How to hire a civil designer

How to hire a civil designer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step civil designer hiring guide:

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

What does a civil designer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a civil designer, 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?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a civil designer 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 civil designer that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of civil designers.

   Type of Civil Designer	Description	Hourly rate
   Civil Designer	Civil 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.	$19-38
   Structural Engineering Internship	A structural engineering intern is responsible for supporting the engineering team on construction and structural projects, identifying cost-reduction techniques, and drafting layouts that adhere to clients' specifications, business requirements, and budget limitations. Structural engineering interns join the engineers on area visits, inspecting site foundation, and calculating dimensions and material costing... Show more	$15-32
   Project Field Engineer	Field engineers are engineering professionals who work on-site in a different setting to direct workers and report to the management about the status of different projects. These engineers are required to resolve malfunctions or other crises such as construction or machinery problems while overseeing repairs and technical improvements... Show more	$26-43

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Civil 3D
   • Autocad
   • Civil Engineering
   • Civil Design
   • Site Design
   • GIS
   • Design Drawings
   • Wastewater
   • Erosion Control
   • Construction Drawings
   • Survey Data
   • Site Development
   • Site Layout
   • CAD Standards

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage production of full sets of contract documents (grading, drainage, water, sewer, paving and SWPPP).
   • Create and revise detail drawings (MEP).
   • Deliver as-built MEP schematics and structural details.
   • Perform the analysis of guy communication towers using CSA-S37/01 and AISC manual guidelines.
   • Use Trimble GPS station to survey projects, upload data into trimble geomatics office3.
   • Direct or participate in surveying to lay out installations and establishreference points, grades and elevations to guide construction.

   More civil designer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your civil designer job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A civil designer salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a civil designer in South Carolina may be lower than in California, and an entry-level civil designer usually earns less than a senior-level civil designer. Additionally, a civil designer with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average civil designer salary

   $58,421yearly

   $28.09 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level civil designer salary

   $41,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 21, 2026

   Average civil designer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$100,518	$48
   2	Washington	$68,553	$33
   3	Delaware	$65,921	$32
   4	New York	$65,842	$32
   5	Nevada	$65,059	$31
   6	Maine	$64,725	$31
   7	Missouri	$64,664	$31
   8	North Carolina	$64,087	$31
   9	Oregon	$63,919	$31
   10	Massachusetts	$63,918	$31
   11	Virginia	$63,149	$30
   12	Texas	$62,722	$30
   13	Rhode Island	$62,388	$30
   14	Colorado	$61,948	$30
   15	Pennsylvania	$60,711	$29
   16	Arizona	$59,656	$29
   17	Illinois	$59,580	$29
   18	Utah	$58,480	$28
   19	New Mexico	$55,985	$27
   20	Minnesota	$55,810	$27

   Average civil designer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Parsons	$101,806	$48.95	158
   2	Jacobs Engineering Group	$84,032	$40.40
   3	CDM Smith	$82,169	$39.50	969
   4	Fluor Corporation	$80,673	$38.79	15
   5	Little Diversified Architectural Consulting	$78,156	$37.58
   6	Cyntergy	$78,049	$37.52	2
   7	Walter P Moore	$75,707	$36.40	56
   8	T.Y. Lin International	$75,018	$36.07	85
   9	McAdams	$74,910	$36.01	34
   10	Huitt-Zollars	$74,892	$36.01	22
   11	Hilti	$74,705	$35.92
   12	D.R. Horton	$74,354	$35.75	4
   13	Gannett Fleming	$73,792	$35.48	182
   14	Merrick & Co	$73,174	$35.18	23
   15	HDR	$72,966	$35.08	142
   16	PEAK Technical Staffing USA	$72,949	$35.07
   17	AECOM	$72,230	$34.73	482
   18	Stantec	$71,927	$34.58	730
   19	Carollo Engineers	$71,603	$34.42	75
   20	The Foth Companies	$71,371	$34.31	68

4. Writing a civil designer job description

   A job description for a civil designer role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a civil designer job description:

   Civil designer job description example

   As a Civil 3D CAD Designer for Civil & Environmental Consultants Inc. (CEC), you'll work with project managers to produce civil site, water resources, stream restoration, and solid waste construction documents using AutoCAD Civil 3D to include site plans, grading & drainage plans, utility plans, erosion control plans, storm and sewer profiles. You'll also assist in the design of stream restoration designs to include plan, profile, and channel cross-sections, calculate quantities, and develop stormwater pollution prevention plans. You'll calculate quantities to be used in construction estimates, determine earthwork volumes (cuts and fills) based on existing and proposed topography, identify appropriate construction control systems on plans (i.e., baselines, stationing, control points, etc.) and prepare the same. You'll provide value-oriented design suggestions, review drawings and documents to assure compliance with company design and production standards.
   + Associates or Bachelor's Degree in Computer Aided Drafting;
   
   + 4+ years of experience;
   
   + Civil 3D experience;
   
   + Must be detail oriented;
   
   + Excellent communication and organizational skills.
   
   Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. (CEC) is consistently ranked as an Engineering News-Record Top 200 Design Firm, offering big firm opportunities with a small firm culture. Not only will we help you develop professionally, but we will also provide you with the opportunity to become an owner of the firm and share in our success. You will work on diverse projects while providing high quality service to our clients.
   
   In addition to offering company stock at all levels, we provide a matching 401(k), profit sharing, a performance bonus for all employees, medical dental and vision insurance, short and long term disability and tuition assistance. Join our team where your contribution matters.
   
   CEC is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We do not discriminate in recruiting, hiring or promotion based on race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, transgender status), national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status or any other basis or characteristic prohibited by applicable federal, state, or local law.
   
   Street: 530 E. Ohio Street

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find civil designers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your civil designer job on Zippia to find and recruit civil designer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as dribbble, authentic jobs, working not working, coroflot.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with civil designer 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 civil designer

   Once you've found the civil designer 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.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new civil designer. 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 civil designer?