Post job

How to hire a senior production engineer

Senior production engineer hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring senior production engineers in the United States:

  • There are a total of 12,037 senior production engineers in the US, and there are currently 94,542 job openings in this field.
  • The median cost to hire a senior production engineer is $1,633.
  • Small businesses spend $1,105 per senior production engineer on training each year, while large companies spend $658.
  • It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
  • It takes approximately 12 weeks for a new employee to reach full productivity levels.
  • HR departments typically allocate 15% of their budget towards recruitment efforts.
  • San Francisco, CA, has the highest demand for senior production engineers, with 7 job openings.

How to hire a senior production engineer, step by step

To hire a senior production engineer, you should clearly understand the skills and experience you are looking for in a candidate, and allocate a budget for the position. You will also need to post and promote the job opening to reach potential candidates. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to hire a senior production engineer:

Here's a step-by-step senior production engineer hiring guide:

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

What does a senior production engineer do?

A senior production engineer supervises and improves plant and factory production. They manage engineering teams, update the manager about various issues, create safety protocols, and draw up strategies to enhance profit and production efficiency. Besides overseeing the production processes and ensuring the engineering teams perform quality work, senior production engineers also work hand-in-hand with other engineers to draw up programs that enhance the required labor, costs, and production. Moreover, these professionals identify, document, and report unsafe practices.

Learn more about the specifics of what a senior production engineer does
jobs
Post a senior production engineer job for free, promote it for a fee
  1. Identify your hiring needs

    Before you start hiring a senior production engineer, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

    Determine employee vs contractor status
    Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

    Hiring the perfect senior production engineer 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.

    Here's a comparison of senior production engineer salaries for various roles:

    Type of Senior Production EngineerDescriptionHourly rate
    Senior Production EngineerIndustrial engineers find ways to eliminate wastefulness in production processes. They devise efficient systems that integrate workers, machines, materials, information, and energy to make a product or provide a service.$40-74
    Packaging EngineerA Packaging Engineer plans and implements packaging designs to ensure product integrity and appeal. Their primary duties include supervising and managing the complete packaging development process, analyzing engineering drawings, and conducting periodic vendor reviews.$31-56
    EngineerEngineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects... Show more$31-62
  2. Create an ideal candidate profile

    Common skills:
    • Continuous Improvement
    • Technical Support
    • SR
    • Lean Manufacturing
    • Process Improvement
    • Sigma
    • Process Control
    • Product Quality
    • Troubleshoot
    • Production Operations
    • ISO
    • Production Lines
    • Process Engineering
    • Production Processes
    Check all skills
    Responsibilities:
    • Participate and lead process hazard reviews (DSR/PSSR) and management of change (MOC) initiatives.
    • Design manufacturing processes and manage layouts of manufacturing plants, tools, jigs, and assembly lines.
    • Implement a KANBAN system for manufacturing which reduce wasteful production activities and achieve labor reductions.
    • Release production jobs from ERP system.
    • Design and prepare Mensa-4 completion including the AFE.
    • Preform QA testing of hardware and software systems.
    More senior production engineer duties
  3. Make a budget

    Including a salary range in your senior production engineer job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A senior production engineer can vary based on:

    • Location. For example, senior production engineers' average salary in wisconsin is 37% less than in california.
    • Seniority. Entry-level senior production engineers 45% less than senior-level senior production engineers.
    • Certifications. A senior production engineer with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
    • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a senior production engineer's salary.

    Average senior production engineer salary

    $115,075yearly

    $55.32 hourly rate

    Entry-level senior production engineer salary
    $85,000 yearly salary
    Updated January 19, 2026

    Average senior production engineer salary by state

    RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
    1California$147,684$71
    2Washington$138,779$67
    3New Mexico$137,613$66
    4Texas$129,906$62
    5Arizona$129,691$62
    6Colorado$120,343$58
    7Nevada$115,471$56
    8Massachusetts$113,801$55
    9New York$107,586$52
    10North Dakota$105,092$51
    11Minnesota$104,756$50
    12Florida$102,455$49
    13Georgia$101,873$49
    14Alaska$94,954$46
    15Wisconsin$90,028$43
    16Missouri$89,826$43

    Average senior production engineer salary by company

    RankCompanyAverage salaryHourly rateJob openings
    1Ep Energy$148,473$71.38
    2Apple$145,212$69.81188
    3The Walt Disney Company$143,491$68.9939
    4Instabase$136,041$65.40
    5BP America Inc$133,612$64.246
    6MAC Cosmetics$133,029$63.96
    7Snowflake Computing$132,551$63.731
    8Genesys$132,180$63.55
    9Aramco Services Company$129,846$62.438
    10Chime$127,872$61.48
    11ServiceNow$126,982$61.056
    12Yahoo$125,727$60.45
    13TIBCO Software$124,698$59.95
    14The Washington Post$124,439$59.832
    15Broadridge$124,416$59.8213
    16Marathon Oil$124,146$59.69
    17Dixie Chemical$123,576$59.41
    18ConocoPhillips$122,932$59.104
    19Roblox$122,622$58.952
    20WebMD$122,316$58.81
  4. Writing a senior production engineer job description

