How to hire a production engineer

How to hire a production engineer, step by step

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

What does a production engineer do?

Post a production engineer job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a production engineer, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A production engineer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, production engineers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list shows salaries for various types of production engineers.

   Type of Production Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Production Engineer	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.	$30-60
   Chemical Engineer	A chemical engineer provides support for chemical operations and testing new processes. The processes they successfully come up with are used to make different products from gas, oil, food, and drink... Show more	$32-57
   Development Engineer	A Development Engineer is responsible for the development and validation of products, systems, and components. They are also responsible for quality control of work and continuous improvement of engineer activities.	$33-58

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Java
   • Continuous Improvement
   • Lean Manufacturing
   • Sigma
   • Technical Support
   • Process Control
   • Production Process
   • CAD
   • Lifecycle Management
   • Engineering Support
   • Process Improvement
   • Solidworks
   • Capital Projects
   • Corrective Action

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Prepare tooling and gauging for CNC turning centers, manage the tooling cabinets, and rapport with vendors for tool sharpening.
   • Complete DMAIC project and 8D that lead to the resolution of vibration issue, project result in a $2M save.
   • Lead work cells to become a team; Harmonize/unite/motivate assembly personnel using Kaizen approach.
   • Lead several independent, cross-functional projects and improve manufacturing quality, reduce cost, ensure environment are supported and FDA compliant.
   • Install new filtration systems for aluminum boring machine centers.
   • Have prepared and used FMEA, PPAP documents and perform MSA studies.

   More production engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the production engineer job description is a good way to get more applicants. A production 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 production engineer in Georgia may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level production engineer. Additionally, a production engineer with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average production engineer salary

   $89,727yearly

   $43.14 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level production engineer salary

   $64,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 5, 2025

   Average production engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$132,375	$64
   2	Washington	$118,557	$57
   3	Massachusetts	$92,245	$44
   4	Utah	$91,590	$44
   5	Texas	$90,377	$43
   6	District of Columbia	$88,106	$42
   7	Arizona	$84,418	$41
   8	Colorado	$84,170	$40
   9	Louisiana	$81,099	$39
   10	Maryland	$81,050	$39
   11	New York	$78,680	$38
   12	Virginia	$74,445	$36
   13	Oklahoma	$71,646	$34
   14	Michigan	$70,392	$34
   15	West Virginia	$70,240	$34
   16	Alabama	$67,372	$32
   17	South Carolina	$65,415	$31
   18	Illinois	$64,888	$31
   19	Florida	$64,436	$31
   20	Georgia	$62,077	$30

   Average production engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Cheniere Energy	$143,890	$69.18
   2	Ep Energy	$140,814	$67.70
   3	Meta	$140,303	$67.45	394
   4	BP America Inc	$134,130	$64.49	9
   5	Apple	$132,664	$63.78	100
   6	Aera Energy	$123,792	$59.52
   7	Microsoft	$123,306	$59.28	20
   8	Statoil	$118,720	$57.08
   9	Chevron	$118,134	$56.80	5
   10	Marathon Oil	$117,622	$56.55
   11	ConocoPhillips	$112,687	$54.18
   12	Shopify	$110,786	$53.26
   13	Occidental Petroleum	$109,686	$52.73	11
   14	Weatherford International	$109,678	$52.73	8
   15	Fusion LLC	$108,406	$52.12
   16	The Walt Disney Company	$108,113	$51.98	33
   17	Waters	$108,011	$51.93	20
   18	Marotta Controls	$106,982	$51.43	4
   19	Natera	$106,674	$51.29	1
   20	D. E. Shaw group	$106,665	$51.28

4. Writing a production engineer job description

   A job description for a production engineer role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a production engineer job description:

   Production engineer job description example

   Are you inspired by “what's next”? So are we.
   
   When you join the Albemarle team, you contribute to a better tomorrow. You will play a role in powering many of the world's largest and most critical industries, from energy and communications to transportation and electronics. We are putting innovation to work to improve people's lives and we want YOU to be a part of it.
   
   Job Description
   
   The Position
   The Production Engineer provides technical support to the Production team while facilitating safe and efficient systems of work to meet safety, production and cost targets. The Production Engineer contributes to continual improvement within the production department, including management of change processes to remove barriers and optimise work systems, and improvement to production processes where identified.
   
   Key Responsibilities
   Contribute to the implementation and execution of Safety Systems and Procedures.Participate in and provide technical input to Safety and Risk Assessment activities.Demonstrate and encourage operational excellence and discipline within the production team.Manage conflicting priorities while maintaining key stakeholder interests and relationships.Develop and maintain technical components of production documentation, including Standard OperatingProcedures, Operation Manuals and Training Material.Monitor plant performance against Key Performance Indicators. Develop and maintain reports to communicateplant performance against KPIs.Identify deviations from target operating ranges and troubleshoot to root cause.Identify, design and implement effective solutions to address the root cause of chronic deviations.Participate in Management of Change activities to provide technical input and review.Contribute to the development of the Production Plan and Budget and ensure adherence during operation.Contribute to Maintenance Planning and Scheduling activities.Contribute to process interruption and process Incident Investigations.Prepare technical reports to effectively communicate results of investigations, opportunities for improvement and technical observations.Develop and coordinate an ‘in process' and quality assurance laboratory analysis program in consultation with the QA/QC department to effectively monitor and control the production process.
   
   Work Experience / Technical Skill Requirements
   Demonstrated experience working in a complex chemical or petrochemical processing environment.Experience developing plant documentation for Operations Personnel e.g., SOPs, Checklists, Training Material.Commissioning experience is desirable.A demonstrated ability to manage conflicting priorities while maintaining key stakeholder interests and relationships.
   
   Education / Qualification Requirements
   Bachelor's Degree in Chemical or Process Engineering
   Choose to unlock your full POTENTIAL. Apply today.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right production engineer for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with production engineers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit production engineers who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your production engineer job on Zippia to find and recruit production engineer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting production engineers 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.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete 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 production engineer

   Once you've decided on a perfect production 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.

   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.

   To prepare for the new production 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.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a production engineer?