Robotics careers · Career guide

Controls engineerwhat the job involves, pay and who’s hiring

There are 165 open controls engineer roles on Robotics Connected today, at 65 employers. Where roles give pay, the middle figure is $205K a year. Below is what the work involves, the skills employers ask for, how people get in, and the roles open now.

By Olivier Ayache · Figures from the jobs board, updated
165
open controls engineer roles
65
employers hiring
$205K
middle pay a year, from 15 roles
5%
can be done remotely

What does a controls engineer do?

A controls engineer makes a machine move the way it is meant to. In robotics that can mean designing the control algorithms for a walking robot or a drone, or, in industrial automation, programming the PLCs and motion systems that run a production line.

The two sides share the same ideas (feedback, stability, timing) but use different tools, so it is worth reading each role closely to see which kind it is.

Also advertised as: Control systems engineer, Motion control engineer, Automation controls engineer.

A typical week

  • Modelling a system and designing controllers for it
  • Tuning control loops on real hardware and in simulation
  • Programming PLCs, motion controllers or embedded control software
  • Commissioning machines and resolving problems on site

Skills employers ask for

  • Control theory: PID, state-space, and model-predictive control for advanced roles
  • MATLAB and Simulink, or Python
  • C or C++ for embedded control
  • PLC programming (Siemens, Rockwell/Allen-Bradley) for automation roles
  • Electrical schematics and sensors

How much do controls engineers earn?

  • $193K to $210K a year for the middle half, $205K in the middle, from 15 roles paid in USD

These figures come from the 15 of 165 open roles that give pay, taking the middle of each role’s range. Most are in US states where job adverts have to show pay, so they lean towards American salaries; roles in the UK and Europe rarely publish a figure.

Who is hiring controls engineers?

The employers with the most open controls engineer roles today:

Where are the jobs?

The cities with the most open controls engineer roles, each with its own page of robotics jobs:

And by country:

What levels are open?

75 of the 165 roles say their level in the title. They split like this:

Entry-level roles are scarce across robotics, not only in this one. I looked at why, and what I’d suggest if you’re starting out, in this article on the entry-level gap.

How to become a controls engineer

Controls engineers usually have a degree in electrical, mechanical or control engineering. For algorithm-heavy roles at robotics companies a master's or PhD is common, while automation and integration roles value commissioning experience as much as qualifications.

If you’re early on, the robotics internships and entry-level and graduate roles are the places to start.

Open controls engineer jobs

The newest, one an employer:

Search the jobs board for “controls”All Autonomy, Planning & Controls roles

New robotics roles every Monday

One short email a week from Robotics Connected: new roles from the companies' own careers pages, the events coming up and the companies in the news. Free, and no account needed.

Double opt-in · no account needed · unsubscribe in one click

More career guides