New Hire Onboarding Checklist

Pull the countersigned offer letter from the HRIS and confirm the agreed start date, base salary, classification (exempt/non-exempt), and reporting manager. Flag any contingencies (background check, drug screen, license verification) that must clear before Day 1.

Confirm which discipline the hire reports to (Civil, Structural, MEP, Geotech, Environmental, Transportation) and whether they hold an active PE license, are pursuing one as an EIT, or neither. License status drives downstream steps for PE registration with HR, NCEES record setup, and PDH tracking.

Open an overhead charge code in Deltek Vantagepoint (or Ajera / Unanet) for the hire's first-week training and orientation hours, separate from billable project codes. Confirm the labor category and target multiplier with the discipline lead so utilization tracking starts cleanly.

Order the right workstation for the discipline — BIM modelers and Civil 3D users need GPU and RAM specs that a junior PM does not. Include a second monitor, headset, and any required peripherals (digitizer, plotter access). Confirm laptop arrives at least two business days before start.

HR completes Section 2 of Form I-9 in person within three business days of start. Collect federal W-4 and the state withholding equivalent (state-by-state). Remote hires require an authorized representative for I-9 verification — coordinate before Day 1.

Includes assignment of inventions, treatment of client work product (drawings, calcs, models, reports), non-disclosure of owner project data, and obligations under client-specific NDAs the firm has signed. Cover the NSPE conflict-of-interest expectations explicitly for licensed staff.

If the hire will touch DoD, defense, aerospace, or federal CUI projects, confirm US-person status and need-to-know access scope before any project files are shared. Firms with NIST 800-171 or CMMC obligations must document this gate; default-deny until cleared.

Walk through the firm's ITAR / EAR handling procedures, the CUI marking and storage rules under NIST 800-171, and the consequences of release to non-US persons or unauthorized cloud locations. Hire signs the export-control acknowledgment before any controlled project folders are unlocked.

Create the AD / Entra account, firm email, and enroll the user in MFA (Authenticator app plus a hardware token for staff with privileged access). Add to the discipline distribution list and the firmwide announce list.

Install the discipline's authoring stack — AutoCAD plus Civil 3D for civil/site, Revit plus Navisworks for building disciplines, MicroStation / OpenRoads for DOT work. Pull a network license seat from the pool and verify checkout. Load the firm's CAD standards, sheet templates, and Revit families before the hire opens a real project.

Match the install to the discipline captured in the prior step: structural gets RAM, ETABS, RISA, IDEA StatiCa; MEP gets Trace 3D Plus or HAP plus ETAP; civil gets HEC-RAS, HEC-HMS, EPA-SWMM and the OpenFlows suite; geotech gets gINT, Slide, and PLAXIS. Verify license server reachability from the laptop, not just on the LAN.

Add the hire to the firm's CDE — ProjectWise, Autodesk Construction Cloud Docs, BIM 360, or Newforma — at the correct role (Author, Reviewer, Read-only). Default-deny on CUI / ITAR project folders until step 15 is complete. Walk through the firm's folder taxonomy and naming conventions on first login.

Add the hire as a resource in Vantagepoint (or Ajera / Unanet / BST), assign their labor category and billable rate, and grant access to the orientation charge code and any projects they are immediately staffed on. Show them the timesheet entry workflow and the firm's policy on daily vs. weekly entry — late timesheets are the most common Week 1 friction point.

Walk through the open-enrollment portal with the hire, confirm dependents and beneficiaries, and note the 30-day window for elections. Flag the HSA option for those choosing the high-deductible plan.

Confirm contribution percentage, employer match formula, and vesting schedule. Engineering firms commonly carry employer-paid short-term and long-term disability; cover the elimination period and benefit cap so the hire understands the safety net.

Capture license number, state of issuance, and expiration date in the HRIS license tracker. Verify status against the state board roster — never accept the license number from the offer letter alone. Add the hire to the firm's E&O policy schedule of licensed engineers.

Most states require 12-30 PDH per renewal cycle, often with a specific ethics PDH carve-out. Add the hire to the firm's PDH-tracking system (RedVector, NCEES CPC, or in-house spreadsheet) and seed the calendar with renewal date and any comity / reciprocity license expirations.

Cover the employee handbook, anti-harassment policy, conflict-of-interest disclosure, IT acceptable-use, and the firm's code of ethics. For licensed staff, walk through the NSPE Code of Ethics paramountcy of public safety and the firm's policy on practice-within-competence.

The QA/QC manager covers the firm's discipline check, IDC, and backcheck procedure; the calc package format (cover sheet, references, design loads, governing codes); the sealing protocol per state board rules; and the firm's policy on stamping uncoordinated work. Reference last year's near-miss case if one exists — concrete is more memorable than abstract.

Required for any staff who will visit construction sites for observation, RFI walks, or punch — which is most engineers eventually. OSHA 10-hour Construction is the floor; some clients (DOT, federal, industrial) require OSHA 30 or site-specific orientations. Issue PPE (hard hat, safety glasses, Class 2 vest, steel-toe boots) before the first field assignment.

Discipline lead walks through the firm's project lifecycle — for vertical work, SD / DD / CD / IFB / IFC / record drawings; for horizontal, 30% / 60% / 90% / final PS&E. Cover the deliverable expectations at each milestone, the QA/QC gates that ride on top, and how the hire's role fits at their experience level.

Pair the hire with a senior engineer in the same discipline as a mentor, separate from their direct supervisor. Schedule 30-, 60-, and 90-day check-ins on the calendar with the PM, mentor, and HR; the 90-day mark is the conventional point to confirm fit, billable ramp, and any course corrections.