What does a structural designer do?

A Structural Designer designs, develops, and supervises the construction of new buildings and bridges, or extensions to existing properties or other structures. They review and update construction drawings as well as communicate project problems and flaws to managers.
Structural designer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real structural designer resumes:
- Field route pipe systems; manage line and pipe support list; ISO s for fabrication / installation.
- Assure compliance with refinery and OSHA safety requirements in selecting, locating and hookup of equipment.
- Develop record system, QA & QC policies and procedures, peer review system to reduce installation errors.
- Provide general arrangement, detail, and design drawings of ladders, platforms, and frame structure for the following projects.
- Prepare AutoCAD engineering drawings of structural components for natural gas turbine compressor stations.
- Programme PLC, VFD and SCADA equipment.
- Prepare PFD's for scope of work to be review by client.
- Know ASTM A185, ASTM A53, ASTM A307, ASTM A325.
- Follow the IBC, OSHA, ASCE code and AISC manual in all calculations.
- Work complete on AutoCAD and SolidWorks.
- Work on projects for BP and ConocoPhillips.
- Used GPS equipment to gather utility data.
- Provide supervision of nuclear inspectors and client contract QA.
- Utilize SolidWorks software to layout and develop concepts for structure.
- Provide detail sketch of structural steel and concrete for drafting.
Structural designer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 14% of Structural Designers are proficient in Revit, Structural Design, and BIM. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Business skills, and Writing skills.
We break down the percentage of Structural Designers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Revit, 14%
Used REVIT and STRUCALC (Structural Steel Design Class)
- Structural Design, 10%
Finished satisfactorily graduate-level structural design projects.
- BIM, 5%
Develop and coordinate BIM Models and content across architectural and engineering disciplines.
- Navisworks, 5%
Viewed projects using NavisWorks to locate potential issues.
- Ladders, 4%
Design Draftsman: Design and Details of Ladders and Platforms for Heat Transfer Towers.
- Engineering Design, 4%
Provided civil engineering design and management of project for a private customer.
Common skills that a structural designer uses to do their job include "revit," "structural design," and "bim." You can find details on the most important structural designer responsibilities below.
Problem-solving skills. Another skill commonly found on structural designer job descriptions is "problem-solving skills." It can come up quite often in structural designer duties, since "civil engineers may encounter problems during each stage of their work." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day structural designer responsibilities: "coached other team members on use of catia functions, producibility, design solutions"
The three companies that hire the most structural designers are:
- Burns & McDonnell13 structural designers jobs
- Hargrove Engineers + Constructors13 structural designers jobs
- Stantec10 structural designers jobs
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Structural designer vs. Civil engineering internship
Civil engineer interns work to improve their knowledge about construction and its relevant works. An internship provides them insight into various aspects of construction and how things run at the site. Through an internship, they learn how to differentiate between reality and engineering. Civil engineering interns will typically perform various tasks, including preparing and monitoring documents, working closely with the civil engineer to resolve issues and review complaints, and preparing plans and maps. They are also expected to visit construction sites to do their planning, quality control, documentation, and site execution.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between structural designers and civil engineering internship. For instance, structural designer responsibilities require skills such as "bim," "navisworks," "ladders," and "steel structures." Whereas a civil engineering internship is skilled in "gis," "roadway design," "construction management," and "cost estimates." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Civil engineering interns earn the highest salaries when working in the construction industry, with an average yearly salary of $65,780. On the other hand, structural designers are paid more in the construction industry with an average salary of $69,802.The education levels that civil engineering interns earn slightly differ from structural designers. In particular, civil engineering interns are 2.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a structural designer. Additionally, they're 2.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Structural designer vs. Autocad drafter
An Autocad Drafter develops drawings and plans for the construction and manufacturing industries. They use various types of computer-aided design and drafting software.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that structural designer responsibilities requires skills like "structural design," "bim," "navisworks," and "ladders." But an autocad drafter might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "layout drawings," "gis," "gps," and "windows."
Autocad drafters earn a lower average salary than structural designers. But autocad drafters earn the highest pay in the government industry, with an average salary of $45,111. Additionally, structural designers earn the highest salaries in the construction with average pay of $69,802 annually.autocad drafters earn similar levels of education than structural designers in general. They're 1.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Structural designer vs. Office engineer
The duties of an office engineer depend on one's place or industry of employment. Their responsibilities typically revolve around providing technical and clerical support to the workforce, coordinating different parties involved in a project or program, and implementing the company's policies and regulations. Moreover, as an office engineer, it is essential to produce progress reports and presentations, maintain accurate data and records of all transactions, manage schedules, perform maintenance checks, and address issues and concerns, providing corrective measures promptly and efficiently.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from structural designer resumes include skills like "revit," "structural design," "bim," and "navisworks," whereas an office engineer is more likely to list skills in "construction management," "construction sites," "construction projects," and "primavera. "
Office engineers earn the best pay in the retail industry, where they command an average salary of $85,905. Structural designers earn the highest pay from the construction industry, with an average salary of $69,802.When it comes to education, office engineers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to structural designers. In fact, they're 1.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Structural designer vs. Civil engineer
A civil engineer designs and supervises the construction of large-scale public works projects such as buildings, roads, tunnels, highways, airports, bridges, dams, and other substantial infrastructure. Most civil engineers work in the private industry, but some work for a government organization. Their output is almost everywhere. Many of them specialize in a specific project or practice a target profession such as in transportation, structural engineering, or geotechnical engineering. They oftentimes work at project sites, as they monitor the ongoing construction.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between structural designers and civil engineers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a structural designer might have more use for skills like "revit," "bim," "navisworks," and "ladders." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of civil engineers require skills like "cost estimates," "construction projects," "engineering projects," and "site development. "
In general, civil engineers earn the most working in the construction industry, with an average salary of $76,163. The highest-paying industry for a structural designer is the construction industry.civil engineers reach higher levels of education compared to structural designers, in general. The difference is that they're 5.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of structural designer
Updated January 8, 2025











