project engineer.

While the specific responsibilities of project engineers differ across various industry sectors, some common tasks include:

• planning and coordinating projects: you coordinate projects in the mining, construction or manufacturing industries by bringing together all aspects of production. You assemble teams to work on the project, create a budget and prepare a timeline. Planning and coordinating require meetings with relevant stakeholders to determine the project phase and how to ensure its success.
• interpreting project specifications: you review project proposals and plans and use them to determine the construction methods and materials. Some project engineers draft project specifications and draw up plans or designs, while others are experts in reviewing the specifications. You direct site labour and establish detailed procedures for coordinating manufacturing or construction activities from the specifications. The plans also assist in coordinating the delivery of materials and equipment.
• maintaining quality control: as a project engineer, your job involves implementing processes to maintain quality control throughout the project. For instance, you ensure the teams are well suited for their roles and regularly monitor personnel performance and efficiency. You also set the standards for maintaining quality control.
• ensuring compliance with regulations: project engineers are responsible for the activities on a worksite. Hence, you establish rules and regulations to promote the safety and security of workers. You also monitor adherence to the safety standards to keep the team members safe and ensure high-quality production processes and project outcomes.
• reviewing engineering deliverables: you oversee the entire project to ensure the technical specifications are met. That involves monitoring design changes and making necessary adjustments to accommodate new client requirements. When the design changes, you assess the impact on the project's timeline and costs. Since you regularly review engineering deliverables, you initiate corrective actions when a project doesn't meet the required standards.
• reporting: you submit regular reports to the management on the status of projects. In the report, you recommend potential alterations to the current plan to meet the delivery timeline or improve quality.

A project engineer works in various industries, from government agencies to construction and mining industries. Hence, the work environment differs depending on your business sector. For instance, in manufacturing industries, project engineers coordinate work processes in production facilities, which involves working on production floors. The work environment is usually indoors in climate-controlled buildings and may require using safety equipment like protective clothing. In construction and mining, you coordinate work processes outdoors. These work environments expose you to dust and can be noisy. The role may involve working in an office setup during the planning stage and travelling to the worksites to supervise the project teams.

Depending on your employer and the industry you work in, your colleagues might include project managers, construction managers and architects. You might also be working close to civil engineers, data engineers, cost estimators, and other specialists that could include, but not be limited to, quantity surveyors, mechanical fitters and chemical engineers.

You work over 40 hours a week as a project engineer when you have a full-time schedule. However, some projects provide flexible timelines allowing you to work less than 40 hours weekly. While most project engineers work regular business hours, sometimes the role requires working overtime, including weekends and evenings. Project engineers usually rush to beat time constraints when a deadline is looming. Sometimes, you also meet with clients outside regular business hours to update them on a project's status. Most project engineers work full-time since part-time opportunities are rare. However, some work on short-term contracts.

Project engineering is a promising career in Australia, with a projected job growth rate of 13.7% within five years. The role also offers opportunities for career progression depending on the industry sector. For instance, project engineers can become project managers before progressing to construction management and other specialised construction roles. Some project engineers improve their education and become civil or manufacturing engineers. In manufacturing, you can become a factory manager or production manager. 

Finding your project engineer job through Randstad provides essential benefits such as:

• a wide variety of training and development opportunities
• an experienced contact person to provide help if needed
• a range of opportunities in your area
• get paid weekly or monthly, depending on the job
• temporary and permanent contracts

Want a permanent contract? A temporary job as a project engineer is often a stepping stone to an attractive permanent job. Thousands of people earn a permanent contract with great employers every year thanks to a temporary job found through Randstad. What's more, many companies recruit their permanent employees through Randstad too.

As a project engineer, you organise, oversee and plan construction or manufacturing projects. You are in charge of all aspects of a project and assist the project manager in meeting the engineering and technical specifications.

You bring technical knowledge and engineering science to construction or manufacturing projects as a project engineer. Your job is to ensure the team understands the technical specifications and meets the quality standards.

A project engineer requires an engineering degree and postgraduate education in project management. Most employers also prefer candidates with work experience.

A successful project engineer has a range of skills, including organisational skills, confident decision-making abilities and project management skills. Communication skills are also crucial for explaining design ideas.

Applying for a project engineer job is easy: create a Randstad profile and search our project engineer job offers. Then simply send us your CV and cover letter. Need help with your application? Check out all our job search tips here.