Site Engineer CV Examples & Writing Guide
A site engineer CV is judged on the projects you can prove. Each job needs the project type, the contract value, your scope on it, and the quantities you controlled: cubic metres poured, metres of pipe laid, RFIs answered, first-time inspection pass rate. Add your ICE membership or CEng status, your CSCS card and the software you run on site.
Site engineer CV example (civil engineering and commercial)
This is a fictional CV for a site engineer with nine years on UK highways and commercial projects. The same job is also advertised as section engineer or setting-out engineer (and as field engineer in the US), so use those words too if the advert does. Swap in your own projects, quantities and software.
Andres J. Molina (fictional example)
Site Engineer, Civil | Highways and Commercial Projects
Birmingham · 07700 900176 | a.molina@example.com | GMICE | CSCS card
Summary
Site engineer with 9 years on civil engineering and commercial builds worth £10m to £46m. Runs setting out, quantity tracking, submittals and quality records on site. Held a 98% first-time pass rate at inspection hold points on a £34m junction improvement package and closed 320 RFIs with an average 3-day turnaround. Graduate member of ICE working towards CEng, with the Professional Review planned for 2027.
Experience
Site Engineer · Tier 1 civil engineering contractor (highways), Birmingham
Feb 2022 - Present
- Run site engineering on a £34m motorway junction improvement package: setting out, quantity tracking, site diaries and quality records for a workforce of 45 plus 9 subcontractors.
- Set out with a Trimble total station and GPS rover for 1,300 metres of surface water drainage and 62 bored piles, holding all control checks within 6 mm.
- Coordinated 1,400 m³ of structural concrete across 14 pours, including two night pours, with a 98% first-time pass at the client's inspection and test plan hold points.
- Answered and closed 320 RFIs at an average 3-day turnaround in Procore, cutting the backlog from 41 open items to under 8 within two months of taking over the log.
- Tracked the monthly measure against the bill of quantities and caught a £150,000 under-measure on imported structural fill before the July 2025 interim valuation closed.
Site Engineer · Commercial main contractor, Birmingham
Jul 2019 - Jan 2022
- Supported a £22m, 6-storey mixed-use build from foundations to topping out, managing 210 submittals and the concrete and reinforcement quality file.
- Ran clash checks in Navisworks with the mechanical and plumbing subcontractors, finding 47 conflicts before slab pours and avoiding an estimated 3 weeks of rework.
- Built and issued the 640-item snagging list, then closed 92% of it within 30 days of practical completion.
- Kept the three-week lookahead programme in Primavera P6 and led the Monday coordination meeting for 11 subcontractors.
Graduate Site Engineer · Groundworks and utilities contractor, West Midlands
Jun 2017 - Jun 2019
- Set out and checked levels on 15 hectares of site works, checking 840,000 m³ of cut and fill against the earthworks model.
- Carried out 260 concrete tests (slump, air content, temperature, test cubes) to BS EN 12350 and BS EN 12390, and logged every result to the project quality file.
- Wrote daily site diaries covering labour, plant hours and weather for a 20-person gang across 400 shifts.
Education
BEng (Hons) Civil Engineering, 2:1
University in the Midlands, 2017
Site surveying and setting-out course
Construction training provider, Birmingham, 2018
Certifications
- Graduate Member, Institution of Civil Engineers (GMICE), 2017; working towards CEng
- Site Supervisor Safety Training Scheme (SSSTS), CITB, 2023
- CSCS card, renewed 2025
- CITB Temporary Works Co-ordinator Training Scheme, 2024
- Cable avoidance tool (CAT and Genny) operator training, 2023
- Emergency First Aid at Work, renewed 2025
Skills
What a project manager checks first
Site engineers are hired by people who are behind programme. They want to know whether you can take over a piece of paperwork and a piece of the site on Monday. Four things answer that.
- Project type and value. Highways, water treatment, high-rise, data centre and fit-out are different worlds. Name the sector and the contract value so the reader can size your experience.
- What you actually owned. Setting out? Quantities? Submittals? Quality file? The programme? "Assisted the project manager" tells them nothing.
- Quantities and paperwork volume. Cubic metres, metres of pipe, tonnes of asphalt, RFIs, submittals, site diaries. These are the units of the job.
- Professional track. ICE membership and progress towards IEng or CEng matter for promotion and for client-side work. If you are a graduate member, say the year.
“I look for two things: did they hold the quantity log, and did they hold the RFI log. Those two jobs are where a site engineer either saves the project money or costs it money. If the CV gives me the RFI count and the turnaround time, that person has done the work.”
Site engineer personal statement and career objective examples
Three or four lines. Sector, years, biggest project value, one number, then professional status. Use a career objective only if you are a new graduate or moving from design into a site role.
