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How to hire a base engineer

Base engineer hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring base engineers in the United States:

  • In the United States, the median cost per hire a base engineer is $1,633.
  • It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
  • Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
  • On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new base engineer to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire a base engineer, step by step

To hire a base engineer, you should create an ideal candidate profile, determine a budget, and post and promote your job. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to hire a base engineer:

Here's a step-by-step base engineer hiring guide:

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

    Before you start hiring a base engineer, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

    Determine employee vs contractor status
    Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

    You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a base engineer to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a base engineer that fits the bill.

    This list presents base engineer salaries for various positions.

    Type of Base EngineerDescriptionHourly rate
    Base EngineerCivil engineers design, build, supervise, operate, and maintain construction projects and systems in the public and private sector, including roads, buildings, airports, tunnels, dams, bridges, and systems for water supply and sewage treatment.$28-70
    Civil DesignerA Civil Designer plans, scales, and drafts drawings and maps for roads, bridges, and other construction projects. They work with engineers and project managers in determining material, labor, and other costs of the assigned projects.$19-38
    Structural DesignerA Structural Designer designs, develops, and supervises the construction of new buildings and bridges, or extensions to existing properties or other structures. They review and update construction drawings as well as communicate project problems and flaws to managers.$22-40
  2. Create an ideal candidate profile

    Common skills:
    • Java
    • ISO
    • CAD
    • SQL Server
    • DFM
    • DOE
    • Construction Projects
    • Engineering Design
    • Cost Reduction
    • Lucene
    • NPI
    • Process Flow
    • KBE
    • Cost Estimates
    Check all skills
    Responsibilities:
    • Manage custom product design & generate all require documentation for both customer and manufacturing groups using AutoCAD rel.
    • Implement SPC for chemical lines to reduce variation in oxide baths.
    • Assist in the successful accreditation of ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certification 2.
    • Lead engineer for moving/qualifying PCB fabrication off shore on NPI and volume product.
    • Construct Java scripts to apply provisioning rules to parameter dictionary for each GSM release.
    • Maintain QC of components and logging items into an inventory database, optimizing product inventory.
    More base engineer duties
  3. Make a budget

    Including a salary range in your base engineer job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A base engineer salary can vary based on several factors:
    • Location. For example, base engineers' average salary in arkansas is 43% less than in california.
    • Seniority. Entry-level base engineers earn 59% less than senior-level base engineers.
    • Certifications. A base engineer 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 base engineer's salary.

    Average base engineer salary

    $93,962yearly

    $45.17 hourly rate

    Entry-level base engineer salary
    $60,000 yearly salary
    Updated December 15, 2025

    Average base engineer salary by state

    RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
    1California$126,372$61
    2Washington$97,518$47
    3Arizona$92,338$44
    4Alabama$92,309$44
    5New York$91,490$44
    6Connecticut$90,433$43
    7Texas$89,085$43
    8Missouri$88,952$43
    9Oklahoma$88,919$43
    10New Jersey$88,722$43
    11Virginia$85,902$41
    12Florida$81,401$39
    13Illinois$77,744$37
    14Iowa$70,200$34
    15Michigan$69,979$34
    16Georgia$69,412$33

    Average base engineer salary by company

    RankCompanyAverage salaryHourly rateJob openings
    1Apple$151,672$72.9216
    2Waymo$144,544$69.492
    3NVIDIA$138,285$66.486
    4Riverbed Holdings, Inc.$121,709$58.51
    5Johnson & Johnson$103,734$49.8712
    6Boeing$102,586$49.3252
    7Motion Recruitment$101,675$48.881
    8Jefferson Frank$98,931$47.56
    9Aimbridge Hospitality$97,627$46.94
    10The Hertz Corporation$95,170$45.75
    11Lockheed Martin$94,826$45.59141
    12Dresser-Rand Group$90,675$43.59
    13Raytheon Technologies$89,724$43.1428
    14MITRE$88,606$42.60
    15Albany International$87,238$41.9412
    16Blue Origin$83,584$40.1879
  4. Writing a base engineer job description

    A base engineer 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. Below, you can find an example of a base engineer job description:

    Base engineer job description example

    When you join us, you'll have the opportunity to work on innovative, mission-critical projects that push the boundaries of what technology can do. As part of the Applied Research & Technology (ART) team, you will be accelerating transformative technology for a safer, more connected, and sustainable world.

    Collins Aerospace seeks a visionary, action-oriented person to define and develop the next generation of model-based engineering approaches, tools and technologies as part of a team whose focus are digital engineering methods for safety critical, intelligent, Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS).

    The team is part of the Collins Aerospace Advanced Methods Department, within the Applied Research and Technology organization and works with Collins product teams and external research sponsors to extend both the state of the art and the state of the practice of MBE methods.

