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Now hiring · $50–$68 / hour
Senior Certified Welding Inspector III (AWS SCWI)
A Senior Certified Welding Inspector III is the welding quality authority across projects: writing and reviewing welding quality programs, supervising CWIs and Welding Inspectors, reviewing and approving procedure and welder qualifications, auditing fabricators, resolving disputed indications, and representing the company to engineers of record, owners, and building officials on welding matters. An AWS Senior Certified Welding Inspector (SCWI) is preferred; a CWI with eight or more years of documented inspection leadership is considered.
What you'll do
- Write, review, and approve welding quality plans, inspection procedures, and NDT procedures
- Supervise CWIs and Welding Inspectors across projects; review their reports and calibrate their calls
- Approve WPS, PQR, and welder qualification packages; witness or direct procedure qualification testing
- Audit fabricators and erectors' welding quality systems; qualify NDT subcontractors
- Resolve disputed indications and repairs with engineers of record; represent the company in welding quality reviews
What we're looking for
- AWS SCWI, or current CWI with 8+ years of welding inspection including supervision of other inspectors
- Command of AWS D1.1/D1.5/D1.8, ASME IX, and API 1104; NDT Level II or III in at least one method preferred
- Experience writing welding quality programs for structural, industrial, or pipeline work
- Credible with engineers, fabricators, and building officials; writes procedures people can follow
What a week in this job looks like
The week is programs, people, and the hard calls: a fabricator audit before a steel package is released, a review of a CWI's reports that turned up an inconsistent acceptance standard, a procedure qualification you are witnessing for a new pipe alloy, and a disputed UT indication where the erector wants to grind and you want to see the scan. You still inspect — enough to keep your eye — but your leverage is in the standard every inspector on the program applies.
You are the company's welding memory: which fabricators are reliable, which joint details cause trouble, and which codes changed this cycle.
Certifications, training, and where this leads
Senior Welding Inspector III is a senior technical seat. The path from here is director of steel and welding inspection for the practice, or quality management on the industrial programs where welding is the critical path.
Pay, schedule, and travel
Pay runs $50 to $68 an hour depending on certifications held, verified experience, and the program you are assigned to. Welding inspection follows the erector's and the fabricator's schedule: early starts, night shifts on some industrial work, and overtime when steel is going up.
Texas positions are dispatched from the Sugar Land headquarters; project-site positions elsewhere are staffed on a project basis with travel and per diem as assigned, and the listing for your city says which one it is.
Safety, quality, and the standards we work under
Welding inspection is performed to the code the project specifies and reported under our documented AASHTO R18 quality system; on IBC special inspection projects the reports go to the building official under Chapter 17. Accept/reject decisions are made to the code, not to the schedule.
The safety side is real: work at height, confined spaces, hot work, and active erection. Fall protection, confined-space, and site-specific training are provided and required.
How hiring works, and our commitment
Apply with your AWS certification number, the codes you inspect to, and your project list. Expect a direct conversation with the people you would work for, references that get called, and a written offer consistent with this posting. The role requires a valid driver's license and the ability to be present on active jobsites, with pre-employment screening consistent with jobsite and client requirements.
We are an equal opportunity employer and consider every applicant without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or veteran status.
Apply for this position — upload your resume and we fill in the form
Any city — tell us where you are and we'll match you to the nearest work. Or pick your city below for the local posting.
Other levels of this role
Welding Inspector I (AWS CAWI) · $28–$36 / hourCertified Welding Inspector II (AWS CWI) · $38–$52 / hour
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FAQ
Senior Certified Welding Inspector III (AWS SCWI) — questions applicants ask
What does a Senior Certified Welding Inspector III (AWS SCWI) earn?
The listed range is $50–$68 / hour, set by certifications held, years of documented field or laboratory experience, and the hub's market. Certified candidates enter above the bottom of the range.
What certifications matter most for a Senior Certified Welding Inspector III (AWS SCWI)?
AWS Senior Certified Welding Inspector (SCWI), or a current CWI with eight or more years of documented inspection and supervision; NDT Level II or III and ICC steel certifications are expected and sponsored.
Which standards does a Senior Certified Welding Inspector III (AWS SCWI) work to?
AWS D1.1 (structural steel) as the core, with AWS D1.5 (bridges), D1.8 (seismic), ASME Section IX, and API 1104 (pipelines) as projects require; AISC 360 and the IBC Chapter 17 structural steel special inspection tables; and the NDT methods that support them — ASTM E164 (UT), E709 (MT), and E165 (PT).
How do I apply?
Use the form on any city listing for this role: name, phone, email, years of experience, certifications, and a resume file or link. A hiring manager responds within a few business days. If you would rather talk first, call (346) 420-5425.
Where is this role based?
Wherever the project is. Choose the city page nearest you; Houston-area roles dispatch from Sugar Land, and roles in other metros are staffed through the regional hub that covers them.