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Municipal engineer skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted experts

James Albrecht,

James Albrecht

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical municipal engineer skills. We ranked the top skills for municipal engineers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 20.1% of municipal engineer resumes contained autocad as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a municipal engineer needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 municipal engineer skills for your resume and career

1. Autocad

Here's how municipal engineers use autocad:

Designed horizontal and vertical alignments of highways using AutoCAD.
Modernized engineering section, upgrading from hand drafting and transit surveying to AutoCAD Civil 3D and GPS survey equipment.

2. Project Management

Here's how municipal engineers use project management:

Project Management of professional services contracts and construction change orders.
Project Management experience directing contract electrical engineering team in designing, prototyping, and testing master processing and motor driver PCB.

3. Conveyance

Here's how municipal engineers use conveyance:

Project types included- mining development, water and sewer conveyance tunnels, railways, and traffic tunnels.
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT Delta Habitat Conservation and Conveyance Program, DWR, CA (2008 2010) Facility Support.

4. Site Development

Site developments are the improvements made on a site in preparations for construction.

Here's how municipal engineers use site development:

Perform field stake out of in-house projects, check grades of site developments.
Job Description: Performed general civil design for residential and commercial site development projects.

5. Technical Reports

Technical reports are a type of document that is used to indicate either the progress, result, or process of scientific research or the state of problems occurring within such research. A technical report may also showcase the report's overall conclusion and may also include recommendations. This kind of report does not require a peer review and isn't published officially but distributed within the organizations where it was formed.

Here's how municipal engineers use technical reports:

Prepare technical reports, resident inquiry investigations, project status, and correspondence.
Performed engineering site investigations and prepared approximately three hundred (300) technical reports for insurance industry clients.

6. Plan Review

Here's how municipal engineers use plan review:

Plan review of all public and private construction drawings necessary to obtain city plan approvals.

7. Cost Estimates

Here's how municipal engineers use cost estimates:

Perform I/I remediation studies, develop master plans, compute cost estimates, develop feasibility studies.
Provided cost estimates for projects valued as high as 40 million dollars.

8. Engineering Design

Engineering design is defined as the method that engineers use to recognize and solve problems. It is an extensive and flexible approach to problem-solving and provides the necessary information needed regarding every step of the process. An engineering design is a collaborative effort of the team to identify problems underlying a process and find out ways to solve them.

Here's how municipal engineers use engineering design:

Prepare preliminary construction cost estimates as part of engineering design feasibility reports, project budgets, and applications for project funding.
Maintained a successful client base, providing annual engineering design and construction management opportunities throughout Northern Minnesota and Eastern North Dakota.

9. Construction Administration

Here's how municipal engineers use construction administration:

Provided construction administration and quality assurance as the project engineer on two under rail pedestrian tunnels and ramps.
Completed the design and construction administration for a major intersection and 1.1-mile section of urban roadway.

10. Asphalt

Here's how municipal engineers use asphalt:

Designed concrete, asphalt, and gravel roadways; sewers; water mains; and sidewalks.
Designed concrete and asphalt roadways; sewers; sidewalks; and railroad crossings.

11. Construction Projects

A construction project is an organized process of constructing, redeveloping, renovating, or otherwise improving a building, or structure. The project phase begins usually as a broad criterion that is then made with the help of a brief, feasibility analysis, funding, and planning. The majority of construction projects are one-time jobs.

Here's how municipal engineers use construction projects:

Inspected and monitored construction projects to ensure that work is being done according to applicable plans and specifications.
Collaborate in developing take-offs/estimates/budgets; co-managed and supervised trades on-site for 9-floor high rise condominium and 190-store shopping mall construction projects.

12. Engineering Services

Here's how municipal engineers use engineering services:

Performed complete Engineering services from planning phase to construction for projects of various size and complexity in all aforementioned municipalities.
Provided engineering services for a prefabricated foundation company in Massachusetts since 1998.

13. Construction Management

Here's how municipal engineers use construction management:

Provided engineering and construction management support for projects in support of counter drug and illegal immigration agencies operating in the Southwest.
Supervised development of the CWP Construction Management & Inspection Procedures Manual, owner-controlled insurance/safety program and emergency media communications plan.

14. Pump Stations

Pump stations fulfill the job of transferring liquids from one place to another. These operate on a small scale for the increase in water pressure at homes or restaurants -- similarly, it works on a larger scale at petrol stations or supplies water in canals. With the volume and amount of the liquid set as a subject, the pump station's size corresponds with its cost. The ideal pump station is efficient and less costly with the proper and safe transfer of liquid.

