What does an avionics engineer do?
Avionics Engineers are responsible for the design and development of avionics systems. They are involved in implementing economic and innovative techniques for avionic systems manufacturing, testing all parts and systems, rectifying faulty parts, and scheduling maintenance and inspection. They also prepare progress reports to update stakeholders involved, assist in proposals and bid preparation, and develop training programs for their junior engineering staff. Avionics Engineers must always comply with government regulations and industry best practices.
Avionics engineer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real avionics engineer resumes:
- Manage the fuel supply and aircraft electrical distribution system on board ship, including radar tank gauging and filtration systems.
- Manage Jenkins security by providing specific access to authorize developers/testers using project base matrix authorization strategy.
- Test and integrate DSP and RF ASIC and FPGA interface into designs.
- Serve as consultant and technical expert on a multitude of RF and electrical systems.
- Maintain communications systems, radar, autopilot, TCAS, weapon targeting, navigation and CVR.
- Develop long term MATLAB programs that are able to model flight data of current and future programs for analysis and decision-making.
- Review and evaluate technical document to determine appropriate action to ensure compliance with applicable FAA regulations.
- Position also include engineering liaison to resolve technical and mechanical installation issues and vendor and FAA DER coordination for documentation issues.
- Conduct geotechnical and environmental subsurface investigations.
- Conduct training on highly modify helicopters and ensure compliance with safety requirements.
Avionics engineer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 8% of Avionics Engineers are proficient in FAA, Avionics Systems, and Electrical Systems. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Business skills, and Writing skills.
We break down the percentage of Avionics Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- FAA, 8%
Prepared technical documentation to satisfy customer, company and FAA regulatory requirements.
- Avionics Systems, 7%
Performed avionics engineering duties as part of a 500-person laboratory focused on developing new technologies associated with DoD aircraft avionics systems.
- Electrical Systems, 5%
Worked with passenger-facing electrical systems installed on Northwest Airlines aircraft that provide entertainment and technology services to the customers.
- DOD, 5%
Provided technical support to DoD acquisition program managers.
- System Integration, 5%
Streamlined the on-site installation process by authoring and documenting best practice system integration procedures.
- Troubleshoot, 5%
Assisted in identifying and coordinating with all the stakeholders to add tests and troubleshoot problems as they occurred.
"faa," "avionics systems," and "electrical systems" are among the most common skills that avionics engineers use at work. You can find even more avionics engineer responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an avionics engineer to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "aerospace engineers must be able to evaluate project design elements and propose improvements, if necessary." Avionics engineers often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "plan, execute, analyze and report c-17 avionics flight test for usaf. "
Business skills. Many avionics engineer duties rely on business skills. "meeting federal standards in aerospace engineering requires business knowledge, including commercial law," so an avionics engineer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways avionics engineer responsibilities rely on business skills: "assisted the faa's terminal business unit in the evaluation testing of ads-b in terminal automation in the nas. "
Problem-solving skills. A big part of what avionics engineers do relies on "problem-solving skills." You can see how essential it is to avionics engineer responsibilities because "aerospace engineers upgrade designs and troubleshoot problems to improve aircraft, such as for increased fuel efficiency or safety." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical avionics engineer tasks: "joint stars international programs: radar system engineer developing radar model solutions for an international radar sensor proposal. "
Math skills. A commonly-found skill in avionics engineer job descriptions, "math skills" is essential to what avionics engineers do. Avionics engineer responsibilities rely on this skill because "aerospace engineers use calculus, trigonometry, and other math in their analysis, design, and troubleshooting work." You can also see how avionics engineer duties rely on math skills in this resume example: "led outreach, communications and presentation committees as chairman created projects for students to generate excitement about math and science"
The three companies that hire the most avionics engineers are:
- SpaceX12 avionics engineers jobs
- Stratolaunch9 avionics engineers jobs
- Astranis
6 avionics engineers jobs
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Compare different avionics engineers
Avionics engineer vs. Master lay out specialist
A stress analyst is a type of aerospace engineer; they design, construct, and test aircraft. They may also work on missiles or spacecraft. They primarily study design requirements for the overall strength of a craft. They analyze the stress data of structural components and prepare mathematical models of issues.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an avionics engineer are more likely to require skills like "faa," "avionics systems," "electrical systems," and "system integration." On the other hand, a job as a master lay out specialist requires skills like "customer service," "cloud," "crm," and "business development." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Master lay out specialists really shine in the technology industry with an average salary of $128,240. Comparatively, avionics engineers tend to make the most money in the transportation industry with an average salary of $98,370.master lay out specialists tend to reach higher levels of education than avionics engineers. In fact, master lay out specialists are 7.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.7% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Avionics engineer vs. Stress analyst
A senior structural designer designs structures such as bridges, dams, parks, or telecommunication structures. They create designs, document them, and analyze structural functionality. Frequently, they must attend meetings and seminars to distribute designs to junior structural designers. They also perform peer reviews and write reports.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real avionics engineer resumes. While avionics engineer responsibilities can utilize skills like "avionics systems," "electrical systems," "dod," and "system integration," stress analysts use skills like "abaqus," "airframe," "structural integrity," and "ansys."
On average, stress analysts earn a lower salary than avionics engineers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, stress analysts earn the most pay in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $87,231. Whereas avionics engineers have higher pay in the transportation industry, with an average salary of $98,370.stress analysts earn higher levels of education than avionics engineers in general. They're 7.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Avionics engineer vs. Senior structural designer
An Engineering Technician's duties vary according to the industry or company, whether mechanical, industrial, civil, agricultural, or more. However, most of the time, the responsibilities often revolve around resolving technical issues, working with and assisting Engineers in building, assembling, designing, gathering and testing data, and conducting more manual activities. Furthermore, Engineering Technicians can specialize and work in various fields after a certain training period, closely mentored or monitored by an engineer or someone with extensive expertise.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an avionics engineer is likely to be skilled in "faa," "avionics systems," "electrical systems," and "dod," while a typical senior structural designer is skilled in "autocad," "revit," "structural design," and "navisworks."
Senior structural designers make a very good living in the utilities industry with an average annual salary of $101,786. On the other hand, avionics engineers are paid the highest salary in the transportation industry, with average annual pay of $98,370.When it comes to education, senior structural designers tend to earn lower degree levels compared to avionics engineers. In fact, they're 12.0% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Avionics engineer vs. Engineering technician
Even though a few skill sets overlap between avionics engineers and engineering technicians, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an avionics engineer might have more use for skills like "faa," "avionics systems," "system integration," and "troubleshoot." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of engineering technicians require skills like "data collection," "asphalt," "construction projects," and "construction materials. "
The technology industry tends to pay the highest salaries for engineering technicians, with average annual pay of $76,126. Comparatively, the highest avionics engineer annual salary comes from the transportation industry.The average resume of engineering technicians showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to avionics engineers. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 9.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.9%.Types of avionics engineer
Updated January 8, 2025