    A job description for a senior production engineer role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a senior production engineer job description:

    Senior production engineer job description example

    Production & Systems Engineer coordinates with production, designs and maintains broadcast workflow for both studio and live remotes. The SPSE is an experienced television engineer who supports live studio productions, all postproduction workflows, and infrastructure upgrades. This individual is responsible for installing and maintaining video, audio, and other equipment associated with television broadcasting. An important component of the network's programming is the integration of over 2000 hours of live feeds from around the world. A large portion of our live events occur during the early morning or overnight shifts with a heavy concentration of activity Fridays through Sundays.
    Responsibilities include but are not limited to:
    Performs preventive maintenance and/or troubleshooting on a large variety of computer and electronic devices in-house or at remote locations; including but not limited to video equipment and/or audio switching equipment, processing and monitoring equipment, HD cameras, Fiber/ copper encoding, decoding and streaming equipment. Maintains broadcast computer-based equipment software, hardware, and local area network applications on systems throughout the production facility. Trains and mentors Engineering team on Production Control rooms and Master Control. Responds to trouble calls with broadcast or computer equipment (sometimes after normal business hours). Keeps software versions up to date, ensures software license compliance and follows all corporate directives for IT security. Demonstrates consistently a high standard of Engineering practices including observes OSHA safety rules, installs new equipment using CAD drawings and elevations, intuitive cable management and labeling, submits updates to Engineering documentation, and creates user SOP's. Assists and advises in planning of future equipment installations, requirements, and budgetary recommendations. Maintains flexible hours during live remotes throughout the year. May be required to travel to different remote locations throughout the year to support our remote productions
    Qualifications:
    Minimum 5 years of experience in broadcast television Strong leadership and exceptional communication skills 21st century skill set, a great team-oriented attitude and a dedication to quality Knowledge of live studio and remote workflows relating to live broadcasts, including signal delivery systems. Experience designing and installing remote and studio equipment to improve workflows

    Join the exciting world of Live Broadcasting and Digital Media. Tennis Channel is a 24-hour broadcast television and online streaming network dedicated to both the sport and the lifestyle of Tennis. Bally Sports West is home to wide-ranging world of sports based on the west coast.

    Tennis Channel Inc and Bally Sports. are part of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sinclair Broadcast Group and Sinclair Digital Solutions are dedicated to making Sinclair a communications powerhouse! We are the largest and most diversified television broadcasting company in the country. Sinclair owns and operates, programs or provides services to more television stations than anyone and has affiliations with all major networks. Sinclair Digital group is focused on bringing the most engaging content to web, mobile and over-the-top broadcasting to audiences all over the country! Our success is the result of extraordinary employees and an exemplary management team who believe in a vision and are dedicated ensuring a great future for our employees. Whether you are an industry veteran or a just starting out, you can find it at Sinclair! We are advancing the world of Broadcasting and we want YOU to join our winning team!

    Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and Drug Free Workplace!

    About Us

    Make your mark in Media with Sinclair Broadcast Group, a diversified media company dedicated to connecting people with content everywhere! We have consistently led the broadcast industry since our inception, and now Sinclair owns the largest regional sports network business and one of the largest television broadcast portfolios in the country. In addition, we have affiliations with all of the major broadcast networks, own Tennis Channel, and several multicast networks including TBD and Comet. Our content is distributed over-the-air, on multi-video providers, and through our industry-leading digital media platforms. We also recently launched a free TV streaming service called STIRR. Our success is the direct result of our extraordinary employees and management team who believe in our vision and are dedicated to ensuring a great future for our employees. We are advancing the world of Media and want YOU to join our winning team!

    About the Team

    The life-blood of our organization is our people. We have a compelling story, a goal-oriented culture, and we take really good care of people. How good? Here is a glimpse: great benefits, open door policy, upward mobility and a strong desire to see you succeed. Ready to be part of a winning team? Let's talk.
  5. Post your job

    To find senior production engineers 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 senior production engineers they would recommend.
    • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level senior production engineers 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 senior production engineer job on Zippia to find and recruit senior production engineer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
    • Use field-specific websites.
    • Post a job on free websites.
  6. Interview candidates

    To successfully recruit senior production engineers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

    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 senior production engineer

    Once you've decided on a perfect senior production engineer 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 equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

    Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new senior production engineer. 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.)
    Sign up to download full list

How much does it cost to hire a senior production engineer?

Before you start to hire senior production engineers, it pays to consider both the one-off costs like recruitment, job promotion, and onboarding, as well as the ongoing costs of an employee's salary and benefits. While most companies that hire senior production engineers pay close attention to the initial cost of hiring, ongoing costs are much more significant in the long run.

You can expect to pay around $115,075 per year for a senior production engineer, as this is the median yearly salary nationally. This can vary depending on what state or city you're hiring in. If you're hiring for contract work or on a per-project basis, hourly rates for senior production engineers in the US typically range between $40 and $74 an hour.

Find better senior production engineers in less time
Post a job on Zippia and hire the best from over 7 million monthly job seekers.

Hiring senior production engineers FAQs

Search for senior production engineer jobs

Ready to start hiring?

Browse architecture and engineering jobs