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How to hire a junior project engineer

Junior project engineer hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring junior project engineers in the United States:

  • In the United States, the median cost per hire a junior project 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 junior project engineer to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire a junior project engineer, step by step

To hire a junior project engineer, you need to identify the specific skills and experience you want in a candidate, allocate a budget for the position, and advertise the job opening to attract potential candidates. To hire a junior project engineer, you should follow these steps:

Here's a step-by-step junior project 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 junior project engineer job description
  • Step 5: Post your job
  • Step 6: Interview candidates
  • Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new junior project engineer
  • Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a junior project engineer do?

A junior project engineer supervises laborers' work and assists in the management of the site. They lead the team members in project development and ensure all jobs are done correctly and punctually. They report any problem on-site to their immediate supervisor for resolution. They also prepare any needed technical documents for the approval of a superior or senior engineer.

Learn more about the specifics of what a junior project engineer does
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  1. Identify your hiring needs

    First, determine the employments status of the junior project engineer you need to hire. Certain junior project engineer 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?

    You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a junior project 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 junior project engineer that fits the bill.

    This list shows salaries for various types of junior project engineers.

    Type of Junior Project EngineerDescriptionHourly rate
    Junior Project 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.$26-43
    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:
    • Autocad
    • Project Management
    • PowerPoint
    • Shop Drawings
    • BOM
    • CAD
    • Product Design
    • HVAC
    • Construction Management
    • Project Specifications
    • Microsoft Project
    • RFI
    • Capital Projects
    • Technical Reports
    Check all skills
    Responsibilities:
    • Manage and responsible for Bluetooth BQB test and RF problem solving.
    • Lead labeling processes for medical devices for alignment with compliance FDA regulations along with company standards and guidelines.
    • Manage and/or participate in a variety of water and wastewater assist company principles as engineering consultants for numerous municipal clients.
    • Post RFI's and update drawings.
    • Collect site geotechnical data and create boring logs for modeling.
    • Assist upper management in generating change requests, RFI submittals, permit acquisition, and City/County code inspection.
    More junior project engineer duties
  3. Make a budget

    Including a salary range in the junior project engineer job description is a good way to get more applicants. A junior project engineer salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

    For example, the average salary for a junior project engineer in Tennessee may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level junior project engineer. Additionally, a junior project engineer with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

    Average junior project engineer salary

    $70,878yearly

    $34.08 hourly rate

    Entry-level junior project engineer salary
    $55,000 yearly salary
    Updated January 22, 2026

    Average junior project engineer salary by state

    RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
    1California$84,103$40
    2New York$78,188$38
    3New Jersey$72,605$35
    4North Carolina$71,242$34
    5Virginia$71,015$34
    6Florida$68,877$33
    7Indiana$65,702$32
    8Texas$65,325$31
    9Georgia$63,655$31
    10Michigan$59,480$29

    Average junior project engineer salary by company

    RankCompanyAverage salaryHourly rateJob openings
    1Lockheed Martin$88,446$42.52166
    2Leidos$76,214$36.6491
    3Jacobs Engineering Group$75,599$36.352
    4Colgate-Palmolive$75,125$36.12
    5Carrier$74,437$35.794
    6Belcan$73,934$35.554
    7Oceaneering$73,288$35.234
    8Acuity Insurance$72,616$34.91
    9Quest Global$72,502$34.86
    10Magna International$71,538$34.392
    11Fluor Corporation$71,373$34.3117
    12CVD Equipment$70,982$34.13
    13e-Tech Solutions$70,927$34.101
    14Avionica$70,754$34.02
    15BD Systems Inc$70,754$34.021
    16Jacobs Enterprises$70,748$34.01474
    1720-20 Technologies$70,199$33.75
    18NY Developers & Management$68,000$32.69
    19APSI Construction Management$66,465$31.95
  4. Writing a junior project engineer job description

    A junior project 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. To help get you started, here's an example of a junior project engineer job description:

    Junior project engineer job description example

    Job DescriptionSalary: Commensurate with experience

    Emrgy provides clean energy generation by placing hydrokinetic turbines in canals. This is a multi-billion dollar opportunity in North America alone. The Company’s 5-20 kW, modular hydropower turbines integrate flexibly into megawatt scale arrays within existing canals to generate continuous renewable electric power using innovative hardware and software technology. Emrgy’s distributed hydropower solution embodies the same attributes that have made the wind and solar power industries grow exponentially over the past several decades: modularity and flexibility. Emrgy is preparing for significant sales with committed municipal and utility customers in 2021 as well as growing project development interest. This expansion builds upon four years of product engineering, over $6 million in Federally-sponsored R&D funding, a partnership with GE Renewables, and growing customer engagements.