Site engineer with 9 years on civil engineering projects worth £10m to £46m, covering setting out, quantity tracking and quality records. Held a 98% first-time pass rate at inspection hold points across 14 structural pours and closed 320 RFIs at a 3-day average turnaround. Graduate member of ICE, Professional Review for CEng planned for 2027.
Site engineer on commercial and mixed-use builds up to 6 storeys, running 210 submittals, the concrete and reinforcement quality file, and the three-week lookahead in Primavera P6. Found 47 M&E clashes in Navisworks before slab pours on a £22m project.
Site engineer specialising in below-ground drainage and bulk earthworks: 1,300 metres of surface water drainage set out and checked, 840,000 m³ of earthworks checked against the model, and environmental inspection records kept current through two client audits.
Civil engineering graduate with a summer placement on a £15m water main replacement, setting out daily with a total station and logging 90 concrete tests. Looking for a graduate site engineer role on civil engineering work, with a CSCS card and ICE graduate membership.
Site engineer job description for a CV: weak vs. strong bullets
Duties copied from a job advert describe the role, not you. Keep the duty and add the project, the quantity and the outcome.
| Weak (copied duty) | Strong (your version) |
|---|---|
| Responsible for site supervision and execution of works. | Ran site engineering on a £34m motorway junction improvement package for a workforce of 45 and 9 subcontractors, covering setting out, quantities, site diaries and the quality file. |
| Carried out setting out and levelling. | Set out with a Trimble total station and GPS rover for 1,300 metres of surface water drainage and 62 bored piles, with all control checks within 6 mm. |
| Supervised concrete works. | Coordinated 1,400 m³ of structural concrete across 14 pours, including two night pours, at a 98% first-time pass at the client's inspection hold points. |
| Handled RFIs and technical queries. | Closed 320 RFIs at a 3-day average turnaround in Procore and cut the open backlog from 41 items to under 8 in two months. |
| Prepared measurement sheets and bills. | Tracked the monthly measure against the bill of quantities and caught a £150,000 under-measure on imported structural fill before the interim valuation closed. |
| Coordinated with subcontractors. | Led the Monday coordination meeting for 11 subcontractors and maintained the three-week lookahead programme in Primavera P6 across 18 months of construction. |
| Ensured quality control on site. | Carried out 260 concrete tests to BS EN 12350 and BS EN 12390, and built the quality file that passed two client audits with no findings. |
| Reviewed drawings and shop submittals. | Processed 210 submittals in Procore and ran Navisworks clash checks that found 47 conflicts before slab pours, avoiding about 3 weeks of rework. |
If a number is confidential, round it or use a band: "a £30m to £40m junction package". Vague is bad; approximate is fine.
Start with an example, finish in minutes.
No sign-up needed to start. Pick an example, adapt it with suggestions and preview it as you go.
Skills to put on a site engineer CV
Software gets filtered on, so put it first and name versions or modules where it matters. Field skills come second.
- Design and modelling: AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Revit, Navisworks
- Project systems: Procore, Autodesk Build, Bluebeam Revu, Primavera P6, MS Project
- Survey: Trimble or Leica total station, GPS rover, digital level, machine control models
- Quantities and measurement: take-off in Bluebeam or Civil 3D, monthly measure, bills of quantities (CESMM4 or NRM2)
- Reading and checking structural, civil and M&E drawings against specifications
- Concrete, soils and asphalt testing and acceptance records
- Reinforcement checks, formwork and falsework inspection
- Utility installation: surface water, foul drainage, water mains, trench support
- Earthworks: cut and fill balance, compaction testing, level checks
- Traffic management and works phasing plans
- Silt, pollution prevention and environmental inspection records
- Site diaries, labour and plant hour tracking, as-built markups
The part nobody lists and every project manager values: telling a site manager that a pour is not ready, in front of the gang, and being right. Show it through an outcome rather than claiming it as a trait.
Site engineer CV with no experience or as a new graduate
Contractors hire graduates into graduate site engineer roles every year, mostly for September starts. They are not expecting projects. They are expecting evidence that you have stood on a site and can handle paperwork without being chased.
- 1Put placements and summer site work in the experience section, not under education, with the project value and what you touched.
- 2Turn your final-year design project into a project entry: scope, deliverable, software used, and the constraint you had to solve.
- 3Name every software package you have used, honestly graded. "Civil 3D: corridor modelling coursework" is more useful than a bare logo list.
- 4List your ICE student or graduate membership with a date. "ICE Graduate Member since 2026" shows you are on the chartership path; nothing reads as nothing.
- 5Add a CSCS card and any setting-out or cable avoidance training. They cost little and they signal you will not be a liability on day one.
Supported the site team on a £15m water main replacement: set out 275 metres of 300 mm main, logged 90 concrete tests, and wrote site diaries for a 12-person gang across a 10-week summer.
Designed a 3-span footbridge in a 4-person final-year project team, running load combinations to the Eurocodes, modelling the deck in Civil 3D, and presenting a £1.1m cost estimate to a panel of practising engineers.
