Structural Engineer
Structural engineers work out how a structure carries its load, then set down the calculations and drawings a construction crew builds from.
- Median salary
- $115,300
4.4%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 9,000
2.3%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +21%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Moderate
- 6 out of 10
- Average hours
- 43/wk
+3h vs all jobs
- Shortage status
- In shortage
national
- Structural engineers sit within civil engineering but focus on a structure's skeleton: the beams, columns, footings and connections that hold it up.
- Most work for consulting engineering firms, with others employed by contractors and builders, and the week moves between desk time running analysis in software such as ETABS or SAP2000 and site visits to check that what is being built matches the design.
- Designs have to satisfy the Building Code of Australia and the relevant Australian Standards, and the engineer who certifies one puts their name to it.
How much do structural engineers earn?
The median full-time salary for a structural engineer is $115,300 per annum, before tax, up $24,500 since 2018.
Pay climbs with experience, because the design judgement and the legal responsibility for a sign-off come after several years in the role. Chartered status through Engineers Australia is the credential that most reliably shifts earnings, and the sector you work in, whether consulting, contracting or resources, moves them again.
What does a structural engineer do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Running load and stress calculations that decide whether a design can safely be built
- Turning those calculations into drawings and specifications a construction crew can build from without having to guess
- Working through ground conditions and materials on a site to settle how a foundation or frame needs to behave
- Visiting site to check that what has been built matches what was designed, and sorting it out when it doesn't
- Talking with architects, services engineers and builders when the design they want is not what the numbers allow
What skills do structural engineers need?
Employers look for engineering design and analysis, cAD and technical drawing, project engineering and delivery, backed by SAP2000 fluency and strong problem solving.
Specialist skills
- Engineering design and analysis
- CAD and technical drawing
- Project engineering and delivery
- Building codes and standards
- Project management
Software and tools
- SAP2000
- ETABS
- AutoCAD
- Revit
- MathCAD
General skills
- Problem solving
- Written communication
Is the job growing?
About 9,000 people work as structural engineers in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 21% over the decade to 2035. That's very strong growth. Few roles in Australia are expanding this fast, and it points to solid demand for years to come.
How do you become a structural engineer?
Here's the path most structural engineers take, step by step.
- 1Choose the right Year 12 subjects
Mathematical Methods and Physics are the usual prerequisites for an engineering degree, and Specialist Mathematics makes the first year of the course noticeably easier.
- 2Complete an accredited engineering degree
A four-year Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) with a structural focus, accredited by Engineers Australia, is the standard entry point. Most degrees include a period of industry experience, often twelve weeks, which counts towards later registration.
- 3Work as a graduate engineer
Graduate roles in consulting firms, contracting companies or government give you the supervised design and site experience that registration is assessed on. Most engineers spend three to five years here before going further.
- 4Become a chartered engineer
Chartered status (CPEng) through Engineers Australia is assessed on your qualifications, your experience and a written and interview assessment. It is not always mandatory, but it is widely expected for senior design roles and for engineers who certify their own work.
- 5If you already hold a related qualification
Civil and mechanical engineers move across with minimal or short retraining because the analysis and materials knowledge overlaps, and civil drafters can step up by completing an engineering degree. Registration rules for certifying building work vary by state, so check the requirement where you intend to work.
Study routes we have checked
Qualifications that are a recognised way into this role, and what else you need.
- Master of Civil Engineering
A step towards this role
Provides civil and structural engineering foundations; structural roles usually also involve specialist experience and, in some jurisdictions, registration for certain work.
Ready to apply as a structural engineer?
Whether you're working toward becoming a structural engineer or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can a structural engineer move to?
Moving into Construction Manager typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $79,800 a year more on average.
- Construction ManagerRecorded move$195,100+$79,800
- Engineering ManagerRecorded move$183,000+$67,700
- Mechanical EngineerRecorded move$135,900+$20,600
- Civil EngineerRecorded move$115,300same pay
Thick lines are moves people were recorded making in Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility (income tax records, 2011-12 to 2020-21). Thin lines are moves we suggest from skill overlap and entry requirements.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
Construction Manager Structural engineers move into construction management, using their buildability knowledge to run building projects on site.Known move | +$79,800 | 27% | reskill |
Engineering Manager Experienced structural engineers step up to lead engineering teams, combining technical judgement with project and people management.Known move | +$67,700 | 30% | requalify |
Mechanical Engineer The two fields share core engineering analysis, so structural engineers can shift into mechanical design with short retraining.Known move | +$20,600 | 50% | short course |
Civil Engineer Structural engineers move into civil engineering roles, applying their load and material expertise to broader infrastructure design.Known move | +$0 | 76% | minimal |
Naval Architect Structural engineers bring their understanding of loads and materials to naval architecture, where similar analysis applies to vessels. | −$3,500 | 67% | minimal |
Moves are chosen from Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility, which follows income tax records between 2011-12 and 2020-21, together with entry requirements and skill overlap. A known move is one people were seen making in that data. Pay change compares median full-time pay for the two roles.
Who works as a structural engineer?
The typical structural engineer is 36 years old; 87% are men, 88% work full-time, and full-timers average 43 hours a week.