    Emrgy is seeking a Junior Project Engineer to assist in managing the planning and processes of a project to ensure the project is completed efficiently and successfully. The projects may be customer projects or internal projects to support product development or the commercial team. The Junior Project Engineer will work under the guidance of a Project Manager/Senior Project Engineer but will be relied upon for cross functional coordination necessary for a successful project.


    Responsibilities:

    • Collaborates across functions to create a project execution plan and cost estimates of materials, time, labor, and other resources required to complete the project.
    • Completes site assessment studies as required to support project development and sales.
    • Analyzes equipment, material, systems, processes, and systems to identify modifications to improve efficiency, increase quality, and reduce costs.
    • Assesses the competence, capabilities, resources, and financial status of vendors.
    • Provide on-site installation training, quality oversight and commissioning support for customer projects.
    • Determines project schedule by studying project plan and specifications, calculating time requirements, and sequencing project elements.
    • Maintains project schedule by monitoring project progress, coordinating activities, and resolving problems.
    • Controls project costs by tracking / approving expenditures and administering subcontractor contracts.
    • Compares the actual cost to estimated costs and prepares periodic progress and cost reports for leadership.
    • Confirms system performance by designing and conducting performance tests per contract requirements.
    • Maintains safe and clean working environment by enforcing procedures, rules, and regulations.
    • Ensures compliance with codes, guidelines, best practices, policies as well as applicable federal, state and local regulations.
    • Performs other related duties as assigned.

    Qualifications:

    • Bachelor’s degree in Civil, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering or other related discipline
    • 1-3+ years of project experience in construction, preferably in energy or light industrial
    • Proficiency with MS Project and the MS Office Suite of tools, 3D modeling and CAD software
    • Ability to travel up to 50%.

    Salary and Benefits – This is a key position within a growing team and is compensated with a market competitive salary and benefits including health, dental and vision benefits, life insurance, short- and long-term disability, merit based bonuses, stock options, matched 401K, permissive PTO and parental leave.


    Emrgy is growing its team and is seeking leaders to join our capitalized Atlanta startup aiming to advance the frontier of distributed renewable energy generation. We want entrepreneurial game changers, self-starters, and team players that want to be part of solving global problems in a fast-changing environment .


    Our passion is to deliver sustainable, renewable energy when and where it’s needed most. Diverse backgrounds with shared values inspire us to be bold, speak openly and cultivate the ideas to deliver the best solutions where they are needed. If you celebrate the unique value our differences deliver, you will find a home at Emrgy.

  5. Post your job

    To find junior project engineers for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

    • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
    • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any junior project engineers they would recommend.
    • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level junior project engineers with the right educational background.
    • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.
    Post your job online:
    • Post your junior project engineer job on Zippia to find and recruit junior project engineer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
    • Use field-specific websites.
    • Post a job on free websites.
  6. Interview candidates

    To successfully recruit junior project engineers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

    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 junior project engineer

    Once you've decided on a perfect junior project 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.

    To prepare for the new junior project engineer first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

  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 junior project engineer?

Recruiting junior project engineers involves both the one-time costs of hiring and the ongoing costs of adding a new employee to your team. Your spending during the hiring process will mostly be on things like promoting the job on job boards, reviewing and interviewing candidates, and onboarding the new hire. Ongoing costs will obviously involve the employee's salary, but also may include things like benefits.

Junior project engineers earn a median yearly salary is $70,878 a year in the US. However, if you're looking to find junior project engineers for hire on a contract or per-project basis, hourly rates typically range between $26 and $43.

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