How To Become A Chief Electrical Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a chief electrical engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Craig Johnson Ph.D., P.E.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a chief electrical engineer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $45.31 an hour? That's $94,236 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 9,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a chief electrical engineer?

Craig Johnson Ph.D., P.E.

Professor Emeritus, Website

To begin your career in our field, please know that there are some shared values, some behavior constraints, and some awesome possible career paths for you to explore! Our program is accredited through ABET, which means that you can acquire your Professional Engineering licensure. Along with licensure are ethics compliance and legal behavior. You must put safety as a first constraint in all work. Create great technical solutions to real problems that may affect us all. Politics and company policies evolve, and we must evolve with them. New finance realities dictate that you will be more active in both seeking new jobs and changing jobs to promote your careers. You are at the center of many crossroads of technical activity that present options for your path forward.

ScoreChief Electrical EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.4

Avg. Salary $94,236

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.18%

Asian 14.28%

Black or African American 4.95%

Hispanic or Latino 11.60%

Unknown 4.73%

White 64.25%

Gender

female 5.24%

male 94.76%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a chief electrical engineer

Explore chief electrical engineer education requirements

Most common chief electrical engineer degrees

Bachelor's

61.1 %

Associate

16.6 %

Master's

14.0 %

Start to develop specific chief electrical engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
OSHA	11.51%
Control Systems	10.19%
HVAC	9.14%
CAD	7.78%
Electrical Design	7.28%

Complete relevant chief electrical engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New chief electrical engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a chief electrical engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real chief electrical engineer resumes.

Research chief electrical engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage and perform verification activities to insure device meet all safety and EMC requirements.
Develop, debug PLC programs.
Develop spreadsheets for calculating performance, power consumption, HVAC and lighting.
Perform project relate tasks including drawings, component specifications, control algorithms, PLC and HMI programs.

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When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your chief electrical engineer resume.

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