After a well is drilled, you make it produce: designing and overseeing the perforating, fracturing, and equipment that turn a hole in the ground into a flowing well. Where the payoff, or the problem, gets locked in.
The work blends design, planning, and on-site oversight, deciding how a well gets completed and stimulated. You move between office and the field, often with big money and big risk on each job. Much of the craft is getting it right the first time, because redos are brutal.
What's harder than it looks is the safety and environmental stakes under real time pressure. The work ties to oil-and-gas cycles, which boom and bust, travel and odd hours come with the field, and a bad completion can cost a fortune or worse. Conditions vary hugely by basin and operator.
Decisive, technically sharp, and at ease with risk: that's who does well. If you want stability or a steady desk, the cycles and field demands can wear. But if you like high-stakes problem-solving where your decisions show up in real production, the work can be compelling.
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Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
Roles with similar work and overlapping career paths
View all Engineering roles →After a well is drilled, you make it produce: designing and overseeing the perforating, fracturing, and equipment that turn a hole in the ground into a flowing well. Where the payoff, or the problem, gets locked in.
Median pay for a Completions Engineer is about $141K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $79K to $229K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, Active Listening, Writing, and Systems Evaluation.
Most people in this role hold a bachelor's degree.
Employment in this field is projected to grow about 1.3% through 2034, with roughly 18,970 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Design Engineer, Mining and Oil Field Equipment Design Engineer, and Completion Engineer.
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