How To Become A Senior Civil Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior civil engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Karen Panetta Ph.D.

The primary role of a senior civil engineer is to oversee the design and building of construction projects. Senior civil engineers are heavily involved in the planning process of projects, such as those encompassing roads and large buildings. They create budgets, review safety issues, conduct land surveys, and manage teams of surveyors, engineering technicians, and construction workers.

Senior civil engineers are also involved in the inspection of completed projects to ensure that all codes have been met, safety issues addressed, and that the job has met all specifications. They work mainly for construction companies, engineering firms, or government offices.

In most cases, a bachelor's in civil engineering is a requirement to land a job as a senior civil engineer. However, many employers also seek job candidates who hold a professional civil engineer certification or license.

As reported by the BLS, senior civil engineers earn a median annual salary of $83,540; those in the tenth percentile are paid a median annual salary of $53,470, and top earners make $132,880.

What general advice would you give to a senior civil engineer?

Karen Panetta Ph.D.

Dean of Graduate Education, School of Engineering, Tufts University

This is a different generation of graduates, and many employers are going to want to know how you dealt with and responded to the COVID crisis. The response to this tells so much about an individual's ability to deal with and overcome adversity. They seek innovative, upbeat, and definite answers that show that students are prepared for anything and will be resourceful.

They are also looking to see what personal actions and community involvement students participated in. For instance, online tutoring for kids whose parents needed help homeschooling their kids while they worked, or using their engineering skills to 3D print PPE for local nursing homes and other at-risk populations.

Every engineering student comes out with technical skills, but the ones that used them, and showed their compassion for humanity, will be the ones that companies will want to hire.

ScoreSenior Civil EngineerUS Average

Salary

6.5

Avg. Salary $83,749

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.30%

Asian 16.62%

Black or African American 3.73%

Hispanic or Latino 10.96%

Unknown 4.62%

White 63.77%

Gender

female 11.13%

male 88.87%

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 senior civil engineer

Explore senior civil engineer education requirements

Most common senior civil engineer degrees

Bachelor's

74.5 %

Master's

17.2 %

Associate

4.5 %

Start to develop specific senior civil engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Civil 3D	13.25%
Project Management	11.16%
CAD	4.51%
Construction Management	4.50%
Geotechnical	4.17%

Complete relevant senior civil engineer training and internships

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

Research senior civil engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage a geotechnical investigation that include determining boring locations and soliciting bids.
Analyze bridge structures for deficiencies following the AASHTO code using hand calculations and software.
Respond to RFI's and keep the daily logs and quantity book up to date.
Design bridges and other highway relate structures using PennDOT standards, and AASHTO policies and procedures.

Get senior civil engineer experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a senior civil engineer. The most common roles before becoming a senior civil engineer include civil engineer, project engineer team lead and project manager.

Prepare your senior civil engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior civil 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 senior civil 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 senior civil engineer resume templates

Build a professional senior civil 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 senior civil engineer resume.