shipyard work with coursework toward an associate degree. Welder apprentices train across a wide range of metals and processes used in submarine and aircraft-carrier construction and overhaul. Admission requires a high school diploma or equivalent, a C or better in specified math and science courses, U.S. citizenship, physical capability, and eligibility for a security clearance.² The online application carries a nonrefundable $45 fee, waived for current NNS employees, current or former military, and certain pre-apprenticeship participants.²

No-Experience Entry Paths

If you lack trade experience, NNS also offers Marine Trades Training (MTT), a 3-week, 120-hour unpaid prehire course held monthly in small classes of 8 to 10 students at Virginia Peninsula Community College in Hampton, Tidewater Community College in Portsmouth, or Camp Community College in Suffolk. You must be 18 or older, a U.S. citizen, and willing to work any of three shifts, including a late-night 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. rotation.¹ Completion leads into a full-time shipbuilder role after background checks, drug screening, and a physical. Separately, NNS advertises an entry-level Welder/Structure posting with no experience required, though applicants still complete the shipyard's own welding school before starting. Third-party job boards for Welding and Fitting Jobs list a 12-week, 480-hour paid training track with starting pay over $29 an hour plus a sign-on bonus; that figure comes from a staffing listing, not an official NNS wage posting, so treat it as one data point rather than a guarantee.

Direct Hire vs Staffing Agencies

Applying directly to Newport News Shipbuilding or Norfolk Naval Shipyard puts you on the employer's own seniority and benefits track from day one. Welder Staffing Companies and Job Sites can get you into a shipyard faster, sometimes with less rigorous prescreening, but pay and job security are often lower until you convert to direct employment.

Leverage a Welding School First

Completing SMAW, GTAW, GMAW, or FCAW coursework at a Virginia welding school before applying strengthens both routes. See the full list of Virginia welding schools to find a program near you.

Welding Training and Certification Programs in Virginia

How long does it take to go from zero welding experience to passing a shipyard weld test in Virginia? For most students, a focused training program takes six months to a year, and that timeline shrinks fast if you already have some hands on practice.

What Training Programs Actually Teach

Virginia's community colleges and dedicated trade schools build curriculum around the processes shipyards actually use: Stick Welding, GMAW, FCAW, and GTAW, with heavy emphasis on plate and pipe positions. Instructors typically structure coursework around AWS D1.1 structural code and, at programs near Newport News and Norfolk, Navy-specific procedures like NAVSEA S9074 welding standards. Students practice out of position welds (2G, 3G, 4G, 6G) because that's exactly what hiring weld tests evaluate. Programs also cover blueprint reading, metallurgy basics, and safety protocols that mirror shipyard floor conditions.

For a full breakdown of accredited programs, tuition ranges, and program lengths across the state, the Virginia welding schools directory at /welding-schools/virginia/ lists options by region, which matters if you want to train close to Newport News, Norfolk, or Portsmouth.

Combining School With an Apprenticeship

Many students don't wait until graduation to start applying. A common path is enrolling in a six to twelve month certificate program, testing for entry level shipyard positions during the final months of coursework, and then transitioning into employer-sponsored apprenticeship programs that continue building skill and certification levels on the job. This overlap shortens the gap between classroom and paycheck, and it lets employers see your weld quality before you're even off the books at school.

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