How to hire a technical design engineer

How to hire a technical design engineer, step by step

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

What does a technical design engineer do?

Post a technical design engineer job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the technical design engineer you need to hire. Certain technical design engineer roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   A technical design engineer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, technical design engineers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   The following list breaks down different types of technical design engineers and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Technical Design Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Technical Design Engineer	Mechanical engineering is one of the broadest engineering disciplines. Mechanical engineers design, develop, build, and test mechanical and thermal sensors and devices, including tools, engines, and machines.	$23-55
   Engineering Technician	An Engineering Technician's duties vary according to the industry or company, whether mechanical, industrial, civil, agricultural, or more. However, most of the time, the responsibilities often revolve around resolving technical issues, working with and assisting Engineers in building, assembling, designing, gathering and testing data, and conducting more manual activities... Show more	$17-46
   Design Technician	A design technician's role revolves around conducting extensive research and analysis to determine a company's needs. The technician will develop system plans and collaborate with fellow technicians and engineers... Show more	$17-50

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Design Drawings
   • Windows
   • Infrastructure
   • GIS
   • Control Systems
   • UL
   • Architectural Drawings
   • Technical Support
   • Solidworks
   • Data Collection
   • RF
   • Construction Drawings
   • Technical Drawings
   • Auto CAD

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Implement safety and quality standards to attain the ISO certification.
   • Used Solidworks to design test and production assembly fixtures.
   • Render images for the web site and trade show display in SolidWorks.
   • Work are performed to the ANSI Y14.5 geometric dimensioning and tolerance standard.
   • Serve as interface engineer between ComEd and A/E firms (Sargent & Lundy / Bechtel).
   • Experience in specification writing, installation scheduling, and produce drawings in architectural, HVAC and electrical disciplines.

   More technical design engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your technical design engineer job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A technical design engineer salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a technical design engineer in Montana may be lower than in California, and an entry-level technical design engineer usually earns less than a senior-level technical design engineer. Additionally, a technical design engineer with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average technical design engineer salary

   $75,599yearly

   $36.35 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level technical design engineer salary

   $49,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average technical design engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$120,477	$58
   2	Massachusetts	$95,341	$46
   3	Maryland	$93,083	$45
   4	Washington	$89,594	$43
   5	Virginia	$88,148	$42
   6	Pennsylvania	$86,969	$42
   7	New York	$85,532	$41
   8	Indiana	$82,336	$40
   9	Iowa	$81,222	$39
   10	New Jersey	$79,952	$38
   11	Ohio	$79,253	$38
   12	Illinois	$75,212	$36
   13	Arizona	$74,414	$36
   14	North Carolina	$73,845	$36
   15	Georgia	$73,057	$35
   16	Louisiana	$72,861	$35
   17	Texas	$70,615	$34
   18	Nevada	$70,118	$34
   19	Florida	$69,826	$34
   20	Oklahoma	$64,004	$31

   Average technical design engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Western Digital	$139,493	$67.06	34
   2	Amazon	$128,519	$61.79	617
   3	Hartzell Propeller	$124,861	$60.03
   4	KLA	$113,118	$54.38	51
   5	QC HOLDINGS	$104,027	$50.01
   6	Capgemini	$98,704	$47.45	103
   7	NBCUniversal	$96,058	$46.18	30
   8	Tesla	$93,196	$44.81	1
   9	Terex	$90,838	$43.67	5
   10	Morgan Stanley	$89,308	$42.94	23
   11	The Aerospace Corporation	$89,069	$42.82	17
   12	Cummins	$88,302	$42.45	22
   13	Boeing	$88,123	$42.37	320
   14	Blue Origin	$87,741	$42.18	221
   15	Cardinal Health	$87,618	$42.12	649
   16	Exelon	$83,750	$40.26	33
   17	L3Harris	$80,699	$38.80	116
   18	Sam	$80,531	$38.72
   19	Black & Veatch	$79,841	$38.39	192
   20	ILC Dover	$79,213	$38.08

4. Writing a technical design engineer job description

   A technical design 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. To help get you started, here's an example of a technical design engineer job description:

   Technical design engineer job description example

   CDG Engineers, Inc. is looking to add a design technologies expert to their St. Louis, MO office. CDG is a multi-discipline consulting engineering firm headquartered in St. Louis. The firm has approximately 80 personnel with capabilities in civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, and architectural disciplines primarily servicing the fields of infrastructure, power, mining, industrial, and agriculture. CDG is known for solving some of the most complex problems in challenging environments and our staff is expected to regularly engage in high level problem solving to enable our clients to be successful.
   We offer
   
   * Competitive salary
   * Bi-annual bonuses
   * Medical / Dental / Vision / Life / Disability / 401k + Up to 6% Match
   * Advancement opportunities
   * Ownership opportunities
   * Compensation or paid time off for extra hours worked
   * Work schedule flexibility / Remote work opportunities / Work-Life balance
   
   Job Description
   
   CDG's Design Technology Department is dedicated to helping our engineers and designers with Revit, AutoCAD, Civil 3D, MicroStation, GeoPak/OpenRoads and other design software within our offices. We work with laser scanning, photogrammetry, and drones. We create renderings and animations and utilize virtual reality and augmented reality. The Design Technology Department spends half its time experimenting with potential software, making Revit families, AutoCAD blocks, custom menus, and implementing other tools to help our engineers and designers work more efficiently and to better communicate our designs with our clients. The other half of the time is spent on project work helping with overflow from other departments. It's a CAD/BIM tech geek's dream job.
   
   The preferred candidate must be able to learn quickly, figure things out on their own, be creative, be willing to tackle challenging issues, and work with little supervision. Knowing how to code and/or use MicroStation is a plus. Dynamo, AutoLISP, Python, SQL, and/or .net knowledge can be a valuable asset to all departments.
   
   Job Requirements
   
   * Proficient in Revit and/or Microstation.
   * Programming experience is preferred.
   * Knowledge with Dynamo, AutoLISP, Python, SQL and/or .net is a plus.
   * Must be a creative, quick learner who can work independently
   * Excellent oral and written communications skills.
   * Must be able to demonstrate that s/he can perform all of the essential functions of the position.
   
   CDG Engineers offers a competitive salary and excellent benefits package. CDG Engineers is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, gender, disability, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right technical design engineer for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with technical design engineers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit technical design engineers who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your technical design engineer job on Zippia to find and recruit technical design engineer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit technical design 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.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you 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 technical design engineer

   Once you've found the technical design engineer candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new technical design 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

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a technical design engineer?