P3P3 — Mid-Level Professional
Research & Development / Engineering Project Engineer
Responsible for designing and developing new products or systems while ensuring that engineering tasks stay aligned with project goals for scope, schedule, and quality.
What this level means
Fully competent professional; works independently on standard projects
- Scope
- Features or a sub-system end-to-end
- Autonomy
- Works independently on standard work; reviewed on the non-standard
- Complexity
- Diverse problems; adapts existing approaches
- Impact
- Project / team outcomes
- Decision rights
- Owns implementation decisions for own scope
- Leadership
- Mentors juniors informally
- Typical experience
- 3–5 yrs
What you'd do
- Perform detailed engineering design for the project’s product or system
- Plan and coordinate technical activities within the project
- Lead the testing efforts to verify that the design meets all specifications and regulatory standards
- Maintain thorough technical documentation throughout the project
- Work closely with cross-functional colleagues to ensure the developing product will be successful beyond just the engineering bench
- Design engineering solutions
- Coordinate project activities
- Conduct product testing
- Document technical processes
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams
Skills, knowledge & tools
- Engineering design
- Project coordination
- Testing and verification
- Technical documentation
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Engineering principles
- Project management
- Regulatory standards
- Technical documentation processes
- Product development lifecycle
- Analytical mindset and creativity
- Attention to detail
- Time management and self-organization
What good looks like
- Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline relevant to the industry
- 3–6 years of hands-on experience in R&D or product development engineering
- A Master’s degree for deeper technical expertise
- Experience in a regulated design environment with exposure to design controls and compliance
Common titles
Research & Development / Engineering Project EngineerIndividual Contributor – Project-Focused
What it pays
Market-pay benchmarks for this family × level are being recalibrated across all survey sources and will return shortly.
O*NET / SOC: 15-0000 — Computer & Mathematical Occupations (inferred)