Metallurgical Engineer

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Metallurgical Engineer researches, tests and processes the metals used to produce industrial products. Researches products, develops metallurgical engineering processes and manages tests of materials and industrial processes.

Job Outlook

There were 17 Metallurgical Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 1438 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Materials Engineer industry, which includes the Metallurgical Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:

Salary

Many new Metallurgical Engineer jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $104,012.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $88,333.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Metallurgical Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $91,431.

Education and Experience

Posted Metallurgical Engineer jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education Level	Percentage
Associate's Degree	0%
Bachelor's Degree	76.22%
Master's Degree	19.89%
Doctoral Degree	8.83%
Other	4.94%

Posted Metallurgical Engineer jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of Experience	Percentage
0 to 2 years	32.76%
3 to 5 years	50.52%
6 to 8 years	8.59%
9+ years	8.13%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Metallurgical Engineer positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

Communication (38.6%)
Operations (37.27%)
Problem Solving (36.16%)
Research (22.18%)
Management (20.65%)
Writing (17.32%)
Microsoft Excel (15.79%)
Leadership (15.65%)
Verbal Communication Skills (13.35%)
Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (13%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

Materials Science (48.39%)
Metallurgical Engineering (43.22%)
Metallurgy (95.31%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

Sample Preparation (7.48%)
Laboratory Equipment (8.67%)
Materials Engineering (13.43%)
Data Analysis (8.6%)
Quality Management Systems (8.95%)
Housekeeping (7.13%)
Procurement (2.38%)
Continuous Improvement Process (20.35%)
Chemical Engineering (16.08%)
Forging (11.33%)
Metal Heat Treatments (12.66%)
Process Engineering (7.55%)
Oil and Gas (5.66%)
Grinding (4.76%)
Manufacturing Processes (11.33%)
Mills (4.69%)
Chemistry (13.64%)
Auditing (14.13%)
Accounting (4.06%)
Casting (12.94%)
Search Engine Marketing (8.18%)
Hardness Tests (8.04%)
Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) (4.62%)
Cost Reduction (3.57%)
Laboratory Testing (7.9%)
Failure Analysis (12.24%)
Project Management (11.47%)
Mechanical Engineering (8.18%)
Process Optimization (7.55%)
Production Process (10.14%)
New Product Development (15.87%)
Statistical Process Controls (7.41%)
Environment Health And Safety (6.92%)
Process Improvement (15.1%)
Export Control (8.11%)

Distinguishing Skills

A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.

Metallography (7.27%)
Microhardness Testing (4.83%)

Salary Boosting Skills

A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.

Materials Science (73.46%)
Metallurgical Engineering (65.61%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Metallurgical Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

Metallurgist
Process Metallurgist
Metallurgical Technician
Metallurgy Intern
Metallurgical Engineering Intern
Plant Metallurgist
Product Metallurgist
Chief Metallurgist
Metallurgical Intern

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Metallurgical Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

Freeport-McMoRan (59)
Barrick Gold Corporation (51)
Nevada Gold Mines (42)
Precision Castparts (39)
Randstad (31)
Nucor (25)
Carpenter Technology (21)
Caterpillar (18)
Blue Origin (18)
Element Materials Technology (18)

North Carolina

Atlantic Teleconnect (4)
Siemens Energy (2)
ATI (2)
Element Materials Technology (2)
Saab Metech Ab (2)
Flowserve (1)
Nucor (1)
Crawford Thomas (1)
Nucor Steel Hertford (1)
Bosch (1)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!

Materials Science and Engineering Graduate Certificates

All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.

Engineering