If working with a recruiter, ask for the pay range of the position.
I wouldn't lie if I were you. But I'm not you.
If I were you, I'd also read this - http://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/01/23/salary-negotiation/ - it's long but super, super, super insightful.
Great article, thanks for that!
Agree that it's a good article, although I maintain that it's totally fine to give the first number. You just have to be willing to do the work to know what you are worth first, and internalize what that article basically says anyway in that overshooting is unlikely to hurt you, as long as you are not wildly over their hiring range, in which case (presumably), the job is not a good fit anyway.
I mean, I would always ask them to give a range before offering anything myself, but I don't think it's necessary to take a hard stance on the issue. Know what you are worth and why, and you'll have plenty of power in the negotiation. Maybe it's different for engineers. The hiring market for them certainly is ridiculous right now, but I doubt going first is really a problem most of the time, as along as you do it intelligently.
Edit - the author more or less models one example of this approach in his last example of how to deal with a pushy hiring manager.