Marine Engineer job description: duties, skills and qualifications.

Core duties

16

O*NET task statements

O*NET occupation

Marine Engineers and Naval Architects

O*NET-SOC 17-2121.00

Preparation

Job Zone 4 of 5

considerable preparation

Typical entry education

Bachelor's degree

BLS 2025–35

Median pay

$112,230

BLS May 2025

Data Government data groups this job as Marine Engineers and Naval Architects (O*NET-SOC 17-2121.00). O*NET 31.0 lists “Marine Engineer” as a job title for this occupation only (evidence: O*NET's Sample of Reported Titles (titles job holders report), O*NET job-incumbent data and employer job postings). Figures on this page are for that occupation. TryHired has no separate career page for this title yet.

1. Perform monitoring activities to ensure that ships comply with international regulations and standards for life-saving equipment and pollution preventatives. importance 4.1 of 5
2. Design complete hull and superstructure according to specifications and test data, in conformity with standards of safety, efficiency, and economy. importance 4.0 of 5
3. Conduct analyses of ships, such as stability, structural, weight, and vibration analyses. importance 3.9 of 5
4. Study design proposals and specifications to establish basic characteristics of craft, such as size, weight, speed, propulsion, displacement, and draft. importance 3.9 of 5
5. Maintain contact with, and formulate reports for, contractors and clients to ensure completion of work at minimum cost. importance 3.9 of 5
6. Coordinate activities with regulatory bodies to ensure repairs and alterations are at minimum cost and consistent with safety. importance 3.8 of 5
7. Check, test, and maintain automatic controls and alarm systems. importance 3.8 of 5
8. Prepare technical reports for use by engineering, management, or sales personnel. importance 3.7 of 5
9. Design layout of craft interior, including cargo space, passenger compartments, ladder wells, and elevators. importance 3.7 of 5
10. Prepare, or direct the preparation of, product or system layouts and detailed drawings and schematics. importance 3.7 of 5
11. Evaluate performance of craft during dock and sea trials to determine design changes and conformance with national and international standards. importance 3.6 of 5
12. Inspect marine equipment and machinery to draw up work requests and job specifications. importance 3.6 of 5
13. Evaluate operation of marine equipment during acceptance testing and shakedown cruises. importance 3.5 of 5
14. Conduct analytical, environmental, operational, or performance studies to develop designs for products, such as marine engines, equipment, and structures. importance 3.5 of 5
15. Establish arrangement of boiler room equipment and propulsion machinery, heating and ventilating systems, refrigeration equipment, piping, and other functional equipment. importance 3.5 of 5
16. Investigate and observe tests on machinery and equipment for compliance with standards. importance 3.4 of 5

Work activities O*NET rates most important here: Getting Information, Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards, Making Decisions and Solving Problems, Analyzing Data or Information and Working with Computers.

Also part of the job

Supplemental tasks O*NET lists for this occupation: less central than the core duties above, and not done in every job.

• Supervise other engineers and crew members and train them for routine and emergency duties.
• Act as liaisons between ships' captains and shore personnel to ensure that schedules and budgets are maintained, and that ships are operated safely and efficiently.
• Maintain records of engineering department activities, including expense records and details of equipment maintenance and repairs.
• Maintain and coordinate repair of marine machinery and equipment for installation on vessels.
• Oversee construction and testing of prototype in model basin and develop sectional and waterline curves of hull to establish center of gravity, ideal hull form, and buoyancy and stability data.
• Procure materials needed to repair marine equipment and machinery.

Knowledge areas: Engineering and Technology, Mechanical, Design, English Language and Transportation.

Software O*NET lists for this occupation: Autodesk AutoCAD, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft PowerPoint, McNeel Rhinoceros 3D, Dassault Systemes SolidWorks. These are examples O*NET records for the job, not a list of tools every employer uses or a checklist of what you must know.

• Education: BLS lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education.
• Experience: BLS lists no work experience in a related occupation as typical to enter.
• Training on the job: BLS lists no typical on-the-job training once hired.
• Preparation: O*NET places the job in Job Zone 4 of 5 (considerable preparation). A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations.
• Licenses and certifications: not listed here. A license is a legal requirement set by a state; a certification is a credential from a private or professional body. Rules vary by state and employer, and a missing entry on this page does not mean none is required: check with your state's licensing board.

Most O*NET's occupation experts for this occupation (53%) name a bachelor's degree as the education the job requires.

Job title: Marine Engineer
[Company] · [City, State] · [Full-time or part-time] · [Pay range, where your state requires one]

About the role
[Company] is hiring a Marine Engineer to design, develop, and evaluate the operation of marine vessels, ship machinery, and related equipment, such as power supply and propulsion systems.
[One sentence on your team and why this role matters.]

What you will do
- Perform monitoring activities to ensure that ships comply with international regulations and standards for life-saving equipment and pollution preventatives.
- Design complete hull and superstructure according to specifications and test data, in conformity with standards of safety, efficiency, and economy.
- Conduct analyses of ships, such as stability, structural, weight, and vibration analyses.
- Study design proposals and specifications to establish basic characteristics of craft, such as size, weight, speed, propulsion, displacement, and draft.
- Maintain contact with, and formulate reports for, contractors and clients to ensure completion of work at minimum cost.
- Coordinate activities with regulatory bodies to ensure repairs and alterations are at minimum cost and consistent with safety.
- Check, test, and maintain automatic controls and alarm systems.
- Prepare technical reports for use by engineering, management, or sales personnel.

What we are looking for
- [Education: BLS lists a bachelor's degree as typical for this occupation; set the level this role truly needs]
- [Experience: BLS lists no related work experience as typical to enter; set what this role needs]
- Strength in complex problem solving, critical thinking and reading comprehension
- Working knowledge of Engineering and Technology and Mechanical
- [Software your team uses, e.g. Autodesk AutoCAD or Microsoft Excel]
- [Any license or certification your state or company requires]

[Schedule, benefits and how to apply]

Illustrative: every name, employer, school, date and number in these samples is fictional or a bracketed placeholder. Replace each bracket with your own true details; never copy a result you did not achieve.

Not a real job posting. This template is TryHired's illustration built from government occupational data. It is not an opening at any employer, and no employer wrote it.

For Marine Engineers and Naval Architects, the median annual wage was $112,230 in May 2025. The median hourly wage was $53.96. BLS estimates about 8,250 jobs in this occupation in the U.S.

BLS projects employment of Marine Engineers and Naval Architects to grow 6.7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 500 openings a year over that period, including openings to replace workers who leave.

• Read a real marine engineer posting next to the core duties above. Duties it repeats, such as “Perform monitoring activities to ensure that ships comply with…”, tell you what that employer weighs most; anything it adds is specific to that team.
• Tailor your resume to the posting, not to this page: describe only marine engineer work you have actually done, with your own results.
• Prepare a story for each of the top-rated skills (complex problem solving and critical thinking): a real situation, what you did and what changed.