What does a civil engineering designer do?
A civil engineering designer is responsible for creating designs for industrial systems and residential constructions through statistical analysis and data surveys. Civil engineering designers draft comprehensive design plans as part of project proposals, following the clients' specifications and business requirements. They analyze blueprints and schematics to identify resources and materials that would be highly efficient and optimal to support operational functions. A civil engineering designer must have excellent critical-thinking and technical skills, especially in utilizing computer applications and software systems to generate high-quality design deliverables.
Civil engineering designer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real civil engineering designer resumes:
- Project manage the overall reorganizing and restructuring of the telecommunication department.
- Conduct topographical surveys using total station and GPS for design, layout, volumes and establishing boundaries.
- Perform engineering work in water, wastewater and conveyance infrastructure.
- Develop design reports, construction documents and specifications for water and wastewater projects.
- Design and produce plans for commercial and residential projects using Autodesk Autocad/Civil3d, interacting with clients, subcontractors and project managers.
- Design road intersections and bridge culverts following AASHTO specifications and MoDOT guidelines.
- Perform duties of horizontal and vertical curve calculations, coordinate calculations and profile grade calculations.
- Perform construction inspections, field testing, surveying, engineering calculations, quantity take-offs and various administrative functions.
- Design roadway alternatives using MicroStation and AASHTO design manual.
- Project manage the overall reorganizing and restructuring of the telecommunication department.
Civil engineering designer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 21% of Civil Engineering Designers are proficient in Civil 3D, Site Design, and Erosion Control. They’re also known for soft skills such as Leadership skills, Organizational skills, and Speaking skills.
We break down the percentage of Civil Engineering Designers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Civil 3D, 21%
Helped develop companywide CAD standards for AutoCAD Civil 3D design software for implementation on civil engineering projects.
- Site Design, 6%
Created preliminary site design and write-up for construction cost estimates.
- Erosion Control, 5%
Performed Erosion Control inspections on awarded projects.
- Project Management, 4%
Performed design, project management and construction inspection services on various commercial and residential development projects.
- Cost Estimates, 4%
Evaluated public utility cost estimates for developers and municipalities while also revising the Village of Bradley design standards and standard details.
- DOT, 4%
Assisted engineers in the planning, design, engineering, civil and electrical design departments with development of DOT projects.
Common skills that a civil engineering designer uses to do their job include "civil 3d," "site design," and "erosion control." You can find details on the most important civil engineering designer responsibilities below.
Organizational skills. Many civil engineering designer duties rely on organizational skills. "civil engineers often oversee several projects at the same time and must be able to allocate resources effectively.," so a civil engineering designer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways civil engineering designer responsibilities rely on organizational skills: "developed solid organizational, planning, and problem solving skills associated with project management, and schedule performance. "
Math skills. civil engineering designer responsibilities often require "math skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "civil engineers use calculus, trigonometry, and other mathematics for analysis, design, and troubleshooting." This resume example shows what civil engineering designers do with math skills on a typical day: "performed complex mathematical calculations that required knowledge of civil engineering"
Problem-solving skills. A commonly-found skill in civil engineering designer job descriptions, "problem-solving skills" is essential to what civil engineering designers do. Civil engineering designer responsibilities rely on this skill because "civil engineers may encounter problems during each stage of their work." You can also see how civil engineering designer duties rely on problem-solving skills in this resume example: "investigated engineering design problems, and identified alternative solutions. "
The three companies that hire the most civil engineering designers are:
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Compare different civil engineering designers
Civil engineering designer vs. Representative projects
A Structural Design Engineer designs drawings, specifications, and computer models of structures for building contractors. They help design hospitals, office blocks, houses, bridges, ships, and other structures.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a civil engineering designer are more likely to require skills like "civil 3d," "pe," "site design," and "erosion control." On the other hand, a job as a representative projects requires skills like "infrastructure," "osha," "autocad," and "construction observation." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Representative projects tend to reach similar levels of education than civil engineering designers. In fact, representative projects are 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.5% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Civil engineering designer vs. Structural design engineer
An assistant project engineer performs support tasks to assist project engineers in overseeing and managing engineering projects. Their responsibilities include conducting inspections and assessments, performing research and analyses, processing documents and certifications, managing schedules, liaising with internal and external parties, and providing technical support to staff as necessary. Besides reporting directly to the project engineer, they also work together in implementing policies and monitoring operations to ensure that engineering projects adhere to project guidelines and requirements.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real civil engineering designer resumes. While civil engineering designer responsibilities can utilize skills like "civil 3d," "pe," "site design," and "erosion control," structural design engineers use skills like "cad," "autocad," "aerospace," and "gd."
In general, structural design engineers achieve similar levels of education than civil engineering designers. They're 3.8% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for civil engineering designers in the next 3-5 years?
Karen Panetta Ph.D.
Dean of Graduate Education, School of Engineering, Tufts University
The pandemic has also renewed our sense of need for internet security, privacy, and access to service. When all our social and educational interactions had to move to virtual platforms, we became aware of just how small and ill-prepared the world was and how inequitable the availability of these services was to parts of the world.
Civil engineering designer vs. Assistant project engineer
A structures engineer works in designing, planning, and overseeing the development of the latest buildings and bridges or modifications and extensions to an existing property or other structures. They are mainly concerned with the safety and capability of the structure to withstand the elements to which they will be exposed--also improving the existing building structural integrity. Part of the task is inspecting properties regarding the conditions/foundation and checking work undertaken by contractors. The job is very similarly related to a civil engineer.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, civil engineering designers are more likely to have skills like "civil 3d," "pe," "site design," and "erosion control." But a assistant project engineer is more likely to have skills like "contract drawings," "meeting minutes," "hvac," and "project documentation."
Assistant project engineers typically earn similar educational levels compared to civil engineering designers. Specifically, they're 1.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Civil engineering designer vs. Structures engineer
Types of civil engineering designer
Updated January 8, 2025
