How to hire a project engineering manager

How to hire a project engineering manager, step by step

Here's a step-by-step project engineering manager hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a project engineering manager job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new project engineering manager
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a project engineering manager do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the project engineering manager you need to hire. Certain project engineering manager 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?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect project engineering manager also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   The following list breaks down different types of project engineering managers and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Project Engineering Manager	Description	Hourly rate
   Project Engineering Manager	Architectural and engineering managers plan, direct, and coordinate activities in architectural and engineering companies.	$37-73
   Manager, Project Management	The role of a project management manager involves the planning, execution, monitoring, control, and closure of projects. Project managers oversee the scope of the entire project, the team, success or failure, and its resources... Show more	$35-69
   Operations Project Manager	An operations project manager is responsible for monitoring the performance of the project team, ensuring that the operations meet the clients' standards and internal regulations with maximum productivity and efficiency. Operations project managers manage the department's budget and allocate materials and resources accurately, maintaining a record of expenses and costs forecasting... Show more	$31-58

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Project Management
   • Project Scope
   • Engineering Design
   • Autocad
   • Capital Projects
   • Project Execution
   • Cost Estimates
   • Emerging Technologies
   • Construction Management
   • R
   • Business Development
   • Product Development
   • Construction Projects
   • Status Reports

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Interview, hire and manage engineering and cad teams to accomplish all projects acquire with quality and on-time delivery.
   • Manage APQP tasks and submit documentation to customer.
   • Lead an engineering team that develop a vision technology product resulting in winning multiple DOD awards.
   • Manage UL, FCC and ANSI testing of new products and product production with contract manufacturers.
   • Establish SharePoint site to manage all records to ensure facility is built codes and standards if audit by regulators.
   • Manage desktop, server and network teams' projects, and fill in as Unix support for tape backup management.

   More project engineering manager duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your project engineering manager job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A project engineering manager salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a project engineering manager in Arkansas may be lower than in California, and an entry-level project engineering manager usually earns less than a senior-level project engineering manager. Additionally, a project engineering manager with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average project engineering manager salary

   $110,534yearly

   $53.14 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level project engineering manager salary

   $79,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average project engineering manager salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$141,266	$68
   2	Washington	$106,757	$51
   3	Texas	$106,660	$51
   4	New York	$101,976	$49
   5	Virginia	$101,837	$49
   6	Massachusetts	$98,580	$47
   7	Arizona	$97,328	$47
   8	Pennsylvania	$97,269	$47
   9	Ohio	$97,177	$47
   10	Kansas	$96,486	$46
   11	Oregon	$96,476	$46
   12	Michigan	$95,750	$46
   13	Wisconsin	$94,904	$46
   14	Utah	$94,098	$45
   15	Illinois	$93,952	$45
   16	Georgia	$92,608	$45
   17	Oklahoma	$92,426	$44
   18	North Carolina	$92,375	$44
   19	Florida	$91,804	$44
   20	Missouri	$90,946	$44

   Average project engineering manager salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Apple	$167,090	$80.33	214
   2	Google	$157,566	$75.75	127
   3	The Weitz Company	$152,063	$73.11	17
   4	ZAP	$145,426	$69.92
   5	Bunge	$144,450	$69.45	3
   6	Applied Materials	$143,966	$69.21	46
   7	Gillette	$143,925	$69.19
   8	Zoox	$142,829	$68.67	12
   9	Cisco	$142,092	$68.31	240
   10	Genentech	$141,856	$68.20	11
   11	Natera	$139,363	$67.00	2
   12	Intuit	$138,769	$66.72	15
   13	Pacifi	$138,398	$66.54	2
   14	Cepheid	$138,380	$66.53
   15	Calpine	$134,852	$64.83	4
   16	OMNOVA Solutions	$134,660	$64.74
   17	Cargill	$134,527	$64.68	23
   18	Wanzek Construction	$134,232	$64.53	1
   19	Productive Plastics	$134,148	$64.49
   20	Koch Industries	$133,941	$64.39	4

4. Writing a project engineering manager job description

   A good project engineering manager job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a project engineering manager job description:

