Robotics careers · Career guide

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

There are 403 open electrical engineer roles on Robotics Connected today, at 128 employers. Where roles give pay, the middle figure is $175K 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
403
open electrical engineer roles
128
employers hiring
$175K
middle pay a year, from 43 roles
1%
can be done remotely

What does a electrical engineer do?

Electrical and electronics engineers design the robot's nervous system: its circuit boards, power systems, motor drives, wiring and the connections to its sensors and computers.

In robotics the challenges are power density, heat, electrical noise from motors and safety, and the work runs from schematics through to boards that are tested, certified and manufactured.

Also advertised as: Electronics engineer, Hardware engineer, Power electronics engineer.

A typical week

  • Designing schematics and circuit board layouts
  • Bringing up and testing new boards
  • Designing power, battery and motor drive systems
  • Working on compliance testing and the move to production

Skills employers ask for

  • Schematic and PCB design (Altium, KiCad or similar)
  • Power electronics and motor drives
  • Signal integrity and noise
  • Lab equipment: oscilloscopes, power analysers
  • Safety and electromagnetic compatibility standards

How much do electrical engineers earn?

  • $144K to $220K a year for the middle half, $175K in the middle, from 43 roles paid in USD

These figures come from the 46 of 403 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 electrical engineers?

The employers with the most open electrical engineer roles today:

Where are the jobs?

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

And by country:

What levels are open?

244 of the 403 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 electrical engineer

An electrical or electronic engineering degree is the usual start. I'd suggest having a board you designed and got working, since it shows the full cycle from schematic to bring-up that these roles ask for.

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

Open electrical engineer jobs

The newest, one an employer:

Search the jobs board for “electrical”All Embedded, Electrical & Electronics 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