200+ Engineering & Science Jobs in San Diego, CA

The cleanest direct local wage anchor is not occupation-specific: BLS put San Diego's all-worker mean wage at $38.01 an hour in May 2025 versus $33.54 nationally. For this category, current market-facing pay signals are much higher but more selective: local posted salary bands center on about $125k to $197k, California engineering & scientific openings show a mean offered salary of ~$129,147 (n=4,846), and local mechanical-engineer proxies cluster around a $121,750 metro median or $130,000 average total compensation.

Full August 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 197 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $94,950 at the 25th percentile, $132,150 at the median and $152,500 at the 75th. These are advertised ranges, not earned pay.

Active openings as of September 25, 2026

Senior roles | Entry level | Remote | Posted this week

Live from the Callings.ai index of over 13 million postings, refreshed hourly and re-checked here nightly. Roles that close are dropped at the next refresh.

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What our analysts see this month

Competitive market | next 3-6 months

This is a workable but competitive market for engineering and scientific talent in San Diego right now. California engineering & scientific employment is up 3.3% year over year and active postings are up 27.0%, while the local sample still shows more than 550 postings across more than 200 companies over the last 90 days. But the local mix is tilted toward on-site, experienced hiring in aerospace, defense, hardware, and public-sector work, with about 80% of roles on-site and only about 5% at entry level. Recent local layoffs at ServiceNow and weakness in manufacturing mean you should expect selective hiring, longer processes, and less room for a generic application strategy.

Best positioned: Senior or mid-career candidates with systems, hardware, mechanical, civil/infrastructure, or research-support depth who can work on-site and fit defense, public-sector, hardware, or lab-project environments have the best odds.

Main caution: Do not mistake high salaries for easy access; the market is mostly on-site, mostly mid-to-senior, and less than 5% of postings that state policy mention visa sponsorship.

From the August 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 220 openings in this market. 10 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.: 31 open roles
2. General Atomics: 21 open roles
3. WSP Global Inc.: 11 open roles
4. Northrop Grumman Corp.: 10 open roles
5. Apple, Inc.: 8 open roles
6. Affiliated Engineers, Inc.: 7 open roles
7. Syska Hennessy Group: 6 open roles
8. Transmission & Distribution World: 6 open roles
9. Leonardo DRS: 5 open roles
10. Monarch Quantum: 5 open roles

Where the openings are

• San Diego: 160
• Poway: 35
• Rancho Bernardo: 10
• Palmdale: 4
• Cupertino: 4
• San Diego County: 2
• El Cajon: 2
• Tijuana: 2

Work arrangement

on-site 178 (84%), hybrid 33 (15%), remote 2 (1%)

Where the demand is

The clearest local concentration is in defense, aerospace, and hardware. In the recent posting sample, aerospace & defense accounted for about 25% of Engineering & Scientific demand, computer hardware development about 20%, government & public sector about 15%, defense about 15%, and defense and space manufacturing about 10%. Northrop Grumman Corp. and QUALCOMM, Inc. were the most consistently active named employers, and the employer base was still fragmented rather than dominated by one company. That usually favors candidates who can map one skill set across multiple employer types rather than chasing a single brand. A second pocket sits in built-environment and lab-space work. Arup opened a San Diego office in August 2026, and DLR Group acquired San Diego-based McFarlane Architects in August 2026, strengthening local demand around science, lab, and building-project delivery. That makes Revit, CAD/BIM, and project-delivery skills more useful than a generic 'engineer' pitch. Scientific hiring looks more project- and facility-driven than broad-based in the available evidence. Novartis began construction on a new 466,000-square-foot biomedical research center expected to house about 1,000 employees by 2029, which supports research, facilities, validation, and lab-environment work even if the local opening count is not broken out cleanly by scientific title.

• Defense, aerospace, and hardware (high): This is the deepest opportunity pool, with about 25% of sampled demand in aerospace & defense and about 20% in computer hardware development, plus active hiring from Northrop Grumman Corp. and QUALCOMM, Inc.
• AEC, infrastructure, and lab-space delivery (moderate): Arup's new San Diego office and DLR Group's McFarlane acquisition support demand tied to civil, structural, mechanical, and design-delivery work, especially when paired with Revit or CAD/BIM capability.
• Research-support and scientific facilities (moderate): Novartis's new San Diego research center creates a directional opening for research operations, facilities, validation, and lab-support roles, but the local evidence is thinner for pure lab-scientist and research-scientist counts.

Where to focus: Prioritize defense and hardware if you already have systems or clearance-compatible experience; otherwise go after AEC and lab-environment employers where Revit/CAD/BIM or project-delivery skills give you a cleaner edge.

