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

What is a senior cost engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Kanton Reynolds Ph.D.

The average senior cost engineer salary is $86,004. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an business major. It usually takes 2-4 years of experience to become a senior cost engineer. Senior cost engineers with a Certified Cost Professional (CCP) certification earn more money. 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 senior cost engineer?

Dr. Kanton Reynolds Ph.D.

Director, Undergraduate Programs & Associate Teaching Professor, North Carolina State University

These are unusual times, so they require unusual responses to the prevailing circumstances. Think about other types of careers that do not necessarily align fully with how you envisioned leveraging your major in the workforce. For example, engineers may need to look at careers in services instead of design or development. Also, do not discount industries that are fundamental to our society like consumer-packaged goods as potential career options. Lastly, always seek ways to expand your skills and career footprint. Do not allow yourself to be siloed in a role or function that prevents you from responding to shifts in the marketplace with a corresponding skill set.

ScoreSenior Cost EngineerUS Average

Salary

6.7

Avg. Salary $86,004

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 10.66%

Black or African American 4.76%

Hispanic or Latino 11.69%

Unknown 3.95%

White 68.77%

Gender

female 18.62%

male 81.38%

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

Key steps to become a senior cost engineer

Explore senior cost engineer education requirements

Most common senior cost engineer degrees

Bachelor's

71.7 %

Master's

15.4 %

Associate

9.4 %

Start to develop specific senior cost engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Cost Engineering	8.99%
Construction Management	7.24%
Cost Analysis	7.17%
Cost Models	6.98%
Cost Estimates	5.40%

Complete relevant senior cost engineer training and internships

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

Research senior cost engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage retrofit projects for progressive stamping equipment.
Develop database to enable constant efficient update and improvement of WBS structure base on addition and deletion of project scope.
Provide WBS and integrate cost accounts with organizational structures.
Create logistic models to identify optimal international logistics to increase profitability with improve service to customers.

Get senior cost engineer experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a senior cost engineer. The most common roles before becoming a senior cost engineer include cost engineer, project controls engineer team lead and cost estimator.

Prepare your senior cost engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior cost engineer resume.

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