Principal Engineer Family
Career series with 1 positions
To land Principal Engineer (hydraulic) in New Jersey you go through the competitive route: you sit an announced exam and the score puts you on the eligible list agencies hire from.
To be eligible you bring a bachelor's degree and 3 years of relevant experience.
Principal Engineer is a single-title classification family: Principal Engineer (hydraulic) is the only position in it. Principal Engineer is closely related to Supervising Engineer and Supervising Highway Engineer.
Specializations
Positions in This Family
- PRINCIPAL ENGINEER (HYDRAULIC) (02798)
What the Principal Engineer family covers
In New Jersey's classification plan, Principal Engineer stands alone. The family holds one title code rather than a graded series. Every title in it is a local title, used by the counties, municipalities, authorities and boards that have adopted civil service under Title 11A rather than by state departments.
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.
What each title does
The published specification opens with this definition of the work.
- Principal Engineer (hydraulic): Under direction takes the lead and/or performs the complex work involved in hydrologic and hydraulic, engineering; in some jurisdictions, may…
What it takes to qualify
Across the 1 title we have parsed, the education requirements read as a bachelor's degree on 1 of them. Experience requirements sit at 3 years wherever they are stated.
On how the jobs are filled: 1 is competitive, filled from an eligible list after an open competitive or promotional examination.
How the pay is set
No state salary schedule applies here, because these are local titles. Pay is set by each adopting county, municipality or authority under its own ordinance or negotiated agreement, so two employers using the same title code can pay very differently. How local civil service pay works.
Where these jobs exist
Nothing in this family is hired by a state department. These are local codes, which means the employer is a county, municipality, authority, library, fire district or school district that chose to come under Title 11A. Roughly a quarter of New Jersey's municipalities did. In the rest, the same job exists but the hiring is done outside the civil service system entirely, so the title code will never appear in a posting. Check a specific employer before you plan around one of these titles, or read how local civil service works.
Related titles elsewhere in the plan
These titles sit elsewhere in the classification plan but share vocabulary with Principal Engineer, which usually means overlapping duties or a related eligible list.
- Engineer Aide (local jurisdiction)
- Chief Engineer (local jurisdiction) — in the Chief family
- Senior Engineer (local jurisdiction) — in the Engineer family
- Nuclear Engineer ($91,628 to $134,900, state jurisdiction)
- Assistant Engineer (local jurisdiction)
- Municipal Engineer (local jurisdiction)
Common questions about Principal Engineer jobs
How many separate Principal Engineer classifications does New Jersey have?
The Principal Engineer family holds 1 title code. Each code is a separate classification with its own published specification, requirements and salary treatment.
How much is a Principal Engineer paid?
No state salary schedule figure is published for the titles in this family, which is normal for local classifications. Local civil service employers set their own pay by ordinance or negotiated agreement, so the rate depends on which county, municipality or authority is hiring.
Is there a civil service test for Principal Engineer?
Yes for most of the family. 1 of the 1 title are in the competitive division, which means appointment comes from an eligible list built by an open competitive or promotional examination.
What are the requirements to become a Principal Engineer?
The most common education requirement in this family is a bachelor's degree, named on 1 of the 1 title. Stated experience ranges from 3 years depending on the rung. Read the individual specification for the exact wording, including any experience substitution.