Engineering
Process Engineer
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
Solves problems related to the manufacturing and use of products, including chemicals, fuel, food, and clothing. Designs new products, improves existing ones, or develops new processes for better use of existing materials. May specialize in a chemical engineering process, such as making plastics, or in an industry such as health care.
Job Outlook
There were 334 Process Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 8234 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Chemical / Process Engineer industry, which includes the Process Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2012:
Salary
Many new Process 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 $85,626.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $84,632.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Process Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $76,122.
Education and Experience
Posted Process 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 | 71% |
| Master's Degree | 27% |
| Doctoral Degree | 2% |
| Other | 0% |
Posted Process 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 | 23% |
| 3 to 5 years | 51% |
| 6 to 8 years | 13% |
| 9+ years | 13% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Process 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 Skills (42%)
- Problem Solving (33%)
- Troubleshooting (29%)
- Teamwork / Collaboration (22%)
- Research (16%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Process Engineering (72%)
- Chemical Engineering (29%)
- Manufacturing Processes (17%)
- Materials Science (12%)
- Statistical Process Control (SPC) (8%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Project Management (20%)
- Chemistry (14%)
- Six Sigma (12%)
- Experiments (12%)
- Mechanical Engineering (11%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Lean Manufacturing (6%)
- Design of experiments (DOE) (5%)
- Process Equipment (4%)
- Process Safety (4%)
- Failure Analysis (4%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Process Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Senior Process Engineer
- Process Engineer IV
- Process Engineer II
- Process Engineer I
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.
- Process Control Engineer
- Process Development Engineer
- Chemical Process Engineer
- Machining Process Engineer
- Welding Process Engineer
- Chemical Engineer
- Manufacturing Process Engineer
- Food Processing Engineer
- Automotive Process Engineer
- Molding Process Engineer
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Process Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Applied Materials (552)
- Northrop Grumman (163)
- Intel Corporation (79)
- General Motors (78)
- Raytheon (72)
North Carolina
- Cree, Inc. (16)
- Syngenta (14)
- Corning Incorporated (13)
- Applied Materials (7)
- Spear Group (4)
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!
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 Burning Glass Technologies. For more information about how they gather data and what it represents, see Burning Glass Technologies - Frequently Asked Questions.