Ironworker Job Description: Duties, Responsibilities, Template & Pay (2026)
An ironworker sets and connects the structural steel a building stands on, usually several storeys above the ground. This page has an ironworker job description template you can copy, the difference between structural, reinforcing and ornamental work, and why a 65,700-person trade with 5,500 openings a year cannot be recruited the way you recruit labourers.
What an ironworker does
Ironworker covers three related trades that share a union and very little else day to day. A posting that does not say which one it means will be read as amateurish by everyone qualified to answer it.
Structural ironworker. Raising steel. Unloading and sorting members, rigging loads for the crane, riding the load or climbing the column, landing beams, bolting up connections, plumbing and aligning the frame, then welding or torquing the final connections. This is the work most people mean and the work at height.
Reinforcing ironworker (rodbuster). Placing and tying rebar in footings, slabs, walls, decks and bridge structures to the drawings and the bar schedule. Ground-level, relentless, and a different physical job — bending over a mat all day rather than walking iron.
Ornamental ironworker. Curtain wall, stairs, railings, metal doors and frames, catwalks and architectural metal. Finish work, tighter tolerances, more layout and more interface with other trades.
Across all three the constants are rigging, signalling the crane, welding or bolting to a spec, reading structural drawings and shop tickets, and working to a fall-protection plan that is not optional. A large share of the day is rigging and hoisting rather than connecting, which is worth saying because it is the part a green apprentice does not expect.
Ironworker job description template
Copy this into your ATS or job board, replace the bracketed fields, and delete what does not apply. It is written for a structural steel erector; the customization section covers reinforcing, ornamental, shop fabrication and bridge work.
Job title
Structural Ironworker [/ Connector / Rodbuster / Ornamental Ironworker] — [Company], [City, ST] — [$00.00–$00.00/hr]
Summary
[Company name] is hiring [structural ironworkers] for [commercial / industrial] steel erection out of [city]. You will work on a crew of [0] raising steel on projects of [0–00] storeys, typically [00–00] hours a week, [Monday–Friday] with [some Saturdays] in season. Pay is [$00.00–$00.00] an hour depending on experience and certifications, [plus per diem of [$00]/day on out-of-town work]. [We are a [union signatory / merit shop] contractor.] [Tools and PPE provided; you bring your own [belt and connecting bars].]
Responsibilities
- Unload, sort and stage structural members; rig loads and give crane signals
- Connect beams, columns, joists and decking; bolt up, plumb and align the frame to tolerance
- Torque or tension structural bolts to spec and document [bolt-up inspections]
- [Weld structural connections to [AWS D1.1] and pass the required weld test]
- Read structural drawings, erection plans and shop tickets; verify piece marks before setting
- Install, inspect and use fall protection per the site plan — 100% tie-off above [6] ft
- Operate [man lifts, scissor lifts and forklifts] as assigned
- Inspect slings, shackles, harnesses and lanyards daily and remove defective gear from service
- Participate in the daily hazard analysis and pre-lift planning
Requirements
- [0]+ years structural erection [or completion of an ironworker apprenticeship]
- Comfortable working at height, in all weather, with 100% tie-off
- Able to lift [50] lbs repeatedly and work on your feet a full shift
- Valid driver's licence [and reliable transport to sites across [territory]]
- Able to pass a drug screen and [site-specific safety orientation]
Preferred
- [AWS D1.1 structural welding certification]
- [NCCCO rigger and signalperson certification]
- [OSHA 30], [first aid and CPR], [aerial lift certification]
- [Bridge, industrial or high-rise experience]
- [Journeyman card]
Pay and benefits
- [$00.00–$00.00] an hour based on experience and certifications, paid [weekly]
- [Per diem of [$00]/day and lodging on out-of-town work]
- [Overtime after [40] hours; [00]+ hours available in season]
- [Health, dental and vision from day [00]], [401(k) with match], [PTO and paid holidays]
- [We pay for your welding certification, NCCCO rigging and OSHA 30]
- [Year-round work — we run [backlog] into [month]]
How to apply
[Apply here / text IRON to 00000 / call [name] at [number]]. We reply within [24] hours and can get you on a crew [next Monday].
