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What does an electronics engineer do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
What does an electronics engineer do

An electronics engineer specializes in designing and developing electronic components and systems, ensuring efficiency in all aspects. They are primarily responsible for conducting tests and maintenance for systems, identifying any faults or inconsistencies, and performing corrective measures right away. Moreover, an electronics engineer must coordinate with clients to consult them on their needs and meet with other skilled engineers to ensure optimal quality of equipment. An electronics engineer may also perform administrative tasks, mainly to produce progress reports and presentations, manage schedules, and craft instructional written materials for all electronic systems.

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Electronics engineer responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real electronics engineer resumes:

  • Lead manufacturing testing effort for VT-1 missile program.
  • Manage technicians throughout design, development, construction, testing, ISO quality assurance, and field/flight/wind tunnel test support phases.
  • Design automated lab system for troubleshooting HVAC PC boards in AMTRAK trains, to achieve shorter fault diagnostics time lab repairs.
  • Manage technicians during prototyping stage.
  • Coordinate with senior electrical engineers and achieve hands-on experience on coal fire plant power generation and power transformers, circuit breakers.
  • Interface with firmware team to define and develop custom FPGA RTL.
  • Complete marketing competitive analysis of communicating thermostats for the HVAC division.
  • Develop automated software solutions to verify and troubleshoot power monitoring devices using LabView and C++.
  • Used MATLAB as tool of choice.
  • Implement DSP algorithms on the soft processor.
  • Design multi processor systems using PIC and MSP430 controllers.
  • Complete design of the initial demonstration architecture with Xilinx FPGAs.
  • Perform root-cause failure analysis, FMEA, and relate hazard analysis.
  • Design controls for HVAC motors; test for thermal and EMC performance.
  • Help, debug and guide technicians on trouble shouting boards and systems.

Electronics engineer skills and personality traits

We calculated that 6% of Electronics Engineers are proficient in Analog, RF, and Power Electronics. They’re also known for soft skills such as Initiative, Speaking skills, and Writing skills.

We break down the percentage of Electronics Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Analog, 6%

    Redesigned analog telemetry and instrumentation circuitry for improved accuracy and robustness against process/temperature variations, radiation, and lifetime use.

  • RF, 6%

    Worked on 2nd generation RF wireless telemetry for communication between an implantable medical device and an external programmer.

  • Power Electronics, 6%

    Redesigned Hi-SAT power electronics that resulted in 50% lower power consumption than previous designs.

  • DOD, 4%

    Facilitated communications between the user community, other DoD services and Government agencies.

  • Test Equipment, 4%

    Executed integration testing using automatic test equipment to verify functionality, performance, and reliability in accordance with product requirements.

  • PCB, 4%

    Designed and debugged engineering prototypes PCB for technological video image recognition system.

Most electronics engineers use their skills in "analog," "rf," and "power electronics" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential electronics engineer responsibilities here:

Initiative. The most essential soft skill for an electronics engineer to carry out their responsibilities is initiative. This skill is important for the role because "electrical and electronics engineers must apply their knowledge to new tasks in every project they undertake." Additionally, an electronics engineer resume shows how their duties depend on initiative: "perform va/ve initiatives, dv/pv & dfmea's* create design & build hvac/control systems for testing phases/delivery. "

Speaking skills. Many electronics engineer duties rely on speaking skills. "electrical and electronics engineers work closely with other engineers and technicians," so an electronics engineer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways electronics engineer responsibilities rely on speaking skills: "initiated and presented irad project titled: rf / microwave losses of high temperature superconductors. "

Writing skills. This is an important skill for electronics engineers to perform their duties. For an example of how electronics engineer responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "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." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an electronics engineer: "trained others in automated test equipment program writing. ".

Math skills. electronics engineer responsibilities often require "math skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "electrical and electronics engineers must use the principles of calculus and other advanced math in order to analyze, design, and troubleshoot equipment." This resume example shows what electronics engineers do with math skills on a typical day: "used mathcad for circuit design analysis. "

Most common electronics engineer skills

The three companies that hire the most electronics engineers are:

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Compare different electronics engineers

Electronics engineer vs. Principal engineer

A principal engineer is responsible for monitoring the overall design phase of the construction process, including coordinating with the client for progress and updates, as well as performing adjustments as needed based on clients' specifications and requirements. Principal engineers also inspect the materials and resources used to ensure that the project stays within the budget goals and set timeframe. They should have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in preparing reports and training new staff.

