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What does an office engineer do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
Quoted expert
Karen Panetta Ph.D.
What does an office engineer do

The duties of an office engineer depend on one's place or industry of employment. Their responsibilities typically revolve around providing technical and clerical support to the workforce, coordinating different parties involved in a project or program, and implementing the company's policies and regulations. Moreover, as an office engineer, it is essential to produce progress reports and presentations, maintain accurate data and records of all transactions, manage schedules, perform maintenance checks, and address issues and concerns, providing corrective measures promptly and efficiently.

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Office engineer responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real office engineer resumes:

  • Manage and/or participate in a variety of water and wastewater assist company principles as engineering consultants for numerous municipal clients.
  • Coordinate and document the testing (soil, concrete, asphalt, and steel) and commissioning of building systems.
  • Schedule and complete registration information for OSHA compliance.
  • Conduct grade elevation analysis and complete material consumption calculations for asphalt plant operations.
  • Instrument engineering, PLC application programming, electrical engineering, modification of medium size boilers and incinerator controls.
  • Enhance SCR system performance for internal combustion engine applications and provide compliance assurance through system troubleshooting and modifying existing PLC programming.
  • Design work include selection of cleanup schemes, detail design drawings and specifications development, and RFP preparation.
  • Design and build wastewater treatment plants throughout the country.
  • Support execution of EMOP, upgrading customer's network during maintenance windows, help avoid fail maintenance windows.
  • Manage and/or participate in a variety of water and wastewater assist company principles as engineering consultants for numerous municipal clients.

Office engineer skills and personality traits

We calculated that 11% of Office Engineers are proficient in Construction Management, Construction Sites, and Shop Drawings. They’re also known for soft skills such as Leadership skills, Organizational skills, and Speaking skills.

We break down the percentage of Office Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Construction Management, 11%

    Requested Subcontractor Approval/Supplier and Certificate of Insurance to ensure compliance according to Construction Management Plan.

  • Construction Sites, 10%

    Formulated and implemented actions to resolve problems as the result of schedule delays or emergencies at construction sites.

  • Shop Drawings, 9%

    Review Contract/Shop drawings and inform concert authorities regarding any discrepancies.

  • Project Management, 7%

    Performed daily project management chores as assistant to Engineer-in-Charge: Coordinated correspondence and dialogue between the project and other interested parties.

  • Construction Projects, 5%

    Managed multiple subcontractors on commercial construction projects.

  • RFI, 5%

    Managed the Requests for Information (RFI) process, and ensured the correspondence flow for change proposals/orders.

Most office engineers use their skills in "construction management," "construction sites," and "shop drawings" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential office engineer responsibilities here:

Organizational skills. Many office engineer duties rely on organizational skills. "civil engineers often oversee several projects at the same time and must be able to allocate resources effectively.," so an office engineer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways office engineer responsibilities rely on organizational skills: "recommend and implement operational and organizational adjustments to enhance process improvement"

Math skills. A commonly-found skill in office engineer job descriptions, "math skills" is essential to what office engineers do. Office engineer responsibilities rely on this skill because "civil engineers use calculus, trigonometry, and other mathematics for analysis, design, and troubleshooting." You can also see how office engineer duties rely on math skills in this resume example: "performed extensive engineering analyses and calculations through industry programs such as mathcad, excel, and utexas4 slope stability software. "

Problem-solving skills. Another skill commonly found on office engineer job descriptions is "problem-solving skills." It can come up quite often in office engineer duties, since "civil engineers may encounter problems during each stage of their work." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day office engineer responsibilities: "recognize as microsoft azure, aws solution architect/on-boarding sme. "

Most common office engineer skills

The three companies that hire the most office engineers are:

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Compare different office engineers

Office engineer vs. Representative projects

A 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.

The annual salary of representative projects is $38,766 lower than the average salary of office engineers.Even though office engineers and representative projects are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require construction management, shop drawings, and construction projects in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, office engineer responsibilities require skills like "construction sites," "oil gas," "project management," and "primavera." Meanwhile a typical representative projects has skills in areas such as "infrastructure," "autocad," "construction observation," and "construction administration." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Representative projects really shine in the technology industry with an average salary of $64,096. Comparatively, office engineers tend to make the most money in the retail industry with an average salary of $85,905.On average, representative projects reach similar levels of education than office engineers. Representative projects are 2.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.6% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Office engineer vs. Structural designer

A 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.

On average, structural designers earn a $26,308 lower salary than office engineers a year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Office engineers and structural designers both require similar skills like "shop drawings," "oil gas," and "project management" to carry out their responsibilities.

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that office engineer responsibilities requires skills like "construction management," "construction sites," "construction projects," and "primavera." But a structural designer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "revit," "structural design," "bim," and "navisworks."

On average, structural designers earn a lower salary than office engineers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, structural designers earn the most pay in the construction industry with an average salary of $69,802. Whereas office engineers have higher pay in the retail industry, with an average salary of $85,905.In general, structural designers achieve similar levels of education than office engineers. They're 1.4% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for office engineers in the next 3-5 years?

Karen Panetta Ph.D.Karen Panetta Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Dean of Graduate Education, School of Engineering, Tufts University

Robotics and any technology that helps alleviate human contact to reduce the spread of disease. Robotics have been typically very expensive and used for space exploration or manufacturing, but we will see more applications of specific application-based robots in our everyday lives. This includes disinfecting robots, health monitoring robots in schools and community spaces and delivery services.
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.

Office engineer vs. Civil designer

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. They also shadow the team's best practices and recommend ways to maximize productivity and efficiency to deliver high-quality outputs within the required deadlines. A structural engineering intern must be highly technical and analytical, especially on designing deliverables that meet quality standards.

On average, civil designers earn lower salaries than office engineers, with a $31,160 difference per year.Using the responsibilities included on office engineers and civil designers resumes, we found that both professions have similar skill requirements, such as "construction management," "oil gas," and "construction drawings.rdquo;

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from office engineer resumes include skills like "construction sites," "shop drawings," "project management," and "construction projects," whereas a civil designer is more likely to list skills in "civil 3d," "autocad," "civil engineering," and "civil design. "

Civil designers make a very good living in the construction industry with an average annual salary of $74,665. On the other hand, office engineers are paid the highest salary in the retail industry, with average annual pay of $85,905.When it comes to education, civil designers tend to earn lower degree levels compared to office engineers. In fact, they're 5.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Office engineer vs. Structural engineering internship

Structural engineering interns tend to earn a lower pay than office engineers by an average of $42,509 per year.While their salaries may vary, office engineers and structural engineering interns both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "construction sites," "shop drawings," and "construction projects. "Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. An office engineer uses "construction management," "oil gas," "project management," and "primavera." Structural engineering interns are more likely to have duties that require skills in "structural analysis," "revit," "powerpoint," and "structural design. "The technology industry tends to pay the highest salaries for structural engineering interns, with average annual pay of $56,459. Comparatively, the highest office engineer annual salary comes from the retail industry.In general, structural engineering interns hold higher degree levels compared to office engineers. Structural engineering interns are 10.6% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of office engineer

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
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.

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