How To Become A Project Field Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a project field engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Mike Sessions,

Brian Denton Ph.D.

The Project Field Engineer is an engineering expert whose main responsibility is to create, oversee, and complete engineering and technical projects or processes required for the completion of a project.

They are often one of the main coordinators and managers of technical-heavy projects, orchestrating the entire teams and processes at once. Through cooperation with others, they draw up the parameters of the project, its goals, and its issues, and then they must ensure that all is done right on their side of the deal. The Engineer must stick close to deadlines and budgets and spend much time examining equipment and their employees' work and fixing issues as they come up. Of course, they must have a good understanding of engineering principles but also federal and state codes and laws and must abide by them at all times.

A good candidate for this position must also have a Bachelor's degree, at least, in Engineering or a similar subject, as well as licensing and several years of experience in the field and in project planning. They also must be proficient with certain engineering software and platforms and must be able to multitask and work under pressure.

What general advice would you give to a project field engineer?

Mike Sessions

Department Chair & Professor, Brigham Young University - Idaho

We noted some of the commercial contractors pulled back on hiring last semester, but all of them seem poised to hire about a typical number of graduates this semester. We also noted last semester that residential contractors increased hiring. As such, there were more openings last semester for graduates in residential than in commercial construction. We have not seen this dynamic since the great recession. Obviously, if the virus persists, and there is no vaccine, the virus will impact the economy, which will impact construction.

ScoreProject Field EngineerUS Average

Salary

5.6

Avg. Salary $71,292

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 11.21%

Black or African American 4.09%

Hispanic or Latino 11.97%

Unknown 4.72%

White 67.70%

Gender

female 8.95%

male 91.05%

Age - 39

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 - 39

Stress level

7.3

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 project field engineer

Explore project field engineer education requirements

Most common project field engineer degrees

Bachelor's

75.4 %

Associate

11.3 %

Master's

8.9 %

Start to develop specific project field engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Shop Drawings	9.59%
Project Management	8.65%
OSHA	7.32%
Construction Management	7.01%
Field Supervision	5.65%

Complete relevant project field engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New project field 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 project field engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real project field engineer resumes.

Research project field engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage work orders utilizing client's MAXIMO and BSL system.
Manage document control including change orders, billings, RFI tracking, purchasing documentation and contract administration.
Manage and/or participate in a variety of water and wastewater assist company principles as engineering consultants for numerous municipal clients.
Obtain and evaluate geotechnical data at project sites.

Prepare your project field engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your project field engineer resume.

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