    The MBE Sr. Principal Engineer will define new or change current engineering processes based on the injection of MBE practices; he/she will develop novel methods and tools to provide product discrimination and enable the development of the next generation of Collins systems and products. Current investigations create and demonstrate MBE methods and tools for embedded and cyber physical system development and operation that leverage technologies including scenario formalization and sampling, architectural modeling and analysis, model-based safety analysis, virtual integration, CPS simulation, embedded and large-scale communication networks modeling, digital twining, MB techniques for AI-enabled components, and Data Science, AI and extended reality capabilities applied to systems and items engineering.

    The ideal candidate has a track record of innovation, demonstrated technical leadership, excellent oral and written communication skills, teamwork and critical thinking skills, and experience capturing S&T and government funding that complements internal technology investments.
    The candidate will be part of a diverse and geographically distributed team across US and Europe.

    Primary Responsibilities

    + Explore, develop, and apply on programs Model Based Engineering practices and tools for the conception, design, verification, validation, operation of aerospace systems and components

    + Market innovative technology offerings to external technology customers, both aligning technology development with customer priorities and influencing technology customer interests both for internal and external government customers.

    + Coordinate with business unit engineering and program organizations to realize product advantage from pioneered technical advancement

    + Mature and transition transformative technologies to industrial business units bridging the gap between exploratory research and industrial application

    + Support the development of the MBE team strategy working with the MBE discipline leader and the Advanced Methods department leader

    + Manage projects execution (project management) of an international and distributed team of technologist

    Basic Qualifications

    + University Degree (or equivalent experience) and a minimum 10 years of experience, or an Advanced Degree and a minimum 8 years experience.

    + Senior technologists in an industrial R&D environment

    + Experience in developing safety- or security-critical cyber physical systems methods

    + Demonstrated ability to formulate, market, and lead successful and useful research topics

    + Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to work with an international team of colleagues

    + Understanding and ability to coordinate development of solutions in a way that ensures compliance with IP protection strategy and export control.

    + Proven ability to capture and execute external R&D contracts that complement internal technology investments

    + Ability to travel at least 10% of the time

    + An unreasonable combination of risk-tolerance, impatience, optimism, empathy, vision, and a burning desire to make a difference.

    + U. S. Person (Citizen or Permanent Resident "Green Card" holder)

    Preferred Qualifications

    + Advanced Degree (MS, PhD) in an appropriate technical discipline

    + Demonstrated engineering skills, including using formal methods approaches

    + Extensive experience in one or more Collins-relevant product domains

    + Experience with software tool architecture definition, tool prototype implementation and tool integration and automation solutions

    + Ability to lead a team creating research customer and internal product group concept demonstrations with minimal requirements

    + Full product cycle development experience for Cyber-Physical Systems in a safety critical environment

    + Experience working in an agile environment across disciplines

    + 5+ years experience with aerospace and defense products

    + Strong business focus and analytical skills

    + Experience with agile methods and software development (SAFe, SCRUM, ...)

    Collins Aerospace, a Raytheon Technologies company, is a leader in technologically advanced and intelligent solutions for the global aerospace and defense industry. Collins Aerospace has the capabilities, comprehensive portfolio, and expertise to solve customers' toughest challenges and to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving global market.

    Collins Aerospace makes modern flight possible. Of course, that wouldn't be possible without the capabilities and technologies of our organization, as well as our engineers - a highly skilled, accomplished network that spans more than 180 sites, 24 countries and 6 Strategic Business Units (SBUs).

    Our industry-leading experts are setting the standards for the aerospace industry and paving the way for the future. But as new challenges present themselves, we need fresh, creative and motivated minds to overcome these hurdles, help us break barriers and achieve new levels of innovation. Do you have what it takes to join a global, diverse organization that doesn't shy away from big opportunities? If so, we invite you to join our ranks and create the next generation of aerospace technologies.

    Together, we will nurture an engineering culture that values intellectual curiosity, risk takers and integrity. A place where we will challenge ourselves, our teams, and the status quo and where we will work to find a way - the right way - to achieve what others can only dream of.

    Raytheon Technologies is An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status, age or any other federally protected class.

    Raytheon Technologies is An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status, age or any other federally protected class.
  5. Post your job

    To find the right base engineer for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

    • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
    • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with base engineers they would recommend.
    • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit base engineers who meet your education requirements.
    • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.
    To find base engineer candidates, you can consider the following options:
    • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
    • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as dribbble, authentic jobs, working not working, coroflot.
    • Post your job on free job posting websites.
  6. Interview candidates

    Recruiting base engineers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

    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 base engineer

    Once you've decided on a perfect base engineer candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

    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 base engineer. 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 base engineer?

There are different types of costs for hiring base engineers. One-time cost per hire for the recruitment process. Ongoing costs include employee salary, training, onboarding, benefits, insurance, and equipment. It is essential to consider all of these costs when evaluating hiring a new base engineer employee.

Base engineers earn a median yearly salary is $93,962 a year in the US. However, if you're looking to find base engineers for hire on a contract or per-project basis, hourly rates typically range between $28 and $70.

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