- 36
- Median age
- 13%
- Female share
- 88%
- Full-time
- +3h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being a structural engineer?
The week is split between a desk and a site: long stretches of modelling, drawing and checking, broken by visits to a build where a problem has to be resolved on the spot. The pressure comes from the fact that the design is rarely finished before the programme needs it, so you are often working against a deadline set by someone else's schedule. It suits people who like getting a detail exactly right and can defend a decision to an architect, a builder or a client who would rather hear a different answer.
What people like
- The design becomes a real building. You watch a frame you sized go up, and people live and work under it for decades afterwards.
- No two sites are the same. Ground conditions, geometry and the client's brief change from project to project, so the analysis rarely turns into routine.
- You work across disciplines. Architects, services engineers, geotechnical engineers and builders all build on your work, so a lot of the day is coordination rather than calculation.
- There is a right answer to argue from. When a design choice is contested, the calculations give you grounds for a decision rather than an opinion.
What people find hard
- You sign off on it. Your name goes on the certification, and if something fails the consequences are serious and the questions come back to you.
- Late changes compress the programme. Clients and architects often settle the design after construction drawings have started, and the structural work is expected to absorb the change without extra time.
- Documentation takes more of the week than design. Drawings, revisions and responses to site queries fill a large part of the job, and they do not pause while you work through a hard analysis.
- Budget pressure pushes designs thin. Clients want the least material that will pass, which means defending a design's efficiency as well as its safety.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ structural engineers?
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services employs the largest share of structural engineers, followed by Construction.
Top employing industries
- 1Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
- 2Construction
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Bachelor degree | 64.9% | |
|---|---|---|
| Postgraduate | 28.1% | |
| Year 12 or below | 2.4% | |
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 1.9% | |
| Certificate III/IV | 1.6% |
Will AI replace structural engineers?
Moderate exposure. Not replaced, but changed. AI is taking on some tasks and the rest of the job shifts around them.
Structural engineering sits at a moderate level of exposure: the calculation and drafting parts of the job are already heavily automated, and newer tools are pushing further into model setup and checking. What keeps the role grounded is the judgement around it, deciding what a model should represent, choosing a structural system and certifying the result against the Building Code of Australia. Those decisions carry legal responsibility, which no software currently holds.
How a typical week splits
- Structural analysis and load modelling30% of the week
Packages such as ETABS and SAP2000 run the numbers, and newer tools can build and iterate models with less manual input, but an engineer still decides what the model represents and whether the output is sensible.
- Drawings, schedules and documentation25% of the week
Revit and CAD automate much of the drafting and schedule production, though detailing choices and coordination with other disciplines still need a person to make and check them.
- Design decisions and code compliance25% of the week
Software can search standards and flag potential clashes, but selecting a structural system and certifying it against the Building Code remains the engineer's call.
- Site inspection and coordination with the build team20% of the week
Checking what has actually been built and resolving it with a foreman or architect happens on site in real time, often with a decision needed before the next concrete pour.
How we work this out
We break each job into its main tasks, estimate the share of a typical week each one takes, and judge how far current AI and automation tools reach into it. The score out of 10 starts from the job's overall rating (low is 1 to 3, moderate 4 to 6, high 7 to 10) and the task split places it within that range. Source: Career Tips analysis of each role's main tasks.
Moves least exposed to AI
These career moves from structural engineer work are rated low for AI exposure:
- Civil Engineer
High skill overlap (76%), little retraining to get there, and a low automation-risk profile.
Common questions about becoming a structural engineer
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much does a structural engineer earn?
The median full-time structural engineer earns $115,300 per year before tax. Pay rises with experience and with chartered status through Engineers Australia, and consulting, contracting and resources employers pay differently.
How do you become a structural engineer?
You complete a four-year engineering degree accredited by Engineers Australia, usually a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) with a structural focus, then take a graduate role. Most engineers register as chartered engineers after three to five years of supervised experience.
Are structural engineers in demand in Australia?
Structural engineers are currently in shortage nationally, and employment is projected to grow 21% over the decade to 2035. The work follows construction cycles, so openings move with the pipeline of building and infrastructure projects as well as the long-term trend, and chartered engineers with local code experience are the ones employers compete for.
Will AI replace structural engineers?
Not the job as a whole, though it is changing parts of it. Analysis and drafting software already carries much of the calculation and drawing production, and newer tools speed that up further. Deciding what a model should represent, choosing a structural system and certifying a design against the Building Code stay with the engineer.
What can a structural engineer move into?
Civil engineering shares the same degree and much of the analysis, so the move across takes minimal retraining and about the same in pay. With experience, some engineers step into managing engineering teams ($67,700 more more) or into construction management ($79,800 more more), and some open their own consulting practice, which is often where earnings grow.
What are the hours like?
Structural engineers work 43 hours a week on average at full time, with longer weeks around project deadlines and construction milestones. Site work can mean early starts, and consulting firms vary in how much overtime they expect.
Related roles
- Civil Engineer
- Engineering Manager
- Construction Manager
- Mechanical Engineer
- Naval Architect
- Civil Drafter
Not sure this is you? Take the career quiz and get a ranked shortlist of roles that fit how you like to work.
Career advice
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