   Project engineering manager job description example

   HARMAN's engineers and designers are creative, purposeful and agile. As part of this team, you'll combine your technical expertise with innovative ideas to help drive cutting-edge solutions in the car, enterprise and connected ecosystem. Every day, you will push the boundaries of creative design, and HARMAN is committed to providing you with the opportunities, innovative technologies and resources to build a successful career.
   A Career at HARMAN
   
   As a technology leader that is rapidly on the move, HARMAN is filled with people who are focused on making life better. Innovation, inclusivity and teamwork are a part of our DNA. When you add that to the challenges we take on and solve together, you'll discover that at HARMAN you can grow, make a difference and be proud of the work you do everyday.
   
   About the Role
   
   As the Project Manager, Engineering, you will be managing the new product development programs for our HARMAN Professional Solutions team and ensure all projects will be executed according to agreed metrics and processes. You will be an integral part of executing the roadmap for the future of the business and you are expected to provide strong leadership in managing interrelated projects and programs to ensure successful delivery. Strong project management and excellent organizational skills are fundamental, as is the ability to liaise with people at all levels of the organization.
   
   Your Team
   
   As an individual contributor, you will be part of a 4-5 teams where at least one of them is located abroad. You need to be flexible to run multiple teams that work in different countries such as the US, India, Denmark, and China.
   
   What You Will Do
   Planning and executing projects in accordance with the defined stage-gate model. A hands-on, collaborative approach to managing a project. Be a visible and active part of the team. Prepare project development budgets including prototypes, samples, outside services, etc. Includes capital plans and Capital Authorization Requests. Develop control systems to monitor project progress and develop corrective actions to keep projects on track. Reporting to the PMO and presenting to management steering committee meetings. Employ negotiating skills to resolve intra and inter team conflicts. Develop and maintain project performance metrics including the publishing of reports and corrective action summaries. Updating budget with cost, used time and resources with support from the project controller if needed. Ongoing risk management evaluating the risk and taking the necessary actions. Work with an Agile and Waterfall Development Team. Need to be flexible to run multiple teams that work from different countries such as US, India, and China.
   
   What You'll Need
   Bachelor's degree or equivalent with a minimum of 5 years of Project Management experience. Experience running hardware projects. This includes managing a project through hardware design, schematic capture, layout/routing, PCB fabrication, multiple boards spins (alpha, beta, production), and hardware level testing and compliance. Experience running projects with mechanical engineering and managing 3rd party suppliers for local board builds and mechanical fabrication. Experience managing an embedded firmware team running Agile development methodology. Also, advanced knowledge of Jira, Confluence. Being able to report the status from Jira on progress, dependencies and etc. Develop Gantt schedules using MS-Project . Includes development of a WBS, resource allocations, costs, critical path generation and project tracking.
   
   What is Nice to Have
   PMP certification. Eazy BI practical knowledge
   
   What Makes You Eligible
   Be willing to travel up to 10% domestic and international travel. Be willing to work in an office in Richardson, TX. Successfully complete a background investigation and drug screen as a condition of employment
   
   What We Offer
   Competitive wellness benefits and 401K retirement plan. An inclusive and diverse work environment that fosters and encourages career development opportunities. Flexible work schedule with a culture encouraging work-life integration. On-site opportunities to focus on personal well-being and development provided by our Wellness Committee, Volunteer Committee, and Harman Women's Network. Professional development opportunities through HARMAN University's business and leadership academies and extensive course catalog. Opportunity to collaborate with talented teams across the world. Participate in the "Be Brilliant" Recognition Program. Access to employee discounts on world-class HARMAN products (JBL, Harman/Kardon, etc.)
   
   #LI-EC1
   
   HARMAN is an Equal Opportunity /Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race,color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin,disability or Protected Veterans status. HARMAN offers a great work environment, challenging career opportunities, professional training and competitive compensation. (www.harman.com)

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find project engineering managers 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 project engineering managers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level project engineering managers 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 project engineering manager job on Zippia to find and recruit project engineering manager candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit project engineering managers, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   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 project engineering manager

   Once you've decided on a perfect project engineering manager 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 important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new project engineering manager. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

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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