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What is a project production engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Quoted expert
Thomas Junk Ph.D.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a project production engineer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $36.42 an hour? That's $75,746 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 30,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

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

Thomas Junk Ph.D.Thomas Junk Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Professor and Head, University of Louisiana at Lafayette

While this may not exactly answer your question, it is very important to start making connections and to network WELL BEFORE graduation. Internships, volunteer work, membership in professional organizations, leadership activities all help to land a job after graduation. It is very important to continue networking as much as possible. The only true job security is the ability to find another job - it is truly liberating because it enables you to say "no" to your boss, if necessary. Also, I noticed that many graduates do not take advantage of all possible avenues to find employers. It is important to have a good web presence and to sign up on sites such as LinkedIn.

I also highly recommend cultivating ties to one's former institution and college friends. Often, job openings are filled by word of mouth: companies looking for somebody with a specific skill set ask around. A company contacted me for the name of somebody I could recommend for a specific job, but I came to find out that the contact information that I had of the person I wanted to recommend was no longer valid.

It is important to have specific career goals. Many recent graduates and fresh hires let their careers "drift" and have no idea where they want to be ten years from now. Also, always keep looking for jobs! Few jobs are so good that it is impossible to find a better one.
ScoreProject Production EngineerUS Average
Salary
5.9

Avg. Salary $75,746

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 14.26%

Black or African American 4.63%

Hispanic or Latino 11.37%

Unknown 3.93%

White 65.64%

Gender

female 21.77%

male 78.23%

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

Project production engineer career paths

Key steps to become a project production engineer

  1. Explore project production engineer education requirements

    Most common project production engineer degrees

    Bachelor's

    79.1 %

    Master's

    10.0 %

    Associate

    6.5 %
  2. Start to develop specific project production engineer skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Production Processes7.85%
    Capital Projects6.98%
    Production Management6.23%
    PLC6.15%
    Project Management6.13%
  3. Complete relevant project production engineer training and internships

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

    • Lead work cells to become a team; Harmonize/unite/motivate assembly personnel using Kaizen approach.
    • Coordinate materials management and inventory, personnel, OSHA standards and meeting manufacturing schedule commitments in an ISO certify facility.
    • Plan and purchase network of engineering UNIX workstations.
    • Develop UNIX shell script (batch files) to increase the productivity of the programmers.
  5. Prepare your project production engineer resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your project production 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 project production 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 project production engineer resume templates

    Build a professional project production 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 project production engineer resume.
    Project Production Engineer Resume
    Project Production Engineer Resume
    Project Production Engineer Resume
    Project Production Engineer Resume
    Project Production Engineer Resume
    Project Production Engineer Resume
    Project Production Engineer Resume
    Project Production Engineer Resume
    Project Production Engineer Resume
  6. Apply for project production engineer jobs

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

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

How did you land your first project production engineer job

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Average project production engineer salary

The average project production engineer salary in the United States is $75,746 per year or $36 per hour. Project production engineer salaries range between $56,000 and $101,000 per year.

Average project production engineer salary
$75,746 Yearly
$36.42 hourly

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How do project production engineers rate their job?

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Project production engineer reviews

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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.


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A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2019
Pros

Schedules my co worker where to work each day and making sure the process is flowing with the machines, materials and the needed information to make the products and service come out right.

Cons

The pay grade is low keyed for the type of production we produce. Average salary is $78,540 dollars...


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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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