How To Become A Process Design Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a process design engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Marco Schoen Ph.D.

Process design engineers direct and implement capital projects for companies. They design various products together with the required calculation and component selection. They determine the methods of construction and are accountable for the safety management of the projects. Additionally, they may devise methods to reduce costs, implement lean manufacturing practices, and determine root causes of issues by utilizing statistical analyses. Also, they may review bids. As a process design engineer, you can be employed in engineering firms or manufacturing companies.

To work as a process design engineer, you will need a bachelor's degree in chemical, mechanical, industrial, electrical, materials, or environmental engineering. You must have prior experience in a related role. You must possess communication, project management, and technical skills. Knowing how to use specialized industry software is a plus. Process design engineers earn an average annual salary of $91,621 or $44.05 per hour. It ranges between $71,000 and $117,000.

What general advice would you give to a process design engineer?

Marco Schoen Ph.D.

Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Director of the Measurement and Control Engineering Research Center (MCERC), Idaho State University

Stay current. Engineering evolves continuously; new tools, new technologies, and new areas where engineers can contribute, learn, and work. When graduating, students have the feeling they are set for their careers. However, this is not true; they might be set to start their careers. To be consistently successful in their pages, they need to stay informed and updated.

ScoreProcess Design EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.0

Avg. Salary $89,834

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.5

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 15.17%

Black or African American 4.25%

Hispanic or Latino 10.41%

Unknown 3.88%

White 66.12%

Gender

female 19.20%

male 80.80%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.1

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a process design engineer

Explore process design engineer education requirements

Most common process design engineer degrees

Bachelor's

72.1 %

Master's

11.8 %

Associate

10.9 %

Start to develop specific process design engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Project Management	6.38%
Process Engineering	5.77%
CAD	4.58%
IDS	4.41%
Sigma	4.28%

Complete relevant process design engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New process design engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a process design engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real process design engineer resumes.

Research process design engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage the development of the next generation products base on existing refrigerants and CO2 system including prototyping and initial manufacturing run.
Train with (and used extensively) Hitachi SEM.
Facilitate HAZOP reviews and take lead responsibility for resolving issues.
Create multiple SolidWorks assemblies to ensure parts fit within tolerance ranges.

Prepare your process design engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your process design engineer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a process design engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable process design engineer resume templates

Build a professional process design engineer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your process design engineer resume.

Apply for process design engineer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a process design engineer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do process design engineers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Process design engineer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2019

Pros

Being on the field doing running inspections and learning from the technicians

Cons

Being expose to bad weather that compromise the safety of operations.

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2019