If we compare the average electronics engineer annual salary with that of a principal engineer, we find that principal engineers typically earn a $36,228 higher salary than electronics engineers make annually.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both electronics engineer and principal engineer positions are skilled in rf, power electronics, and dod.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an electronics engineer are more likely to require skills like "analog," "circuit design," "troubleshoot," and "electronic equipment." On the other hand, a job as a principal engineer requires skills like "architecture," "python," "c #," and "azure." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Principal engineers earn the highest salaries when working in the telecommunication industry, with an average yearly salary of $125,415. On the other hand, electronics engineers are paid more in the technology industry with an average salary of $103,397.principal engineers tend to reach higher levels of education than electronics engineers. In fact, principal engineers are 6.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 5.1% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Electronics engineer vs. Hardware engineer

Hardware engineers or computer hardware engineers are responsible for developing, designing, and examining computer hardware. They help speed up new computer technology by creating enhancements in computer hardware. The hardware engineers oversee the installation of parts, manufacturing, and production. Also, they examine intricate equipment to identify an effective way to improve it as well as design devices used in manufactured products. Another responsibility is to ensure computer hardware units work with the newest software, which often requires collaboration with other software engineers.

Hardware engineer positions earn higher pay than electronics engineer roles. They earn a $10,927 higher salary than electronics engineers per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Electronics engineers and hardware engineers both require similar skills like "analog," "rf," and "power electronics" to carry out their responsibilities.

Each career also uses different skills, according to real electronics engineer resumes. While electronics engineer responsibilities can utilize skills like "dod," "system design," "engineering support," and "electronic equipment," hardware engineers use skills like "python," "cadence," "verilog," and "rtl."

Hardware engineers earn a higher average salary than electronics engineers. But hardware engineers earn the highest pay in the automotive industry, with an average salary of $106,285. Additionally, electronics engineers earn the highest salaries in the technology with average pay of $103,397 annually.In general, hardware engineers achieve similar levels of education than electronics engineers. They're 1.2% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 5.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Electronics engineer vs. Engineer

Engineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects. They should also be well-versed in different construction or industrial materials, and they ensure that appropriate materials are used for the project. They also ensure that the projects meet the requirements of the groups that hired them. They create spaces that would both address the needs of the end-users and the industry standards. They also ensure that the projects they make would stand the test of time.

On average, engineers earn lower salaries than electronics engineers, with a $1,908 difference per year.Using the responsibilities included on electronics engineers and engineers resumes, we found that both professions have similar skill requirements, such as "rf," "power electronics," and "test equipment.rdquo;

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, electronics engineers are more likely to have skills like "analog," "dod," "circuit design," and "system design." But a engineer is more likely to have skills like "python," "cloud," "c #," and "aws."

Engineers earn the highest salary when working in the automotive industry, where they receive an average salary of $97,672. Comparatively, electronics engineers have the highest earning potential in the technology industry, with an average salary of $103,397.When it comes to education, engineers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to electronics engineers. In fact, they're 3.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Electronics engineer vs. Senior staff engineer

A senior staff engineer is responsible for supervising a team of engineers, chemists, software developers, or molecular biologists. His/Her or her responsibilities include generating Structured Query Language (SQL) performance audit checklist template, creating SQL data query routines and functions for data extraction, and working directly with stakeholders. The job requires strong mechanical, listening, and mathematical skills and proficiency in Python programming language and computer architecture and hardware. The education requirements for the job include a bachelor's or master's degree in electrical engineering, business, mechanical engineering, or a related field.

Senior staff engineers tend to earn a higher pay than electronics engineers by an average of $42,046 per year.While both electronics engineers and senior staff engineers complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like rf, power electronics, and dod, the two careers vary in some skills.Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. An electronics engineer uses "analog," "circuit design," "troubleshoot," and "electronic equipment." Senior staff engineers are more likely to have duties that require skills in "python," "c #," "architecture," and "sql. "The telecommunication industry tends to pay the highest salaries for senior staff engineers, with average annual pay of $136,458. Comparatively, the highest electronics engineer annual salary comes from the technology industry.The average resume of senior staff engineers showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to electronics engineers. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 4.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 3.3%.

Types of electronics engineer

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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