OPT Marine Electrician Jobs
Marine Electrician jobs on OPT involve installing, maintaining, and troubleshooting electrical systems on ships, submarines, and offshore platforms. Most roles qualify as STEM OPT extensions under electrical engineering classifications, giving you up to 36 months of work authorization. Shipyards and defense contractors are your most active hiring sectors.
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US Coatings, LLC (USC) specializes in providing interior tank coating, cleaning and surface preparation services for various marine vessels including cargo (advanced chemical linings), ballast, and freshwater tanks. Additionally, USC is an applicator of advanced coatings and protective systems for marine hulls, decks, and superstructures.
US Coatings, LLC operates across the Gulf Coast, the Mississippi and Ohio River system, Great Lakes and the Mid-Atlantic serving multiple end-markets within the marine industry including transportation, logistics, tourism, leisure, commercial fishing, and the federal government.
US Coatings LLC is part of a family of companies unified by purpose to deliver safe, reliable solutions to our clients’ unique challenges. We are committed to providing superior service and leaving things better than we found them.
Job Summary
We are seeking an experienced Marine Coatings Project Manager to oversee surface preparation, abrasive blasting, industrial painting, and protective coating projects involving U.S. Navy vessels, commercial ships, shipyards, and marine facilities.
In this role, you'll manage projects from initial planning and estimating through execution, quality inspections, and final completion. You'll coordinate field crews, subcontractors, materials, equipment, and project schedules while ensuring work meets customer specifications, safety requirements, and quality standards. You'll work closely with shipyard personnel, vessel owners, government representatives, and internal operations teams to deliver projects safely, on schedule, and within budget. Projects may include dry-docked vessels, active shipyard operations, waterfront infrastructure, and maintenance or preservation work aboard military and commercial ships.
Project Management & Field Operations
- Manage marine coatings and surface preparation projects involving Navy vessels, commercial ships, barges, and waterfront structures.
- Oversee abrasive blasting, surface preparation, industrial painting, and protective coating applications.
- Coordinate daily field operations, including crew assignments, equipment, materials, and subcontractors.
- Develop project schedules, manpower plans, and production targets to meet contractual deadlines.
- Monitor project progress, budgets, labor costs, productivity, and profitability.
- Conduct site visits, project meetings, and inspections to ensure work meets specifications.
- Coordinate with shipyard management and other trades working aboard vessels or within active shipyard facilities.
Estimating & Contract Management
- Review project drawings, specifications, scopes of work, and bid documents.
- Assist with estimating labor, materials, equipment, and project costs.
- Manage project budgets, change orders, purchase orders, and subcontractor agreements.
- Track project financial performance, identify cost overruns, and implement corrective actions.
- Maintain project documentation, production reports, and customer communication.
Marine Coatings & Quality Control
- Oversee surface preparation and coating applications on vessel hulls, decks, tanks, structural steel, and marine equipment.
- Ensure compliance with applicable AMPP/SSPC/NACE standards, customer specifications, and coating manufacturer requirements.
- Coordinate surface preparation inspections, environmental monitoring, dry film thickness testing, and coating quality inspections.
- Work with quality control personnel and customer representatives to resolve deficiencies.
- Ensure proper documentation of coating inspections, testing, and project closeout requirements.
Safety & Regulatory Compliance
- Enforce OSHA maritime and shipyard safety requirements and applicable site-specific safety procedures.
- Coordinate safe execution of blasting, painting, confined-space work, and other high-risk operations.
- Ensure proper use of respiratory protection, ventilation, containment systems, and personal protective equipment.
- Support compliance with applicable environmental regulations, including hazardous coating removal, waste handling, and containment requirements.
Requirements and Education
- Experience managing industrial painting, protective coatings, marine construction, or ship repair projects.
- Experience overseeing field crews, subcontractors, project schedules, and budgets.
- Working knowledge of abrasive blasting, surface preparation, and industrial coating systems.
- Experience interpreting project specifications, drawings, and technical requirements.
- Experience with project estimating, cost tracking, change orders, and project documentation.
- Experience working in industrial, shipyard, marine, or similarly regulated construction environments.
- Ability to access and work aboard vessels, including navigating ladders, gangways, and confined work areas as required by the position.
- Ability to travel to project sites as required.
Preferred Requirements and Education
- Experience managing U.S. Navy, Military Sealift Command (MSC), or other government vessel maintenance and preservation projects.
- Experience with NAVSEA Standard Items and applicable Navy preservation specifications.
- Familiarity with commercial ship repair, dry-dock operations, and vessel maintenance.
- AMPP/SSPC/NACE coating inspection certifications, such as AMPP CIP Level 1 or 2.