Roles worth searching next

• Technical program manager: Project management and technical documentation are each present in about 10% of local postings, so engineers who already run scope, schedules, reviews, and cross-functional delivery can pivot without starting over.
• BIM/VDC coordinator: Revit and CAD/BIM show direct local demand, and San Diego's AEC and lab-space activity creates a practical bridge for design-oriented engineers.
• Quality, validation, or configuration specialist: Configuration management, technical documentation, and defense-heavy industry mix make this a credible bridge for hardware, systems, and regulated-product candidates.
• Lab operations or scientific program coordinator: Scientific demand in the local evidence looks more facility- and project-driven than broad-based, so operations roles can be easier to enter than pure research-scientist titles while staying close to the work.
• Sustainability or environmental compliance analyst: Infrastructure work and the growing value of sustainability, GIS, and green-building know-how create a nearby path for civil and environmental candidates.

What postings ask for

• Systems engineering (premium | immediate): Systems engineering shows up in about 20% of local postings, and it fits the metro's defense, hardware, and public-sector mix. Who: Best for mid-career and senior engineers coming from product, aerospace, defense, or regulated technical programs.
• Python (premium | immediate): Python appears in about 20% of local postings, making it one of the clearest cross-subfield signals for automation, testing, lab work, and technical analysis. Who: Useful for almost everyone in this category except purely field-based roles.
• Project management and technical documentation (table_stakes | immediate): Project management and technical documentation each show up in about 10% of local postings, and the market is heavily weighted toward senior and lead roles. Who: Especially valuable for mid-career candidates who already own schedules, reviews, validation, or vendor work.
• Revit / CAD / BIM (differentiator | immediate): Local consulting demand explicitly calls for Revit and specialized CAD/BIM configurations, and San Diego's recent AEC and lab-space moves make that more relevant right now. Who: Civil, mechanical, architectural, MEP, and career-switching candidates targeting built-environment roles.
• SolidWorks (differentiator | near-term): SolidWorks appears in about 5% of local postings, and local mechanical-engineer pay signals suggest specialization in physical-product work is rewarded. Who: Mechanical engineers, design engineers, and adjacent manufacturing candidates.
• SAP clearance or clearance-readiness (premium | immediate): Special access program clearance is one of the few explicitly named credentials in local postings, and the overall market leans heavily toward defense-related employers. Who: Best for candidates eligible for cleared or clearance-track work.

Questions about this market

What do Engineering & Scientific roles pay in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA?

The cleanest direct local wage anchor is not occupation-specific: BLS put San Diego's all-worker mean wage at $38.01 an hour in May 2025 versus $33.54 nationally. For this category, current market-facing pay signals are much higher but more selective: local posted salary bands center on about $125k to $197k, California engineering & scientific openings show a mean offered salary of ~$129,147 (n=4,846), and local mechanical-engineer proxies cluster around a $121,750 metro median or $130,000 average total compensation. That usually means San Diego will pay well for experienced engineers and scientists, but not evenly across the whole category. Entry-level mechanical engineer compensation is much lower at a $90,100 median total compensation, and the metro's cost-of-living index is 160.4.

Where is demand for Engineering & Scientific roles in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA concentrated?

The clearest local concentration is in defense, aerospace, and hardware. In the recent posting sample, aerospace & defense accounted for about 25% of Engineering & Scientific demand, computer hardware development about 20%, government & public sector about 15%, defense about 15%, and defense and space manufacturing about 10%. Northrop Grumman Corp. and QUALCOMM, Inc. were the most consistently active named employers, and the employer base was still fragmented rather than dominated by one company. That usually favors candidates who can map one skill set across multiple employer types rather than chasing a single brand. A second pocket sits in built-environment and lab-space work. Arup opened a San Diego office in August 2026, and DLR Group acquired San Diego-based McFarlane Architects in August 2026, strengthening local demand around science, lab, and building-project delivery. That makes Revit, CAD/BIM, and project-delivery skills more useful than a generic 'engineer' pitch. Scientific hiring looks more project- and facility-driven than broad-based in the available evidence. Novartis began construction on a new 466,000-square-foot biomedical research center expected to house about 1,000 employees by 2029, which supports research, facilities, validation, and lab-environment work even if the local opening count is not broken out cleanly by scientific title.

Which employers are hiring the most Engineering & Scientific talent in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA?

Recent postings show the most activity from Northrop Grumman Corp. (50 postings), QUALCOMM, Inc. (40 postings). See the full market report for the complete employer landscape.

Can Engineering & Scientific roles in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA be done remotely?

Of recent postings, 5% are remote and 20% hybrid, with 80% on-site. Use the Remote filter above to see only remote openings.

How current are these listings?

Openings come from the Callings.ai live index of over 13 million jobs, refreshed hourly. This page searches postings from the last 30 days; run the search yourself to filter by anything else in plain language.

Browse California openings by job title

• Software Engineer: 885 open roles statewide
• General Manager: 351 open roles statewide
• Project Manager: 319 open roles statewide
• Product Manager: 293 open roles statewide
• Program Manager: 243 open roles statewide
• Senior Software Engineer: 202 open roles statewide
• Technical Program Manager: 192 open roles statewide
• Staff Software Engineer: 141 open roles statewide
• Engineering Manager: 126 open roles statewide
• Senior Manager: 98 open roles statewide
• Senior Product Manager: 80 open roles statewide
• Associate Director: 75 open roles statewide

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