Operating Engineer Family
Career series with 2 positions across 2 levels
Operating Engineer groups 2 related titles into a 2-level career ladder.
Entry is typically through Operating Engineer 2, advancing through the ladder toward Operating Engineer 1. Pay across the family spans $45,874 to $75,954, around the 12th percentile of all civil service job families by top pay. State payroll records show 25 people across the family's titles, most concentrated at Corrections.
Operating Engineer commonly advances into Engineer and Environmental Engineer.
Positions in This Family
- OPERATING ENGINEER 2 (40422) $45,874 - $66,294/year
- OPERATING ENGINEER 1 (40423) $52,308 - $75,954/year
What the Operating Engineer family covers
Operating Engineer covers 2 title codes arranged into 2 levels of responsibility. Every title in it is a state title, so the employer is a state department, commission or authority rather than a county or municipality.
Engineering series in New Jersey are organized by discipline and then by responsibility, so a family usually reads assistant, then senior, then principal, then supervising. Professional Engineer licensure appears at the senior end rather than at entry, which lets the state hire graduates and license them in post. Transportation is the largest employer of these titles by a wide margin, with Environmental Protection, Treasury property management and the county engineering offices behind it. Construction inspection titles sit nearby but belong to the regulatory side.
The ladder, ordered by pay
The Operating Engineer rungs, listed from the best paid down. Note that the numbers in these titles do not run in pay order. In this family a lower number sits higher on the ladder, which is a New Jersey convention that catches people out when they read a title list top to bottom.
- Operating Engineer 1 — $52,308 to $75,954
- Operating Engineer 2 — $45,874 to $66,294
The distance from the bottom of Operating Engineer 2 to the top of Operating Engineer 1 is $30,080, an increase of about 66% over the entry minimum.
What each title does
Reading the definitions side by side is the quickest way to see what changes as you move through the family.
- Operating Engineer 2: Under observation of an Operating Engineer 1, or the supervision of other supervisory official in a state department, agency or institution, operates and repairs…
- Operating Engineer 1: Under supervision of a supervisor in a state institution, department, or agency, takes a leading part in the operation and maintenance of power and heating plants and…
Requirements across the family
None of the specifications in this family names a degree requirement, which places these titles among the New Jersey positions open to applicants without formal higher education. Every title here carries a license or certification requirement, so the credential matters more than the exam score.
On how the jobs are filled: 2 are competitive, filled from an eligible list after an open competitive or promotional examination. 1 title in this family is covered by the compendium's special incentive program, which lets an appointing authority hire a qualified candidate above the bottom step instead of starting them at step one. See the full list of incentive titles.
Who actually employs these titles
State payroll records show 25 people working under 2 of this family's titles, spread across 5 agencies. Corrections alone accounts for about 32% of them.
- Corrections — 8 employees
- Health and Senior Services — 7 employees
- Human Services — 5 employees
- Treasury — 4 employees
- Juvenile Justice Commission — 1 employee
Median actual pay varies across the family, from $64,052 for Operating Engineer 2 up to $73,386 for Operating Engineer 1. Those are medians of what people are really paid, not schedule minimums and maximums.
State payroll only, deduplicated by payroll title; local employers file separately, so a family with local codes looks smaller here than it is. How this is counted.
How the pay is set
Titles in this family are paid on the C-I-O salary schedule. See every step in that schedule. Bargaining is handled by IFPTE. Union contracts and rights are collected here.
Where these jobs exist
These are state titles, hired by New Jersey departments, commissions and boards through the Civil Service Commission's announcement and eligible list process rather than by an ordinary job posting. How state hiring works, and which agencies employ what.
Related titles elsewhere in the plan
Other classifications built on the same terms as Operating Engineer. Worth checking if this family has no current opening.
- Chief Operating Engineer 1 ($60,876 to $88,743, state jurisdiction) — in the Chief Operating Engineer family
- Operating Engineer Repairer ($45,874 to $66,294, state jurisdiction)
- Operating Engineer Heating and Air Conditioning ($57,158 to $83,211, state jurisdiction)
- Operating Engineer Heating and Air Conditioning Apprentice ($52,308 to $75,954, state jurisdiction)
- Engineer Aide (local jurisdiction)
- Chief Engineer (local jurisdiction) — in the Chief family
Common questions about Operating Engineer jobs
How many Operating Engineer titles are there in New Jersey civil service?
The Operating Engineer family holds 2 title codes arranged across 2 levels. Each code is a separate classification with its own published specification, requirements and salary treatment.
What does an Operating Engineer earn in New Jersey?
Published salary data for this family runs from $45,874 at the bottom of Operating Engineer 2 to $75,954 at the top of Operating Engineer 1. Those are schedule figures. Where the title appears on the state payroll, actual median pay is listed on the page above.
Do you need to take an exam to become an Operating Engineer?
Yes for most of the family. 2 of the 2 titles are in the competitive division, which means appointment comes from an eligible list built by an open competitive or promotional examination.
What qualifications does an Operating Engineer need?
No degree requirement is parsed from the specifications in this family, which puts these titles among the New Jersey civil service jobs reachable without formal higher education. 2 of the titles require a license or certification.
Which agencies employ Operating Engineer staff?
State payroll records show 25 people in this family across 5 agencies, with Corrections the largest at 8. Local government employers are not covered by that extract.
Is Operating Engineer 1 higher or lower than Operating Engineer 3?
In this family the lower number is the more senior title. New Jersey's level numbering does not run in pay order, and reading the titles by number alone will give you the ladder upside down. The list above is sorted by what each title actually pays.