Career Overview: Within DoD contracting the hardware engineering career field is one of the most broad and exciting career fields to work in. People with degrees in Aerospace, Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical, Industrial, Nuclear engineering or Math and Physics degrees are highly sought after.
For people with Aerospace engineering degrees there are many jobs related to aircraft manufacturing and sustainment for fixed wing, rotary wing and unmanned platforms. Within the space sector there are multiple careers in spacecraft design, manufacture and support. Areas of emphasis include but are not limited to rockets, missiles, propulsion, satellite systems, launch vehicles, space habitat, space cargo, human transport, and orbital analysis to name a few.
For people with electrical engineering degrees there are multiple jobs related to military systems design, manufacture and support. Systems include satellite ground antenna design, radio frequency engineering for satellite communications, radar development for numerous land, sea and space based radar systems, digital communication and advanced networking systems, integrated circuit design and digital signal processing for a variety of military applications from aircraft sensors, to guidance systems, to laser guided missiles to name a few.
For personnel with mechanical engineering degrees jobs exist for qualified engineers to aid in the design, development and sustainment of aircraft (fixed-wing, rotary-wing, unmanned), space vehicles, satellites, launch systems, military ground vehicles (tanks, troop transport, cargo), ships, submarines, weapon systems (missiles, crew served, individual), and bridging systems to name a few.
For personnel with chemical engineering degrees jobs exist for qualified engineers to aid in the design, development and sustainment of spacecraft propulsion systems, chemical warfare resistant materials for equipment and personnel, anti-corrosive materials for ships, submarines aircraft and land vehicles, and mine detection systems to name a few.
For personnel with industrial engineering degrees jobs exist for qualified engineers to aid in the design, and manufacturing of all types of military equipment from spacecraft, to aircraft, armored vehicles, naval vessels, and numerous radars and communication systems.
For personnel with Nuclear engineering degrees jobs exist for qualified engineers to aid in the design, development and sustainment of submarine propulsion systems, land based power systems, and nuclear weapon development and sustainment to name a few.
For personnel with math and physics degrees jobs exist for qualified engineers to aid in the design, development and sustainment of missile systems (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles ICBM , Sea Launched Missiles, Cruise Missiles, Air to Air Missiles, Ground to Air), guidance systems, radar systems, space tracking systems, and satellite communications systems to name a few.
Career Path: There are several career paths for engineering professionals. The majority of engineering professionals have a college degree and start out as an entry level engineers in the civilian or DoD contractor business sectors right after college. Some opt for a career in the military as an officer or warrant officer and upon retirement or separation from service pursue a career as a DoD contractor engineer.
Some DoD Contractors have a hardware engineering career path based on years of experience and responsibilities.
For example
Associate Engineer, 0-2 years of experience
Engineer, 2-5 years of experience
Senior Engineer, 5-9 years of experience
Principal Engineer, 9-12 years of experience
Staff Engineer, 12-15 years of experience
Sr. Staff Engineer, 15-20 years of experience
Similarly some DoD contractors hardware engineering career paths will have numerical grade levels.
For example
Engineer I, 0-2 years of experience
Engineer II, 2-5 years of experience
Engineer III, 5-9 years of experience
Engineer IV, 9-12 years of experience
Engineer V, 12-15 years of experience
Engineer VI, 15-20 years of experience
Salaries: Engineering salaries vary by discipline but start around ~$65k for entry level and can be in excess of $120k for senior level engineers.
Professional Organizations: Depending on your engineering discipline there are several professional organizations established to assist you in your career development. The list includes but is not limited to.
Training & Certifications: Depending on your engineering discipline there are several options for advanced training and certification. Likewise, obtaining a masters or doctorate degree in your chosen career field helps improve your competitiveness when seeking jobs and career advancement opportunities. I encourage you to select a few of the DoD contractors profiled on this site and search for engineering jobs in you desired discipline to see what educational and certifications they are requiring.
Education: Most Hardware engineering positions require a bachelors degree and having a masters or doctorate degree is highly recommended.
Job Search: To review currently open engineering jobs that DoD contractors are actively hiring for I recommend going to the career page of several of the DoD contractors profiled on this site and searching for jobs with the titles “XX engineer”, replacing the XX with your desired engineering discipline and reviewing the jobs and job requirements that come up.