Project Engineer (Entry Level)

Socket.dev; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 75,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Retirement match

Tuition reimbursement

Referral program

Wellness incentives

Paid time off

Parental leave

Employee assistance program

Disability insurance

Community involvement

Job summary

Skender is seeking entry-level Project Engineers to join our Chicago-based team. You will support the Operations Department with documentation, submittals, RFIs, and scheduling under the Project Manager’s guidance.

The role emphasizes strong communication, contract understanding, and the use of project management tools to track progress, manage bids, and ensure on-time project delivery. This is an exciting entry point into a growing construction group.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent with 1–2 years of construction-related experience.
• Strong communication and documentation skills.
• Understanding of contract language in construction activities.

Responsibilities

• Assist in administration, documentation and organization of the Operations Department as directed by the Project Manager.
• Examine contract documents for submittal requirements and overlaps.
• Review shop drawings for compliance and coordination of materials.
• Prepare, maintain and distribute document control artifacts (submittals, RFIs, drawings, meeting minutes).
• Submit shop drawings and samples to architect/engineer and coordinate approvals to avoid delays.
• Participate in phase scheduling and deliver weekly schedule updates.
• Identify changes in contract documents that may affect cost or time and document changes.
• Assist in scope development, subcontractor bid review and awards.

Skills

Communication

Documentation

Contract language

Project management software

Scheduling software

Budgeting concepts

Bid process

Subcontractor bids

Lean production

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Project management software

Scheduling software

Job description

Salary: $75,000-$80,000

Annual salary range noted above based on experience and qualifications. Employees in this role are eligible for a discretionary annual bonus, dependent on both individual performance and company financial results.

Hey! We’re Skender, nice to meet you.

At our core, we are builders — of communities, relationships, dreams, and careers. If you asked us to describe Skender, we’d say we’re ambitious, humble, and compassionate. We’re focused on building lasting partnerships with the right people. Our success starts and ends with our people. That’s why we seek out dynamic, high-energy teammates who are eager to learn, ready to take ownership of their careers, and excited to have fun along the way.

We are currently seeking entry level Project Engineers to join our talented group of employees upon graduation in the Summer of 2027.

Who is Skender?

About 70 years ago, Skender got its start in the basement of our founder’s family home. Now, Skender has two locations, our Chicago headquarters and our Indianapolis office, with nearly 400 employees helping us raise the bar year after year.

From humble beginnings to now, Skender has become one of the nation’s top 100 construction firms building dream spaces for many of the world’s leading brands. In more recent history, we’ve won 30 best-place-to-work awards from three different organizations, each based on comprehensive workplace evaluations and employee input.

Our team is driven by three core values:

• Proactive: You take initiative, stay curious, and aren’t afraid to roll up your sleeves to get the job done.
• Refreshing: You celebrate team wins, show appreciation freely, and always give credit where it's earned.
• True Partner: You thrive on collaboration, ask thoughtful questions, and are fully present and engaged with your team.

If our values align with yours, this could be a great match. We love meeting new people, so we can’t wait to hear about you!

Who are you?

We’re looking for a Project Engineer who is ready to take their career to the next level. Do you enjoy creating, maintaining, and distributing project-related documentation? Great. Are you someone with a team-first attitude who will identify project gaps or inefficiencies and seek to improve them? Even better.

What will you do as a Project Engineer?

Our Project Engineers are pivotal players in our Operations team. You’ll be responsible for assisting in the administration, documentation and organization of the Operations Department as directed by the Project Manager.

• Examining contract documents for submittal requirements, checking for scope gaps and overlaps.
• Reviewing shop drawings for compliance with contract documents, accuracy, and coordination of interfacing materials.
• Preparing, maintaining, and distributing various document control entities. Examples include: submittals, RFIs, drawings/specifications, meeting minutes, punch list/closeout, and issue logs.
• Submitting shop drawings and samples of all pertinent materials and equipment to the architect or engineer, expediting approval, coordinating the distribution of shop drawings and accelerate delivery as necessary, to avoid project delays.
• Participating in the preparation of phase schedules and delivering weekly project schedule updates to the team.
• Identifying changes in the contract documents that may result in added cost or time of construction and ensure that proper documentation is provided to preserve a contract change.
• Assisting in scope development, subcontractor bid review and award.

What education a nd experience are required?

We’d like you to have a four-year bachelor’s degree or equivalent combinations of technical training and 1-2 years’ experience in a construction-related field.

What skills do we look for?

• Effective communication skills to keep internal and external stakeholders looped into project progress.
• Strong aptitude for keeping up with project documentation.
• Understanding of contract language as it pertains to construction activities and planning.
• Ability to use project management and scheduling software for estimating and project management.
• Fundamental knowledge of building construction and systems for conceptual budgets.
• Basic knowledge of the bidding process based on contract documents.
• Strong understanding of quantity take-offs, qualification of subcontractor bids, scheduling, and general conditions, as well as project constraints or coordination issues.
• Interest in using production management principles based on Lean philosophies.

What's included in our Employee-First Benefits package?

• Skender pays 100% of the premium for health insurance (medical, dental, & vision)
• Annual deposit into health savings account
• Retirement plan with 100% match up to 5% of gross earnings
• Tuition reimbursement for continued learning opportunities
• Employee referral program
• Wellness incentives
• Paid time off
• Parental leave for mothers and fathers
• Free employee assistance program services
• Free short- & long-term disability insurance
• Community involvement

EEO

At Skender, our values guide our behavior and shape our actions. Our promise is an authentic commitment to equality, opportunity, and a respectful work environment for all. We embrace individuality and listen to diverse voices. We believe that hiring those with different experiences and backgrounds, ultimately enhances our expertise as an organization. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This statement applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.