- Experience with marine coating systems, including epoxy, polyurethane, antifouling, and corrosion-resistant coatings.
- Familiarity with NAVSEA Standard Item 009-32 and related surface preparation and painting requirements.
- Experience with marine environmental containment and hazardous coating removal.
- Experience working with government contracting requirements and military shipyard procedures.
- Degree in Construction Management, Engineering, or a related discipline.
EEO Statement
US Coatings, LLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, gender, color, age, sexual orientation, gender identification, national origin, religion, marital status, ancestry, citizenship, disability, protected veteran status, or any other factor prohibited by applicable law.
Company Overview
US Coatings, LLC (USC) specializes in providing interior tank coating, cleaning and surface preparation services for various marine vessels including cargo (advanced chemical linings), ballast, and freshwater tanks. Additionally, USC is an applicator of advanced coatings and protective systems for marine hulls, decks, and superstructures.
US Coatings, LLC operates across the Gulf Coast, the Mississippi and Ohio River system, Great Lakes and the Mid-Atlantic serving multiple end-markets within the marine industry including transportation, logistics, tourism, leisure, commercial fishing, and the federal government.
US Coatings LLC is part of a family of companies unified by purpose to deliver safe, reliable solutions to our clients’ unique challenges. We are committed to providing superior service and leaving things better than we found them.
Job Summary
We are seeking an experienced Marine Coatings Project Manager to oversee surface preparation, abrasive blasting, industrial painting, and protective coating projects involving U.S. Navy vessels, commercial ships, shipyards, and marine facilities.
In this role, you'll manage projects from initial planning and estimating through execution, quality inspections, and final completion. You'll coordinate field crews, subcontractors, materials, equipment, and project schedules while ensuring work meets customer specifications, safety requirements, and quality standards. You'll work closely with shipyard personnel, vessel owners, government representatives, and internal operations teams to deliver projects safely, on schedule, and within budget. Projects may include dry-docked vessels, active shipyard operations, waterfront infrastructure, and maintenance or preservation work aboard military and commercial ships.
Project Management & Field Operations
- Manage marine coatings and surface preparation projects involving Navy vessels, commercial ships, barges, and waterfront structures.
- Oversee abrasive blasting, surface preparation, industrial painting, and protective coating applications.
- Coordinate daily field operations, including crew assignments, equipment, materials, and subcontractors.
- Develop project schedules, manpower plans, and production targets to meet contractual deadlines.
- Monitor project progress, budgets, labor costs, productivity, and profitability.
- Conduct site visits, project meetings, and inspections to ensure work meets specifications.
- Coordinate with shipyard management and other trades working aboard vessels or within active shipyard facilities.
Estimating & Contract Management
- Review project drawings, specifications, scopes of work, and bid documents.
- Assist with estimating labor, materials, equipment, and project costs.
- Manage project budgets, change orders, purchase orders, and subcontractor agreements.
- Track project financial performance, identify cost overruns, and implement corrective actions.
- Maintain project documentation, production reports, and customer communication.
Marine Coatings & Quality Control
- Oversee surface preparation and coating applications on vessel hulls, decks, tanks, structural steel, and marine equipment.
- Ensure compliance with applicable AMPP/SSPC/NACE standards, customer specifications, and coating manufacturer requirements.
- Coordinate surface preparation inspections, environmental monitoring, dry film thickness testing, and coating quality inspections.
- Work with quality control personnel and customer representatives to resolve deficiencies.
- Ensure proper documentation of coating inspections, testing, and project closeout requirements.
Safety & Regulatory Compliance
- Enforce OSHA maritime and shipyard safety requirements and applicable site-specific safety procedures.
- Coordinate safe execution of blasting, painting, confined-space work, and other high-risk operations.
- Ensure proper use of respiratory protection, ventilation, containment systems, and personal protective equipment.
- Support compliance with applicable environmental regulations, including hazardous coating removal, waste handling, and containment requirements.
Requirements and Education
- Experience managing industrial painting, protective coatings, marine construction, or ship repair projects.
- Experience overseeing field crews, subcontractors, project schedules, and budgets.
- Working knowledge of abrasive blasting, surface preparation, and industrial coating systems.
- Experience interpreting project specifications, drawings, and technical requirements.
- Experience with project estimating, cost tracking, change orders, and project documentation.
- Experience working in industrial, shipyard, marine, or similarly regulated construction environments.
- Ability to access and work aboard vessels, including navigating ladders, gangways, and confined work areas as required by the position.
- Ability to travel to project sites as required.
Preferred Requirements and Education
- Experience managing U.S. Navy, Military Sealift Command (MSC), or other government vessel maintenance and preservation projects.
