What does a customer engineer do?

A customer engineer provides technical support to organizations having issues with their products or services. Duties and responsibilities may vary depending on the sector, but generally include diagnosing and troubleshooting technical problems with products, performing tests, upgrades and diagnostics to prevent delay or downtime caused by-product issues, and keeping updated reports outlining the problems and measures taken to resolve them. A customer engineer is also responsible for discussing service contracts and their benefits with clients.
Customer engineer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real customer engineer resumes:
- Lead initial product demos to Sr. management.
- Manage the installation and support of NT scanner workstations.
- Manage UNIX systems security and troubleshot and resolve client problems.
- Use SMS to manage network connect devices, inventory hardware/software, software distribution/installation, and perform diagnostic checks on PC's.
- Configure and administer DNS, NTP, NFS, TCP/IP, FTP and Netscape web servers.
- Handle planning and shipping of POS equipment, stage new equipment, respond to client queries, and resolve technical issues.
- Build, configure, troubleshoot, repair, and maintain printers, plotters, servers, storage devices, and workstations.
- Stack: AWS EC2, Linux, SQL, Salesforce, Zendesk, Jira.
- Provide network support including TCP/IP, NFS, DNS, and NIS for EMC customer base.
- Configure and deploy new desktop pcs.
- Escalate unresolve issues through appropriate channels.
- Order parts onsite for next day service.
- Resolve DNS, web hosting and mail problems.
- Advance network and UNIX systems performance tuning and troubleshooting.
- Mentore users and new hires on various CRM products.
Customer engineer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Customer Engineers are proficient in Customer Service, Technical Problems, and Level Agreements. They’re also known for soft skills such as Initiative, Interpersonal skills, and Math skills.
We break down the percentage of Customer Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 13%
Maintained an environment focused on providing optimal customer service, extensive experience in troubleshooting telephony trunking and T1 circuitry.
- Technical Problems, 10%
Analyzed and corrected all technical problems on equipment within assigned customer accounts.
- Level Agreements, 6%
Maintain ownership of problems or incidents until resolution to the customer's satisfaction in compliance with Service Level Agreements.
- Customer Satisfaction, 6%
Maintain a high level of customer satisfaction by successfully building and maintaining client relationships that lead to efficient and integrated solutions.
- Software Support, 5%
Served as a member of Mission Critical hardware/software support team focused on industry leading business continuity and critical system support.
- Preventative Maintenance, 5%
Perform preventative maintenance on retailer's equipment and systems, including calibrating scales to Colorado State regulations.
"customer service," "technical problems," and "level agreements" are among the most common skills that customer engineers use at work. You can find even more customer engineer responsibilities below, including:
Initiative. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a customer engineer to have is initiative. Their role and responsibilities require that "electrical and electronics engineers must apply their knowledge to new tasks in every project they undertake." Customer engineers often use initiative in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "assist in the documentation of desktop and laptop computing environment and lead cross-training initiatives for it service desk staff. "
Interpersonal skills. Another essential skill to perform customer engineer duties is interpersonal skills. Customer engineers responsibilities require that "electrical and electronics engineers must work with others during the manufacturing process to ensure that their plans are implemented correctly." Customer engineers also use interpersonal skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "provide outstanding customer service using strong communication and interpersonal skills. "
Math skills. customer engineers are also known for math skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to customer engineer responsibilities, because "electrical and electronics engineers must use the principles of calculus and other advanced math in order to analyze, design, and troubleshoot equipment." A customer engineer resume example shows how math skills is used in the workplace: "lead in all customer service statistics for the year 1999 from team of 13 support engineers. "
Speaking skills. For certain customer engineer responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "speaking skills." The day-to-day duties of a customer engineer rely on this skill, as "electrical and electronics engineers work closely with other engineers and technicians." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what customer engineers do: "learned san, nas, and content addressed storage principles. "
Writing skills. Another crucial skill for a customer engineer to carry out their responsibilities is "writing skills." A big part of what customer engineers relies on this skill, since "electrical and electronics engineers develop technical publications related to equipment they develop, including maintenance manuals, operation manuals, parts lists, product proposals, and design methods documents." How this skill relates to customer engineer duties can be seen in an example from a customer engineer resume snippet: "accepted customer service request tickets and writing trouble tickets to be forwarded to design people for resolution. "
The three companies that hire the most customer engineers are:
- Applied Materials1,039 customer engineers jobs
- Microsoft651 customer engineers jobs
- Capital One296 customer engineers jobs
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Customer engineer vs. Senior pcb designer
Controls designers both design and draft systems of hydraulic, pneumatic, and electrical controls for equipment and machines. The designers make diagrams of the logic system for timing and sequence control. They illustrate and describe details for installation and maintenance, such as bearing lubrication and lubrication types. It is part of their job to review schematics with the representatives of customers to answer questions during robot system installation. Also, they may design energy conversion controls.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a customer engineer are more likely to require skills like "customer service," "technical problems," "level agreements," and "customer satisfaction." On the other hand, a job as a senior pcb designer requires skills like "rf," "schematic capture," "pcb layout," and "analog." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
The education levels that senior pcb designers earn slightly differ from customer engineers. In particular, senior pcb designers are 5.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a customer engineer. Additionally, they're 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Customer engineer vs. Controls designer
An engineering trainee is responsible for shadowing engineers in their duties and performing administrative tasks as needed. Engineering trainees assist the engineers in inspecting construction sites and conducting field research. They also identify cost-efficient materials and resources that meet quality standards and client specifications. An engineering trainee must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in writing reports, attending meetings, and ensuring that all reports are submitted for management's reviews, such as contracts from suppliers and vendors.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, customer engineer responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "customer service," "technical problems," "level agreements," and "customer satisfaction." Meanwhile, a controls designer has duties that require skills in areas such as "plc," "control panels," "ids," and "auto cad." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, controls designers earn a lower salary than customer engineers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, controls designers earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $88,405. Whereas customer engineers have higher pay in the start-up industry, with an average salary of $106,798.controls designers earn similar levels of education than customer engineers in general. They're 3.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Customer engineer vs. Engineering trainee
A special project engineer is in-charged in the preparation, scheduling, coordination, and monitoring of engineering projects. He/She or she should be able to establish good relationships with prospective clients to gain information on engineering requirements and delegate tasks to staff. The core skills that a special project engineer should possess include good creative ability and excellent mechanical and listening skills. Other requirements to qualify for the position include a college degree in business or mechanical engineering.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, customer engineers are more likely to have skills like "customer service," "technical problems," "level agreements," and "customer satisfaction." But a engineering trainee is more likely to have skills like "fire protection," "r," "boilers," and "geotechnical."
Engineering trainees earn the best pay in the energy industry, where they command an average salary of $63,253. Customer engineers earn the highest pay from the start-up industry, with an average salary of $106,798.Most engineering trainees achieve a higher degree level compared to customer engineers. For example, they're 9.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Customer engineer vs. Special project engineer
Types of customer engineer
Updated January 8, 2025











