How to hire a senior tooling engineer

How to hire a senior tooling engineer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step senior tooling 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 tooling engineer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new senior tooling engineer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The senior tooling engineer hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a senior tooling engineer to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a senior tooling engineer that fits the bill.

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

   Type of Senior Tooling Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Tooling Engineer	Industrial 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.	$43-75
   Process Engineer	A Process Engineer is responsible for coming up with innovative ways to process particular raw materials into different kinds of products. They can also modify various existing machines or maintain their quality by monitoring its functions and conducting tests and examinations... Show more	$29-51
   Product Engineer	A product engineer specializes in designing and developing commercial materials and services. They are primarily responsible for conducting thorough research and analysis of the latest trends and marketing conditions to come up with new ideas and products for the public... Show more	$32-56

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Solidworks
   • CAD
   • Debugging
   • Java
   • Project Management
   • SR
   • Jenkins
   • Lean Manufacturing
   • Continuous Integration
   • Sigma
   • ISO
   • Product Design
   • DFM
   • Confluence

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage multiple crews for installation, implementation and service of RF and telecommunications systems throughout Florida.
   • Install Jenkins and perform troubleshooting during installation to implement the CI process for the java application builds.
   • Design composite bond jigs, and master models for various aircraft structures.
   • Direct all initiatives relate to CNC department and overhaul the entire CNC part manufacturing process.
   • Oversee the use of CNC grinding, machining, lathe and other operations by in-house personnel.
   • Design various assembly jigs and component manufacturing tools to assemble internal frames, bulkheads, longerons, stringers & wing spars.

   More senior tooling engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the senior tooling engineer job description is a good way to get more applicants. A senior tooling engineer salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a senior tooling engineer in Wisconsin may be lower than in Washington, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level senior tooling engineer. Additionally, a senior tooling engineer with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average senior tooling engineer salary

   $119,629yearly

   $57.51 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior tooling engineer salary

   $90,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 14, 2025

   Average senior tooling engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Washington	$154,489	$74
   2	California	$149,471	$72
   3	New Jersey	$141,042	$68
   4	Texas	$123,747	$59
   5	Connecticut	$121,809	$59
   6	Michigan	$120,917	$58
   7	Minnesota	$119,659	$58
   8	Utah	$115,865	$56
   9	Georgia	$113,325	$54
   10	New York	$110,592	$53
   11	Alabama	$108,213	$52
   12	North Carolina	$106,910	$51
   13	Oregon	$102,211	$49
   14	Arkansas	$96,343	$46
   15	Pennsylvania	$94,325	$45

   Average senior tooling engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Apple	$153,566	$73.83	65
   2	Netflix	$151,830	$73.00
   3	NVIDIA	$140,237	$67.42	3
   4	Amazon	$138,636	$66.65	112
   5	Walmart	$137,747	$66.22	25
   6	Algolia	$136,094	$65.43
   7	Roblox	$132,191	$63.55	2
   8	Aera Technology	$128,750	$61.90
   9	Shipt	$128,609	$61.83
   10	Warner Bros.	$127,693	$61.39
   11	Magic Leap	$127,692	$61.39	6
   12	Slack	$126,770	$60.95
   13	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$125,936	$60.55	14
   14	Salesforce	$125,225	$60.20	2
   15	Motion Recruitment	$124,982	$60.09	2
   16	Activision Blizzard	$124,791	$60.00	1
   17	ZeniMax Media	$124,667	$59.94
   18	Glu Mobile	$124,489	$59.85
   19	Electronic Arts	$123,963	$59.60
   20	Certain Affinity	$123,119	$59.19

4. Writing a senior tooling engineer job description

   A senior tooling engineer job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a senior tooling engineer job description:

   Senior tooling engineer job description example

   Netflix is building a new internal game studio to incubate and build a new class of hilarious, social party video games.
   
   This Game Tools Engineer will work with the Lead Engineer and a cross-discipline core team to rapidly prototype and iterate towards a new game vision, building confidence on a great game prototype to eventually bring to full production and available to Netflix members. The role is envisioned as one that will start as a core contributor for a small team to enable rapid prototyping, which is hoped to eventually graduate to a full product team as the game vision matures
   
   The ideal candidate should have a track record of accelerating teams ability to experiment with ideas via intuitive and effective tools in addition to enabling efficient content creation and development, and ideally have product and design sensibilities that inform ideating and implementing these tools - especially during the rapid prototyping phase of product development.
   
   You'll be joining a small, scrappy team with big ambitions, and an obsession to create memorable game moments that leave players telling their own stories for years to come. We're looking for new teammates who care deeply about the experiences they create and the people they make them with. Those who bias towards action and are energized by the learning that comes with bold experimentation at an agile pace. As a part of Netflix, we strive to hire the best and value integrity, excellence, respect, inclusion, and collaboration.
   
   ResponsibilitiesGame tools development: Work hands-on with a small core, cross-functional team to ideate, plan, design and build tools that accelerate the prototyping of couch and multiplayer social game concepts, in a fast paced, iterative environment that will eventually graduate to a live game. Work closely with lead engineer and designer understanding the goals and needs that you are able to turn into tools that force multiply rapid prototyping and eventually production tools.
   
   Requirements5+ years experience as an game tools engineer Exceptional communication, cross-discipline collaboration skills Familiarity with multiple game engines, flexible across a broad tech base Experience with enabling and accelerating designers, artists, and engineers making video games, especially in a rapid, focused, smaller form vs multi-year investments. Example tools experience include but not limited to:Game mechanics development and iteration for non engineers Artist workflows for in engine works Timelines and sequencing tools (ie for in engine cutscenes and other uses) Build and release automation
   
   Bonus SkillsExperience building game tools for early or unfinished platforms Experience with tooling for rapid prototyping, with an emphasis with rapid learning Experience with tooling for sustainable development Familiarity with multiple game engine technologies such as Unity3D and UnrealEngine
   

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

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

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting senior tooling engineers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete 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 tooling engineer

   Once you've selected the best senior tooling engineer candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the 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.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new senior tooling engineer. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

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.)

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