- Experience with NAVSEA Standard Items and applicable Navy preservation specifications.
- Familiarity with commercial ship repair, dry-dock operations, and vessel maintenance.
- AMPP/SSPC/NACE coating inspection certifications, such as AMPP CIP Level 1 or 2.
- Experience with marine coating systems, including epoxy, polyurethane, antifouling, and corrosion-resistant coatings.
- Familiarity with NAVSEA Standard Item 009-32 and related surface preparation and painting requirements.
- Experience with marine environmental containment and hazardous coating removal.
- Experience working with government contracting requirements and military shipyard procedures.
- Degree in Construction Management, Engineering, or a related discipline.
EEO Statement
US Coatings, LLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, gender, color, age, sexual orientation, gender identification, national origin, religion, marital status, ancestry, citizenship, disability, protected veteran status, or any other factor prohibited by applicable law.
See all OPT Marine Electrician Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new OPT Marine Electrician Jobs.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding OPT Sponsorship in Marine Electrician
Confirm your degree qualifies for STEM OPT
Marine Electrician roles typically fall under electrical or marine engineering SOC codes. Verify your degree program appears on the STEM OPT designated degree list before applying, since your 36-month extension eligibility depends entirely on that classification matching your employer's job.
Target defense and government shipyard contractors
Companies like Huntington Ingalls and BAE Systems hire marine electricians regularly and have established OPT hiring pipelines. Large defense contractors are more familiar with work authorization requirements than smaller marine service shops, making the sponsorship conversation considerably more straightforward from the start.
Get your TWIC card before you apply
A Transportation Worker Identification Credential is mandatory for unescorted access to secure port facilities. Applying early signals professional readiness to employers and removes a common onboarding bottleneck. Processing takes four to six weeks, so start your application before you begin interviewing for shipyard positions.
Frame your OPT timeline around project cycles
Shipyard projects run on multi-year contracts. When discussing your OPT status, connect your 36-month STEM window to the project duration your employer is hiring for. This reframes your authorization as an asset aligned with their work schedule rather than an administrative inconvenience worth avoiding.
Highlight relevant certifications prominently
OSHA 10 or 30, NFPA 70E electrical safety, and any marine classification society training significantly strengthen your application. Hiring managers in shipyards use certifications as a first filter. List them at the top of your resume, not buried in a separate section, to clear that screen immediately.
Apply to commercial shipyards alongside naval contractors
Cruise lines, ferry operators, and offshore energy companies also hire marine electricians and are often more flexible on visa status than defense contractors requiring security clearances. Spreading applications across both sectors improves your chances and gives you leverage when negotiating your start date and onboarding timeline.
Marine Electrician OPT: Frequently Asked Questions
Do Marine Electrician jobs qualify for the 36-month STEM OPT extension?
Most do, but it depends on your degree field. Marine Electrician roles are commonly classified under SOC code 49-2096 (Electronic Equipment Installers and Repairers) or adjacent electrical engineering codes. If your degree is in electrical engineering, marine engineering, or a related STEM field on the designated degree list, you'll likely qualify for the full 36-month extension. Confirm with your DSO before accepting an offer.
Can I work on U.S. naval or military vessels as an OPT student?
Roles on active U.S. naval vessels typically require U.S. citizenship due to security clearance requirements. However, OPT students can work for private defense contractors at shipyards on naval construction and repair projects without a clearance, provided the specific role doesn't require classified access. Commercial shipyards and offshore platforms generally have no citizenship restrictions for marine electricians on OPT.
What happens to my OPT status if my shipyard contract ends before my authorization expires?
You have a 60-day unemployment grace period after your employment ends, during which you can search for a new position. On STEM OPT, you're also allowed up to 150 days of unemployment total across your entire extension period. Use that window actively. Migrate Mate lists Marine Electrician roles specifically open to OPT candidates, which can shorten your search significantly.
Do Marine Electrician employers need to file any immigration paperwork to hire me on OPT?
For standard OPT, the employer doesn't file anything with USCIS. Your EAD card covers your work authorization. For the STEM OPT extension, your employer must enroll in E-Verify and sign a formal training plan (Form I-983) with your school. Most large shipyards already use E-Verify, so this is rarely an obstacle at established contractors.
Where can I find Marine Electrician jobs that are open to OPT students?
Migrate Mate filters job listings specifically for F-1 OPT candidates, so you're not wasting time applying to roles where work authorization will disqualify you. Marine Electrician openings on Migrate Mate include shipyard positions, offshore platform roles, and commercial vessel contractors across major port cities including Seattle, Norfolk, Houston, and San Diego.