Lead piping engineers carry a large share of design risk on process projects. A weak hire shows up late, in clashes, rework and delayed isometrics. Yet most job descriptions still screen on years of experience and software names.
Signals that matter
- Project type: refinery, petrochemical, LNG, power or water, and the size of the units handled
- Design responsibility: who owned layout, stress coordination and material take-offs
- Phase exposure: FEED, detailed engineering, construction support or all three
- Team scale: how many designers and engineers they led, and across which offices
Questions worth asking
Ask candidates to walk through one plot plan they developed. How did they handle equipment spacing, maintenance access and pipe rack routing? What changed after the first model review, and why? Their answers reveal judgement that a CV cannot.
We stopped asking how many years. We now ask which units, which phase and what they personally signed off.
Common hiring mistakes
Treating 3D modelling skill as a proxy for engineering judgement is the most frequent one. Another is underestimating the move between industries: power piping experience does not automatically transfer to high-pressure hydrocarbon service.
How talentEPC helps
Profiles on talentEPC describe scope by project, phase and responsibility, so shortlists can be built on the work a candidate has actually done. Hiring outcomes then sharpen future matches for similar roles.