Civil engineering graduate (BEng, 2:1, July 2026) with two summers of site experience, a CSCS card and ICE graduate membership, looking for a graduate site engineer role on civil engineering or utility work in the Midlands.
Degrees, chartership and site cards that count
There is no legal licence to work as a site engineer in the UK, but the professional path is standard and worth stating plainly. Everything below is real; do not list anything you have not earned, because institutions and card schemes are checkable.
- An accredited civil engineering degree (BEng or MEng) is the usual requirement. Many contractors also take people with an HNC or HND in civil engineering, a construction management degree or a civil engineering apprenticeship into site roles.
- ICE student or graduate membership, with Initial Professional Development logged with a supervising civil engineer. Give the year you joined.
- Incorporated Engineer (IEng) or Chartered Engineer (CEng) through the ICE Professional Review, after several years of developing experience. It is not a legal requirement on site, but it is expected for senior, client-side and consultancy roles.
- A CSCS card. Most UK sites will not let you through the gate without one, and you normally need to pass the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test first.
- SSSTS or SMSTS from CITB once you supervise works; many tier 1 contractors ask senior site engineers for SMSTS.
- Temporary works training (co-ordinator or supervisor), which is valued on structures, deep excavations and anything with falsework.
- Sector extras where they apply: confined spaces, cable avoidance (CAT and Genny), a street works supervisor qualification for utility work in the road, and highways sector scheme cards (requirements vary by client).
Format, length and the words to mirror from the advert
- Two pages once you have three or more projects worth describing. One page for graduates. A project list on page two is normal and welcome in construction.
- Order: name with professional status line, personal statement, experience by project, skills and software, cards and training, education.
- Send a PDF unless the advert asks for Word. Many searches ask for "site engineer CV word format" because some agencies still edit files; keep a .docx copy ready but apply with the PDF.
- No photo, no date of birth, no marital status on a UK CV. In India and the Gulf the same document often includes a photo and personal details, and in the US it is called a resume; strip the personal details for UK applications.
- Single column, plain headings, no graphics. Contractors run applications through applicant tracking systems that read text.
Mirror the advert's own vocabulary inside your bullets. The words that matter most in this field:
- Title variants: site engineer, section engineer, graduate site engineer, setting-out engineer, project engineer, resident engineer.
- Sector words: civil engineering, highways, structures, below-ground drainage, earthworks, fit-out, water and wastewater.
- Document words: RFI, technical query, submittal, as-built, site diary, interim valuation, snagging list, early warning, compensation event.
- Software: Procore, Autodesk Build, Bluebeam, Civil 3D, Navisworks, Primavera P6.
- Credential words: CSCS, SSSTS, SMSTS, GMICE, IEng, CEng, temporary works.
Frequently asked questions
How do I write a site engineer CV?
Organise it by project. For each job, give the project type and contract value on the employer line, then three to five bullets covering what you owned and the quantities behind it: cubic metres, metres of pipe, RFIs, submittals, first-time pass rate. Put your ICE membership or CEng status, your CSCS card and your software in the top third, and keep it to two pages.
What is the best format for a site engineer CV?
Reverse chronological, single column, plain headings, PDF. Lead with a four-line personal statement, then experience grouped by project, then skills and software, cards and training, and education. Avoid photos, tables and graphics: they break applicant tracking systems and they are not expected on a UK CV.
What should a site engineer career objective say?
Use a career objective only as a graduate or a career changer. Say what you studied, the site exposure you have, your ICE membership and the sector you want. For example: "Civil engineering graduate with two summers of civil engineering site work and a CSCS card, seeking a graduate site engineer role on utility and earthworks projects."
What skills should a site engineer put on a CV?
Setting out with a total station and GPS rover, Civil 3D and Revit, Procore or Autodesk Build for RFIs and submittals, Bluebeam take-off, Primavera P6 lookahead programmes, concrete and soils testing, earthworks and compaction checks, plus site diaries and quantity tracking. Name the software; that is what gets screened.
How do I get a site engineer job with no experience?
Apply for graduate site engineer roles, which are the entry route at most UK contractors. Put placements and summer site work in the experience section with real quantities, add your final-year project as a project entry, get a CSCS card and cable avoidance training, and join the ICE as a student or graduate member. Contractors hire graduates every year.
Is a site engineer the same as a civil engineer?
Not quite. Civil engineer is the discipline; site engineer is the site role that turns the design into built work: setting out, quantities, quality records and coordination. The same job is also advertised as section engineer or setting-out engineer, and as field engineer in the US, so search all of them and mirror whichever one the advert uses.
Ready to write yours?
The builder suggests a summary from your own experience, then checks it against the job posting.
How this page was made: a first draft was written with AI assistance from cvplex's example library, then edited and fact-checked by the cvplex Careers Team. Examples are fictional composites; numbers are illustrative. Report an error via the editorial policy page.