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Contract Engineer Jobs in Santa Rosa, CA (NOW HIRING)

K-LOVE & Air1

Field Engineer

Santa Rosa, CA · On-site

$100 - $125/hr

Partner and communicate with engineers (including contract engineers) to accomplish critical objectives. * Serve as a dedicated mentor and escalation point for more junior Broadcast Engineers ...

Kitchell

Project Engineer

Santa Rosa, CA

Kitchellis seeking an experienced and dedicated Project Engineer to join our Northern California ... Develops full understanding of the scope and interdependence of all contract documents * Observes ...

KITCHELL

Project Engineer

Santa Rosa, CA · On-site

$72K - $80K/yr

The Project Engineer also supports project closeout, meeting coordination, and fosters strong ... Develops full understanding of the scope and interdependence of all contract documents * Observes ...

BKF

Resident Engineer - Transportation

Santa Rosa, CA · On-site

$180K - $235K/yr

Manages professional and technical staff, as well as contract administration * Reviews change ... California registered Professional Engineer (P.E.) required * 8 + years construction contract ...

BKF

Resident Engineer - Transportation

Napa, CA · On-site

$180K - $235K/yr

Manages professional and technical staff, as well as contract administration * Reviews change ... California registered Professional Engineer (P.E.) required * 8 + years construction contract ...

BKF

Resident Engineer - Transportation

Santa Rosa, CA · Hybrid

$180K - $235K/yr

Manages professional and technical staff, as well as contract administration * Reviews change ... California registered Professional Engineer (P.E.) required * 8 + years construction contract ...

BKF

Resident Engineer - Transportation

Napa, CA · On-site

$180K - $235K/yr

Manages professional and technical staff, as well as contract administration * Reviews change ... California registered Professional Engineer (P.E.) required * 8 + years construction contract ...

BKF

Resident Engineer - Transportation

Sonoma, CA · Hybrid

$180K - $235K/yr

Manages professional and technical staff, as well as contract administration * Reviews change ... California registered Professional Engineer (P.E.) required * 8 + years construction contract ...

BKF

Resident Engineer - Transportation

Napa, CA · Hybrid

$180K - $235K/yr

Manages professional and technical staff, as well as contract administration * Reviews change ... California registered Professional Engineer (P.E.) required * 8 + years construction contract ...

BKF

Resident Engineer - Transportation

Sonoma, CA · On-site

$180K - $235K/yr

Manages professional and technical staff, as well as contract administration * Reviews change ... California registered Professional Engineer (P.E.) required * 8 + years construction contract ...

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All JobsContract Engineer JobsContract Engineer Jobs in Santa Rosa, CA

Contract Engineer information

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$53

$108

How much do contract engineer jobs pay per hour?

As of Sep 9, 2026, the average hourly pay for contract engineer in Santa Rosa, CA is $53.50, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $44.95 and $55.43 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a contract engineer?

Contract Engineers are professionals who manage and oversee contracts related to engineering projects. They are responsible for drafting, evaluating, negotiating, and executing contracts between companies and clients, vendors, or subcontractors. Their work ensures that all terms and requirements are clear, legal, and beneficial to all parties involved. Contract Engineers also help resolve disputes, monitor compliance, and manage project risks related to contractual obligations.

What does a contract engineer do?

As a contract engineer, you provide temporary support for a company that needs help. In this role, you may help design a product or structure, provide guidance to builders working off of your plans, or evaluate a company's existing system to be sure the proposed engineering plan matches their capabilities. Many aspects of this job depend on the type of engineering support a company needs. For example, some contract engineers focus heavily on the mechanical aspects of a project, while others help hire contractors, evaluate proposals, and answer questions related to the project.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a contract engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Contract Engineer, you need a solid background in engineering principles, contract management, and project planning, typically supported by a relevant engineering degree. Familiarity with contract management software, procurement systems, and industry-specific regulations or certifications such as PMP or NEC is often required. Strong negotiation, attention to detail, and effective communication skills help you manage client expectations and resolve contract disputes. These abilities ensure contracts are delivered on time, within budget, and meet both technical and legal requirements.

What are some common challenges contract engineers face when managing multiple projects simultaneously?

Contract Engineers often juggle several projects at once, each with distinct timelines, client expectations, and compliance requirements. A common challenge is ensuring effective communication across all stakeholders while maintaining meticulous documentation and meeting strict deadlines. Balancing these responsibilities requires strong organizational skills and adaptability to shifting project priorities. Collaborating closely with legal, procurement, and technical teams is essential to resolve issues quickly and keep projects on track.

What is the difference between Contract Engineer vs Project Engineer?