Requirements: what is required, what is preferred, and what costs you applicants
This is a small trade — about 65,700 people nationally with roughly 5,500 openings a year. In a given metro the number of qualified structural hands is a few hundred at most, and they know each other. Recruiting here is closer to making an offer to a known professional than to filtering a pool.
| Requirement | What to know |
|---|---|
| Experience | Genuinely required for connecting work, and worth describing by what the person has erected rather than by years. "Has connected on multi-storey commercial" filters better than "5+ years" and reads as a real job. |
| Certifications | AWS D1.1 welding and NCCCO rigger/signalperson carry real money. Treat them as preferred items with a stated differential, and offer to pay for them — certification support is one of the few levers that moves an employed ironworker. |
| Fall protection | Not a requirement so much as a statement about you. Naming your tie-off policy, your training cadence and the gear you supply tells a candidate what kind of contractor you are, and in this trade that is the first thing they assess. |
| Union status | Say it plainly. Signatory or merit shop is a hard filter in both directions and discovering it late wastes everyone's time. |
| Travel and per diem | If the work travels, say how far, how often and what the per diem is in dollars. Unstated per diem is read as none, and travel without a number attached is the most common reason a good hand does not call back. |
| Tools | Say what you provide and what the worker brings. Belt, bars and a good harness are personal; everything else should be yours. |
| Seasonality | Steel work is weather- and backlog-dependent. If you have work booked into next year, that is a genuine recruiting advantage — say how far the backlog runs. |
| Apprenticeship | If you take apprentices or will sponsor one, say so. With 5,500 openings a year against an ageing trade, growing hands is the only durable answer and almost no posting mentions it. |
Ironworker duties, written for a posting
Say what you erect. Commercial multi-storey, pre-engineered metal buildings, industrial plant, bridges, or tanks and stacks — these are different jobs and an experienced hand filters on it in one line.
Say the crew structure and the equipment. Crew size, who connects, whether there is a raising gang, what crane you run and who the operator is. This tells a candidate how the day actually works.
Name the safety practices in the responsibilities list rather than the boilerplate: daily gear inspection, pre-lift planning, the hazard analysis, 100% tie-off. In a trade with this injury profile, that list is a recruiting asset.
Be specific about the certifications you will pay for. In a trade of 65,700 people, the realistic strategy is developing hands rather than poaching them, and the posting is where that offer is made.
How to customize it by type of work
Structural erection
The template above. Lead with the project type, the backlog and the per diem.
Reinforcing (rodbusting)
Ground-level, high-volume, physically punishing in a different way. Say the tonnage, whether it is slab, deck or bridge, and whether there is a tying machine. Entry is easier here than in structural and it is a legitimate route into the trade — say so if you will train.
Ornamental and architectural
Curtain wall, stairs, rails, catwalks. Tighter tolerances, more layout, more coordination with other trades and usually more interior work. Attracts a different temperament; describe the finish standard.
Bridge and heavy highway
Night work, lane closures, DOT specifications, inspection and often significant travel. State the shift pattern and the travel honestly — the night-work question decides most applications.
Shop fabrication
Indoors, steady hours, no weather and no height. That is a real offer to an ironworker with twenty years in the field and a bad knee, and shops almost never make it explicitly. See the welder and millwright descriptions for adjacent shop roles.
What it costs to reach ironworkers on social
Skilled trades are among the more expensive audiences we buy: in our 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark the skilled trades role family — 35 campaigns — ran a median cost per applicant of $14.14, a middle half of $7.58 to $21.49, a blended figure of $10.74 and a 15% apply rate. The wider Skilled Trades and Field Service sector, 335 campaigns, ran an $11.89 median at 18%.
The reason is structural: the people who can do the work are employed, and there are not many of them in any one area. Across all 891 campaigns the apply rate moves cost per applicant from $53.77 under 10% to $4.41 over 20%, a bigger swing than any bid change — and past three impressions a month the median cost roughly doubles in a small audience. Specificity in the offer beats budget. In a trade this small, run the campaign continuously and narrowly rather than heavily for a fortnight — the audience does not refresh fast enough to absorb a burst.
Hiring the rest of the structural crew? See the welder, crane operator, boilermaker and construction laborer job descriptions, plus the construction labor shortage.
Writing the ad version
The description is the document. The advertisement is read on a phone by somebody who has other options at a similar rate. It needs the rate, the project type, the per diem if there is travel, and how far the backlog runs — in the first three lines. Our campaign data puts the best-converting length at 201–400 words, and for a role like this the shorter end works.
Three or four questions on the form, then call the same day. Every extra field costs completions, and the hand you want has applied somewhere else this morning.
