What does a Project Engineer do?

The short answer is basically a project manager that specialises in managing engineering projects end to end. This means you are responsible for managing the delivery of a complex, typically capital project from business case, requirements gathering and technical design to construction, installation and commissioning. It involves lots of aligning, negotiation and management. It’s nice because after all the hard work you can typically see, feel and watch what all the stress has gone in to delivering. These projects can range from being as small as a new pump or heat exchanger to as large as a heat pump or a new production line.

Give a description of a day in the life of a project day

Each day and each project can be very different, but activities mostly depend on what stage the project is in. In initiation stage, you will be exploring the different technical solutions and days can be spent speaking to different stakeholders to understand the technical and operational needs. Then doing basic sizing and cost calculations or getting quotes to build a business case and payback time as well as a preliminary timeline for delivery.

In the detailed design stage, you can be reviewing documents regarding the technical design such as electrical drawings, P&IDs, estimated sizing and utility lists, refining budgets and holding design reviews with the stakeholders to ensure the solution meets the technical and operational needs.

In installation, you spend a lot of time managing the construction timeline, the budget and are often up and about during the day reviewing the work done and how it’s going against the plan as well as resolving any issues that inevitably come up.

Commissioning is also a busy time as you are often coordinating teams to get things up and running, observing operation and checking things are working as they should. There is typically quite a lot of documentation to capture operating conditions and confirming the solution meets required standards and specifications. There is a lot of variety and you are very much NOT always at your office desk.

What’s the best thing about your job?

For me in one word, it’s “variety”. The variety in the projects you work, what you get up to day to day, the environments you are in – head offices, site offices, factory floors, suppliers, and the people you work with. For me the variety in projects and problems make it really intellectually stimulating and it is really exciting to see the install happen and actually be able touch what you have worked so hard on.

If you had the chance to do it all over again, what would you do the same / differently?

If I could do it all over again, I’d definitely consider doing a degree apprenticeship as I could earn, get work experience and a qualification at the same time. I think leaving Uni, I was very naïve about what the professional world actually was, and doing a degree apprenticeship might have given me a softer landing.

If I did choose the university route, I'd make the most of it by applying for more internships, attending insight days, and honestly trying to explore as much as I could about different careers and industries during my degree - especially during first and second year. It’s a great way to understand what kind of work I’d be doing and what a career path in whatever field could look like in a more practical, tangible way than just researching online, but it still has little commitment. I didn’t do this much during my degree and left with little idea about what I actually wanted to do. Researching careers during final year isn’t the best, as you're already stressed with the workload of final year.

I'd also spend more time building my network and getting involved in activities outside of studying. Whether it's a sports team, society, volunteering, charity project, side hustle, or a personal project, these experiences help you develop valuable skills. The early careers job market is difficult, and ultimately employers are looking for potential. Being involved in these kinds of activities demonstrates curiosity, shows you have initiative, and evidence that you've challenged yourself. Showing that you've created something, led a project, or got involved in an activity demonstrates drive, proactivity and therefore, potential. It can showcase more about how you would perform in a role than your grades do.