How to hire an engineering planner

How to hire an engineering planner, step by step

Here's a step-by-step engineering planner hiring guide:

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

What does an engineering planner do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the engineering planner you need to hire. Certain engineering planner roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   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 an engineering planner 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 an engineering planner that fits the bill.

   This list presents engineering planner salaries for various positions.

   Type of Engineering Planner	Description	Hourly rate
   Engineering Planner	Industrial engineers find ways to eliminate wastefulness in production processes. They devise efficient systems that integrate workers, machines, materials, information, and energy to make a product or provide a service.	$23-49
   Supplier Quality Engineer	A Supplier Quality Engineer ensures that the supplier's quality standards are in accordance with the requirement of the organization. They also report supplier performance and quality to management.	$30-51
   Quality Control Engineer	A quality control engineer is responsible for conducting quality assessments for the company's products and services to ensure adherence to federal regulations and quality standards. Quality control engineers recommend strategic methods by analyzing processes and writing test results... Show more	$25-45

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Metrics
   • Engineering Drawings
   • PowerPoint
   • DOD
   • Program Management
   • Autocad
   • Earned Value Management
   • BOM
   • Microsoft Project
   • WBS
   • Configuration Control
   • IPT
   • CATIA
   • R

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Work with IPT leads to obtain schedule and cost data to implement in various proposals.
   • Lead a cross-function team to participate plant-wide ERP system launch; establish the prototype electrical operations and maintenance activities evaluation system.
   • Utilize Catia V4 to maintain and integrate design.
   • Participate in weekly integrate production team (IPT) meetings.
   • Initiate new tooling concepts and design tools using CATIA V5 software.
   • Create tool orders, manufacturing plans, BOM s for note duct assemblies.

   More engineering planner duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your engineering planner job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. An engineering planner can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, engineering planners' average salary in vermont is 32% less than in virginia.
   • Seniority. Entry-level engineering planners 52% less than senior-level engineering planners.
   • Certifications. An engineering planner with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in an engineering planner's salary.

   Average engineering planner salary

   $71,606yearly

   $34.43 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level engineering planner salary

   $49,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 26, 2025

   Average engineering planner salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Virginia	$87,925	$42
   2	California	$87,329	$42
   3	New Jersey	$81,540	$39
   4	Massachusetts	$81,517	$39
   5	Texas	$80,452	$39
   6	Arizona	$79,262	$38
   7	Washington	$78,462	$38
   8	District of Columbia	$74,537	$36
   9	Ohio	$74,146	$36
   10	Connecticut	$72,961	$35
   11	North Carolina	$71,928	$35
   12	Colorado	$71,236	$34
   13	New York	$70,414	$34
   14	Minnesota	$69,563	$33
   15	Florida	$67,893	$33
   16	New Hampshire	$65,762	$32
   17	Arkansas	$65,130	$31
   18	South Carolina	$63,380	$30

   Average engineering planner salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Zoox	$120,618	$57.99	9
   2	Cirrus Aircraft	$115,336	$55.45	6
   3	Precision Castparts	$83,417	$40.10	14
   4	University of California-Berkeley	$81,969	$39.41
   5	Bechtel Corporation	$81,633	$39.25	45
   6	Alstom	$80,868	$38.88	14
   7	Eversource Energy	$80,449	$38.68	15
   8	Lockheed Martin	$80,047	$38.48	437
   9	Blue Origin	$79,013	$37.99	34
   10	Sanmina	$77,297	$37.16	14
   11	RS&H	$77,261	$37.14	66
   12	PEAK Technical Staffing USA	$76,710	$36.88
   13	Fehr & Peers	$75,246	$36.18	1
   14	Pactiv	$74,261	$35.70	7
   15	VAM USA	$72,526	$34.87	1
   16	L3Harris	$72,465	$34.84	179
   17	AECOM	$71,984	$34.61	238
   18	Raytheon Technologies	$71,199	$34.23	50
   19	Cree	$70,981	$34.13	2
   20	Advance Green Energy	$69,947	$33.63

4. Writing an engineering planner job description

   An engineering planner 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 an engineering planner job description:

   Engineering planner job description example

   Company Profile
   
   With more than 120 operations and approximately 20, 000 employees worldwide, we are a market leader in manufacturing large, complex structural investment castings, airfoil castings, forged components, aerostructures and highly engineered, critical fasteners for aerospace applications. In addition, we are the leading producer of airfoil castings for the industrial gas turbine market. We also manufacture extruded seamless pipe, fittings, and forgings for power generation and oil & gas applications; commercial and military airframe aerostructures; and metal alloys and other materials for the casting and forging industries. With such critical applications, we insist on quality and dependability – not just in the materials and products we make, but in the people we recruit.
   
   Our parent company is relentless in its dedication to being a high-quality, low-cost, and on-time producer, delivering the highest value to its customers while continually pursuing strategic, profitable growth.
   
   Job Descriptions/Responsibilities:
   
   Generate new planning and revise or update existing planning. Calculate raw material requirements. Check planning to make sure it matches with customer blueprint specifications including Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) in addition to purchase order requirements. Process rework routers and In-Process planning changes. Review purchase orders. Use intermediate AutoCAD and Solid Works skills for making drawing changes. Interpret specification requirements and incorporate into planning.
   
   Qualifications:
   
   To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.
   

   • Ability to interpret and relate processing specifications to planning.
   • Knowledge of basic mathematics, including addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, fractions, and decimals.
   • Strong communications skills, include reading & writing required.
   • Must have knowledge Excel & Word programs.
   • Must be able to follow standard procedures
   • High School diploma is required.
   • Must have some experience with computer aided design applications (SolidWorks).
   • Must have experience with Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T).
   • Minimum of 5yrs. experience.

   
   Preferred knowledge but not required:
   

   • Catia
   • Fasteners or Aerospace experience

   
   
   

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right engineering planner 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 engineering planner job on Zippia to find and recruit engineering planner candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting engineering planners 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.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates 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 engineering planner

   Once you've selected the best engineering planner candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

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