AspectContract EngineerProject Engineer
CredentialsBachelor's in Engineering, relevant certifications (e.g., PE, PMP)Bachelor's in Engineering, relevant certifications (e.g., PMP)
Work EnvironmentTemporary or project-specific roles, often freelance or consultingPermanent or long-term roles within projects
Employer & Industry UsageOil & gas, construction, manufacturing, consulting firmsConstruction, engineering firms, infrastructure projects
Common Search & ComparisonYesYes

Contract Engineers typically work on a temporary basis, focusing on specific projects or tasks, often with consulting firms or as freelancers. Project Engineers are usually employed full-time within organizations, managing ongoing projects from start to finish. Both roles require engineering credentials and certifications, but their employment types and work environments differ significantly.

More about Contract Engineer jobs

What are the most commonly searched types of Engineer jobs in Santa Rosa, CA?

The most popular types of Engineer jobs in Santa Rosa, CA are:

What job categories do people searching Contract Engineer jobs in Santa Rosa, CA look for?

The top searched job categories for Contract Engineer jobs in Santa Rosa, CA are:

What cities near Santa Rosa, CA are hiring for Contract Engineer jobs?

Cities near Santa Rosa, CA with the most Contract Engineer job openings:

Contract Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Contract Engineer job openings in Santa Rosa, CA as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 46% Full Time, 10% Temporary, and 44% Contract. Highlights an 86% In-person, and 14% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $111,280 per year, or $53.5 per hour.

AI Red Team Engineer, Frontier Model Evaluation (Contract)

Santa Rosa, CA • On-site

Cobalt
See more jobs at Cobaltexternal

Other

Posted 9 days ago

Job description

About Cobalt:

Cobalt is seeking security engineers to adversarially test frontier models and AI agents, and to produce the reasoning and evaluation data used to measure and improve how those systems hold up under pressure.

This opportunity is suited to people with a security background who have turned their attention to AI systems, whether professionally, through structured red teaming and model bounty programs, or through sustained independent research. Traditional offensive security experience without prior AI work is welcome, provided you can code and can learn a new target quickly.

You do not need a formal AI research background. What matters is that you can reliably find failure modes others miss, that you can tell a lucky one-off from a reproducible weakness, and that you can build the harness needed to prove it.

All work is performed against sandboxed environments, purpose-built targets, and model endpoints supplied by us or by the lab. We do not accept work performed against systems you are not authorized to test, and we do not accept material covered by a client agreement or obtained without authorization.


What you'll do:

Depending on the project, you may:

  • Probe models and agents for failure modes, including prompt injection, unsafe tool and browser use, data exfiltration paths, and breakdowns in refusal or policy adherence, and document each case so another engineer can reproduce it
  • Build test harnesses and automation that run attempts at scale against model APIs and agent frameworks, rather than testing by hand
  • Produce written attack traces, capturing how you form and test hypotheses, what you rule out and why, and how you arrive at a working approach, rather than only the successful prompt
  • Author adversarial evaluation scenarios and benchmark items with verifiable success criteria, including multi-turn and agentic tasks
  • Design rubrics and partial-credit criteria for scoring model behavior, and classify observed failures into a consistent taxonomy

Projects follow their own guidelines, scope rules, and quality standards, and you will work with feedback from reviewers and lab research teams.


Required qualifications:

  • Demonstrable security experience, and demonstrable adversarial work against language models or AI agents through professional red teaming, structured bounty programs, published research, or a substantive independent record
  • Strong coding ability, typically Python, sufficient to build your own harnesses, automate at scale, and work with model APIs and agent frameworks
  • Depth in at least one relevant area, for example prompt injection and jailbreak techniques, agent and tool-use security, multimodal attacks, or cyber misuse evaluation
  • Ability to distinguish reproducible weaknesses from one-off outputs, and to explain each step of your reasoning clearly in writing
  • Willingness to work strictly within defined scope, to follow the project's disclosure process, and to sign a confidentiality agreement covering findings and project materials


Why join Cobalt AI:

  • Advance frontier AI where it counts. Apply your security expertise to data that frontier labs cannot obtain any other way, where your judgment directly shapes how the next generation of models reasons about security.
  • Grow professionally. Expand your influence through evaluation projects, advisory roles, and research collaborations, while developing a working understanding of how frontier models are trained and assessed.
  • Work with a top-tier network. Collaborate with security engineers and researchers from leading organizations on high-impact, flexible work.
  • Set your own schedule. Flexible 10 to 40 hour weeks that fit around your existing engagements and your life.
  • Competitive pay. Rates vary by project and are determined by a number of factors, including scope, skillset, and experience.

Apply