What ironworkers earn
Structural iron and steel workers had a median of $30.18 an hour, $62,780 a year in 2025, across about 65,700 people with roughly 5,500 openings a year and 3–4% projected growth — about average.
| Comparison role | Median pay (2025) | Openings per year |
|---|---|---|
| Structural iron and steel workers | $30.18/hr · $62,780 | ~5,500 |
| Sheet metal workers | $29.71/hr · $61,800 | ~10,600 |
| Carpenters | $29.12/hr · $60,580 | ~74,100 |
| Drywall and ceiling tile installers | $28.33/hr · $58,930 | ~7,700 |
| Cement masons and concrete finishers | $27.41/hr · $57,020 | ~14,300 |
| Construction laborers | $22.66/hr · $47,120 | ~205,700 |
Ironwork sits at the top of that table, and about $7.50 an hour above general construction labour. That gap is the recruiting message, but it is aimed at the wrong audience if you aim it at existing ironworkers — they already have it.
The useful comparison is the bottom row. There are roughly 205,700 construction labourer openings a year against 5,500 in ironwork. A labourer who can work at height, wants a trade and is willing to learn rigging is looking at a $7.52-an-hour raise and a career, and that is a campaign you can actually run at volume. Contractors who will take and develop apprentices should say so in the first three lines; it is the only thing on the page that a 205,700-person audience can act on.
Frequently asked questions
What does an ironworker do?
It depends which of the three trades the job means. A structural ironworker unloads and rigs steel, signals the crane, connects beams and columns, bolts up, plumbs and aligns the frame and welds or torques the final connections, usually at height. A reinforcing ironworker or rodbuster places and ties rebar in footings, slabs and decks at ground level. An ornamental ironworker installs curtain wall, stairs, railings and architectural metal to finish tolerances.
How much do ironworkers make?
Structural iron and steel workers had a median of $30.18 an hour, or $62,780 a year, in 2025 — the highest of the common construction trades and about $7.52 an hour above construction labourers at $22.66. Certifications such as AWS D1.1 welding and NCCCO rigging carry additional differentials, and travel work usually adds a per diem on top.
What is the difference between a structural ironworker and a rodbuster?
A structural ironworker raises steel: rigging, connecting, bolting and aligning the frame, generally at height. A rodbuster, or reinforcing ironworker, places and ties reinforcing bar in footings, slabs, walls and decks to the bar schedule, almost always at ground level. They share a trade and a union but the physical demands and the skills are different, and a posting should say which one it means.
What qualifications does an ironworker need?
For connecting work, real erection experience or a completed apprenticeship, plus the ability to work at height with 100% tie-off. AWS D1.1 structural welding certification and NCCCO rigger and signalperson certification carry meaningful pay differentials and are best treated as preferred items the employer will pay for, since certification support is one of the few levers that moves an already-employed ironworker.
What should an ironworker job description include?
Which of the three trades it is, what you erect, the crew structure and crane setup, the hourly rate and certification differentials, whether the work travels and what the per diem is in dollars, your fall-protection and safety practices, which tools you supply, union or merit-shop status, how far the backlog runs, and whether you take apprentices.
Why is it hard to hire ironworkers?
Because the trade is small. There are about 65,700 structural iron and steel workers nationally and roughly 5,500 openings a year, so in any metro the qualified pool is a few hundred people who mostly know each other and are already working. Rate alone rarely moves them; backlog, per diem and paid certification do. The durable answer is recruiting from the 205,700-opening construction labourer pool and developing hands.
Is ironworking dangerous?
It is among the more hazardous construction trades, with the risk concentrated in falls, rigging failures and being struck by loads. That is exactly why candidates in this trade assess an employer's safety practices before anything else, and why naming your tie-off policy, daily gear inspection, pre-lift planning and training cadence in the posting works as a recruiting advantage rather than a liability.
Do ironworkers travel?
Often, and it is one of the main things a candidate wants settled before applying. If the work travels, say how far, how often, what the per diem is in dollars and whether lodging is provided. Unstated per diem is read as no per diem, and travel described without numbers is a common reason an experienced hand does not call back.
Other job description templates
Hiring ironworkers?
There are 5,500 ironworker openings a year and 205,700 labourer openings. The campaign that works is aimed at the second number.
Wage, employment, projection and task descriptions for structural iron and steel workers (SOC 47-2221) and the comparison occupations: O*NET OnLine and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 wage data and BLS employment projections. Cost-per-applicant and apply-rate figures: Boostpoint 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark, 891 campaigns and 1,334 campaign-months.