How to hire a structures technician

How to hire a structures technician, step by step

Here's a step-by-step structures technician hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a structures technician job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new structures technician
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a structures technician do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your structures technician job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a structures technician for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A structures technician's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, structures technicians from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list shows salaries for various types of structures technicians.

   Type of Structures Technician	Description	Hourly rate
   Structures Technician	Aircraft and avionics equipment mechanics and technicians repair and perform scheduled maintenance on aircraft. They also may perform aircraft inspections as required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).	$20-37
   Aircraft Fueler	Aircraft fuelers' primary role is to ensure the proper refueling of aircraft before and after a flight. The position is essential, as proper refueling determines the safety of an aircraft... Show more	$12-21
   Airframe And Powerplant Mechanic	An Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic inspects, tests, and repairs aircraft. They work on various parts of an aircraft, such as the engine, brakes, and landing gear.	$18-37

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Hand Tools
   • Engineering Drawings
   • Revit
   • Troubleshoot
   • FAA
   • Maintenance Manuals
   • OSHA
   • Hazardous Materials
   • Aircraft Maintenance
   • Technical Data
   • Structural Modifications
   • Reamers
   • Jigs
   • Drill Motors

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Remove, replace, repair, engines, rotor-heads, blades, gearboxes, and landing gear components.
   • Operate CNC and conventional metal brakes to bend and shape metal.
   • Work with engineering to modify structural changes and conformity to FAA regulations.
   • Appoint FOD program manager and implement new procedures to maintain a FOD free environment.
   • Design, install, replace, and remodel HVAC systems for residential and commercial buildings.
   • Work in both FOD critical and FOD sensitive environments, and observe all relate safety procedures.

   More structures technician duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your structures technician job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A structures technician salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, structures technicians' average salary in nebraska is 47% less than in hawaii.
   • Seniority. Entry-level structures technicians earn 46% less than senior-level structures technicians.
   • Certifications. A structures technician with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a structures technician's salary.

   Average structures technician salary

   $58,608yearly

   $28.18 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level structures technician salary

   $43,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 10, 2025

   Average structures technician salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$73,804	$35
   2	Washington	$73,486	$35
   3	New Mexico	$62,446	$30
   4	Pennsylvania	$60,937	$29
   5	Virginia	$60,555	$29
   6	Colorado	$60,339	$29
   7	Ohio	$59,813	$29
   8	Arizona	$59,461	$29
   9	South Carolina	$57,732	$28
   10	Montana	$57,149	$27
   11	Texas	$55,065	$26
   12	Missouri	$53,465	$26
   13	Alabama	$53,175	$26
   14	Mississippi	$52,255	$25
   15	Illinois	$52,199	$25
   16	Louisiana	$51,324	$25
   17	Oklahoma	$51,057	$25
   18	Kansas	$50,770	$24
   19	Tennessee	$50,253	$24
   20	Georgia	$49,266	$24

   Average structures technician salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Jefferson Lab	$71,859	$34.55
   2	Idaho Power	$70,879	$34.08
   3	AECOM	$68,656	$33.01	85
   4	Arup	$68,204	$32.79	2
   5	Shive-Hattery	$66,856	$32.14	11
   6	Martin/Martin	$65,782	$31.63	11
   7	HGA	$65,154	$31.32	4
   8	Barr Engineering Co.	$64,992	$31.25	1
   9	Haskell	$64,980	$31.24	1
   10	Aerotek	$64,066	$30.80	39
   11	Stantec	$63,983	$30.76	75
   12	SSE plc	$63,087	$30.33
   13	GRAEF	$62,874	$30.23	4
   14	Leonardo	$62,082	$29.85
   15	STS Technical Group	$61,713	$29.67
   16	Aerojet Rocketdyne	$61,539	$29.59
   17	Spirit AeroSystems	$61,395	$29.52
   18	Schumacher Auto Group	$61,359	$29.50
   19	Zenetex	$60,639	$29.15
   20	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America	$60,523	$29.10	6

4. Writing a structures technician job description

   A structures technician job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a structures technician job description:

   Structures technician job description example

   Long Term Open Ended (no end date) with the ability to go direct if desired (generally earned around the 1 year mark)

   AIRFRAMES:

   PC-12, Dash 8 ( Q200 / Q300 / Q400 ), Dornier 328, A-29

   SHIFT:

   All over the place - depends on hangar & program - candidate will need to as will need to ask during candidate's interview

   Some people work four tens, some work five eights

   Rarely ever any weekends ever unless absolute dire need

   Must be flexible if the team needs you to work Nights for a period of time

   75% of workforce is on Day shift, 25% is on Night shift

   *OT is regularly available but we cannot guarantee it every week

   PAY:

   Per Diem contractors = $40 / hr (23/17 split) + 6 Paid Sick Days + 6 Paid Holidays

   OT Pay = $51.50/hr

   Skills:

   Sheet metal repair, Aircraft, Airframe, Aircraft sheet metal, Aviation maintenance, Blueprint, Aircraft modification, blueprint schematics, riveting, sheet metal, Sheet metal fabrication, aircraft maintenance repair, rivet guns

   Additional Skills & Qualifications:

   REQUIRED:

   - Bare minimum 5+ years of aviation structures (sheet metal) experience

   - Some modification or heavy maintenance experience (only basic structures experience is not enough)

   PREFERRED:

   - Modification experience

   - Heavy Maintenance or Depot Level experience

   - Specific Airframe experience

   COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS:

   - Eligible to obtain a U.S. Secret Security Clearance through Aerotek

   - FAA Drug Test

   - 7 Year Check

   - Must own tools & the toolbox must be shadowed with the tools etched or colored by Day 1

   Experience Level:

   Intermediate Level

   About Aerotek:

   We know that a company's success starts with its employees. We also know that an individual's success starts with the right career opportunity. As a Best of Staffing® Client and Talent leader, Aerotek's people-focused approach yields competitive advantage for our clients and rewarding careers for our contract employees. Since 1983, Aerotek has grown to become a leader in recruiting and staffing services. With more than 250 non-franchised offices, Aerotek's 8,000 internal employees serve more than 300,000 contract employees and 18,000 clients every year. Aerotek is an Allegis Group company, the global leader in talent solutions. Learn more at Aerotek.com.

   The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regards to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right structures technician for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your structures technician job on Zippia to find and recruit structures technician candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with structures technician candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new structures technician

   Once you've found the structures technician candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new structures technician. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a structures technician?