Welding Engineer

Aalo Atomics•Austin, TX

6h•Onsite

About The Position

You'll be a founding member of our welding engineering function. You'll own process development and qualification, drive automation and cost reduction, and lead R&D into advanced welding modalities — laser beam, electron beam, and others — that unlock performance and throughput conventional arc welding can't. You'll also develop our zirconium welding capability from scratch, a rare technical challenge outside national labs. This is a hands-on role. You'll be on the shop floor as much as at your desk.

Requirements

BS in Materials Science, Metallurgical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field
3+ years of welding engineering experience including process development and qualification
Hands-on GTAW experience on stainless steel pressure-boundary applications
Working knowledge of ASME BPVC Section IX or equivalent pressure systems code
Comfortable on the shop floor — able to evaluate welds in progress, not just on paper

Nice To Haves

AWS CWE or CWI certification
Experience with LBW or EBW process development or production support
Experience welding zirconium, titanium, or Inconel under inert-atmosphere conditions
Experience deploying orbital or robotic welding in production, including program development
Background in weld process monitoring and correlating in-process signals to quality outcomes
Familiarity with nuclear QA requirements (NQA-1, 10 CFR 50 Appendix B) or equivalent regulated-industry QA (aerospace, defense)
Hands-on fabrication ability — picking up a torch and demonstrating technique is a plus

Responsibilities

Process Development & Qualification
Develop, qualify, and optimize GTAW, GMAW, spray MIG, and emerging processes for stainless steel pressure vessels and piping
Own WPS/PQR documentation to ASME Section IX, AWS D1.6, or applicable codes
Lead zirconium welding procedure development: inert atmosphere GTAW, shielding gas optimization, contamination control, and full mechanical qualification
Develop and document PWHT cycles; interpret metallurgical outcomes
Advanced Welding R&D
Evaluate and qualify laser beam (LBW), electron beam (EBW), plasma arc (PAW), and hybrid laser-arc processes for vessel and pressure system applications
Design parametric studies to characterize process windows and build qualification datasets
Develop solutions for difficult joint configurations — dissimilar materials, thin-wall closures, complex penetrations
Collaborate with vendors, equipment suppliers, and national lab partners to stay at the front edge of nuclear-relevant welding technology
Build internal IP and documentation to support future procedure qualifications and regulatory submittals
Automation & Cost Reduction
Identify and implement orbital GTAW, mechanized MIG, and robotic welding to drive consistency and reduce labor cost
Develop parametric programs for automated systems including seam tracking, adaptive fill, and multi-pass sequencing
Instrument in-process monitoring (voltage, travel speed, heat input) to enable closed-loop quality control
Track weld cycle times, consumable costs, and rework rates; use data to justify capital investments
Quality & Continuous Improvement
Partner with design engineers on joint weldability — distortion control, access, inspection compatibility
Work with NDE personnel (RT, PT, UT, PAUT) to interpret results and close nonconformances
Drive root cause analysis on weld defects using metallography, fractography, hardness, and chemical analysis
Build and maintain weld quality metrics; use them to focus engineering effort where it has the highest return
Maintain documentation infrastructure: travelers, hold points, NCRs, lessons learned
Production Support
Provide real-time direction to welders on the floor; troubleshoot defects and maintain build pace
Mentor welders on technique, procedure compliance, and quality standards
Support welder qualification and certification as the team scales