Materials Engineer (General)

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Materials Engineer researches and tests the materials used to make a wide range of products. Develops new substances that have the properties needed for a particular use, or finds new ways to use existing substances. Uses knowledge of the chemical properties of materials, and specializes in one type of material, such as ceramics, metals, or plastics.

Job Outlook

There were 161 Materials Engineer (General) job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 4377 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Materials Engineer industry, which includes the Materials Engineer (General) career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:

Salary

Many new Materials Engineer (General) jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $107,597.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $86,250.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Materials Engineer (General) postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $87,575.

Education and Experience

Posted Materials Engineer (General) jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education Level	Percentage
Associate's Degree	0%
Bachelor's Degree	52.34%
Master's Degree	34.16%
Doctoral Degree	24.47%
Other	13.27%

Posted Materials Engineer (General) jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of Experience	Percentage
0 to 2 years	30.32%
3 to 5 years	40.53%
6 to 8 years	11.8%
9+ years	17.35%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Materials Engineer (General) positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

Communication (32.74%)
Research (22.46%)
Problem Solving (19.21%)
Management (17.93%)
Operations (16.38%)
Leadership (15.17%)
Innovation (13.75%)
Writing (13.43%)
Planning (11.1%)
Presentations (11.06%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

Materials Science (38.32%)
Materials Engineering (36.23%)
Material Characterization (8.82%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

Data Analysis (15.66%)
Procurement (4.36%)
Chemical Engineering (17.89%)
Composite Materials (17.65%)
Process Engineering (8.52%)
Manufacturing Processes (10.09%)
Metallurgy (10.26%)
Chemistry (22.86%)
Construction (8.49%)
Physics (14.31%)
Test Planning (6.81%)
ASTM International Standards (8.19%)
Process Development (10.2%)
Python (Programming Language) (10.28%)
Failure Analysis (10.7%)
Project Management (19.08%)
Mechanical Engineering (17.76%)
New Product Development (12.43%)

Distinguishing Skills

A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.

Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (4.6%)
Polymer Chemistry (8.44%)

Salary Boosting Skills

A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.

Material Characterization (100%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Materials Engineer (General) skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

Materials Engineer
Materials and Process Engineer
Characterization Engineer
Materials Engineering Technician
Polymer Engineer
Principal Engineer
Construction Materials Testing Technician
Construction Materials Tester
Scientist
Composites Engineer

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Materials Engineer (General) jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

Raytheon Technologies (129)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (126)
S&Me (104)
Braun Intertec (89)
Acuren (77)
Northrop Grumman (63)
Apple (54)
Micron Technology (50)
Lockheed Martin (45)
Atlantic Testing Laboratories (45)

North Carolina

S&Me (31)
On-Board Companies (10)
Honda (8)
Qorvo (8)
Intertek Group plc (6)
Timmons Group (6)
Summit Design And Engineering Services (5)
Intertek (4)
Fiber Composites (4)
Covia (3)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!

All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.

Engineering