Here's how municipal engineers use pump stations:

Installed improvement modifications saved MSD $160,000 annually in maintenance repairs and significantly improved pump station reliability.
Designed five septic tank and absorption fields, dosing chambers, and pump stations.

15. Municipal Clients

Here's how municipal engineers use municipal clients:

Attended public meetings for municipal clients in addition to meeting with residents, utility representatives and other entities for project coordination.

What skills help Municipal Engineers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on municipal engineer resumes?

James Albrecht

Professor of Criminal Justice and Homeland Security, retired NYPD Captain/Commanding Officer, Pace University

Obviously, civil engineers have to possess a comprehensive and advanced understanding of architecture, physics, mathematics, engineering, and drafting skills, but 9-11 and even climate change have added other concerns to the field of civil engineering. Engineers now have to consider the need for safeguarding against terrorist events, natural disasters, rioting, and other man-made occurrences. As such, target hardening options must be considered, particularly when building in highly trafficked urban areas, when designing or renovating government buildings and public infrastructure, in tourist destinations, and in a hurricane, tornado, or other inclement weather prone zones. If one plans to work on projects in these areas or regions, it would be practical and realistic to take courses in critical infrastructure and safeguard national infrastructure offered by the Federal Emergency Management Administration, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and other public-private organizations.

What hard/technical skills are most important for municipal engineers?

James Albrecht

Professor of Criminal Justice and Homeland Security, retired NYPD Captain/Commanding Officer, Pace University

There are basic phenomena that all civil engineers have to understand and fully comprehend. These are the skills that you will learn in detail in books in college or at your training site. But a top-tier civil engineer must not only be acutely familiar with the project objectives but also must be exceptionally aware of the environment in which the building or structure has been or will be placed. As such, one must be cognizant of potential hazards posed by climate or people. There may be expressed concerns or mandates about building in hurricane, tornado or flooding prone areas, but a civil engineer must take into consideration population density, proximity to a high-value person, structure, or historic site (e.g., City Hall, electric company, Liberty Bell, etc.), and potential for mass casualty or extreme damage if attacked by radical elements or rioters. Unfortunately, this is the world that we live in today.

What municipal engineer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Dr. Bin (Brenda) Zhou Ph.D.

Professor, Central Connecticut State University

With the shrinking market of design/office work during the pandemic, I see two options for a graduate. One is to go to graduate school, and the other is to work in the field. Graduate education generally transforms a student from a generalist to a specialist, so, choose a study area carefully. In addition to gaining specialized knowledge at graduate school, students may use the time, up to certain limits, to fulfill engineering experience requirements when applying for a Professional Engineer (PE) license. Check each state's professional licensing boards for details. Most students with a BS in civil engineering prefer a design job, but field experience can be supplementary and beneficial to the design work that an engineer will do in the future. Such experiences broaden students' perspectives, and make them better engineers, because they will pay attention to constructability in their designs. A word of caution: stay agile and keep an eye on emerging opportunities. Do not get too comfortable and stay there for too long, unless construction management is your passion.

What type of skills will young municipal engineers need?

Dr. Bret Lingwall Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

There are several skills young grads need right now. 1) Engineers who can dutifully do math are a dime-a-dozen. Engineers who know what math needs to be done are rare. These young graduates who can look at a problem, go to their box of analytical tools, choose the right tool, and do the math that needs to be done are in high demand. 2) Soft skills are becoming ever more critical as design work becomes more automated. AI, Machine Learning, and other numerical design tools are gradually taking over the industry.

Without the engineer needing to spend their time on routine (and often tedious) calculations, engineers' need to have soft skills to succeed is becoming more critical to success. We need creative engineers. We need engineers who can communicate with the client and the public. We need reflective practitioners. We need young graduates in civil engineering to understand that engineering is a people-business. 3) The last skill that is critical in the coming years is learning new skills and adapting. New technologies, design methods, and regulatory changes are coming fast and furiously these days.

The way we do many designs today is very different than just ten years ago. Some will say that Data Science is the skill you need. It is an increasingly important skill, but many skills and technologies emerge in the next decade that we can't even conceive right now. To be a successful practitioner in the new era, you have to learn these new skills, learn new skills a decade later, and then more skills the next decade.

Do you want to know more?

List of municipal engineer skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a municipal engineer resume and required skills for a municipal engineer to have include:

Autocad
Project Management
Conveyance
Site Development
Technical Reports
Plan Review

Cost Estimates
Engineering Design
Construction Administration
Asphalt
Construction Projects
Engineering Services

Construction Management
Pump Stations
Municipal Clients
Capital Projects
Shop Drawings
Public Works

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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