How to hire an electronics research engineer

How to hire an electronics research engineer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step electronics research engineer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an electronics research engineer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new electronics research engineer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the electronics research engineer you need to hire. Certain electronics research engineer roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   An electronics research engineer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, electronics research engineers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of electronics research engineer salaries for various roles:

   Type of Electronics Research Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Electronics Research Engineer	Electrical engineers design, develop, test, and supervise the manufacturing of electrical equipment, such as electric motors, radar and navigation systems, communications systems, and power generation equipment. Electronics engineers design and develop electronic equipment, such as broadcast and communications systems—from portable music players to global positioning systems (GPSs).	$36-58
   Engineering Trainee	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... Show more	$20-39
   Radio Frequency Engineer	A radio frequency engineer, also known as RF engineer, specializes in designing and developing communication systems using radio waves. One of their primary responsibilities revolves around creating networks and systems and testing equipment... Show more	$32-55

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • RF
   • Power Electronics
   • PCB
   • Circuit Design
   • Prototyping
   • CAD
   • EMI
   • R
   • Debugging
   • Autocad
   • Ac
   • Dc
   • EMC
   • LabVIEW

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead a team of storage switch power supply design for EMC.
   • Apply technical knowledge in electromagnetic theory and microwave technology to plan and manage projects concern with ground-base radar systems.
   • Work in assembling, debugging and testing PCBs
   • Perform RF optimization /testing for compliance and coverage.
   • Develop new planar magnetic structures for EMI filtering.
   • Design and test circuit schematic and layout for automotive amplifier and EMI filter evaluation.

   More electronics research engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your electronics research engineer job description helps attract top candidates to the position. An electronics research engineer salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for an electronics research engineer in North Carolina may be lower than in Washington, and an entry-level electronics research engineer usually earns less than a senior-level electronics research engineer. Additionally, an electronics research engineer with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average electronics research engineer salary

   $96,344yearly

   $46.32 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level electronics research engineer salary

   $75,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 5, 2025

   Average electronics research engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$117,728	$57
   2	Nevada	$107,435	$52
   3	Alaska	$103,027	$50
   4	New York	$102,371	$49
   5	Massachusetts	$100,570	$48
   6	Michigan	$96,573	$46
   7	Maryland	$95,467	$46
   8	Pennsylvania	$94,938	$46
   9	New Jersey	$94,816	$46
   10	Delaware	$93,226	$45
   11	Oregon	$92,455	$44
   12	Virginia	$92,236	$44
   13	Texas	$92,060	$44
   14	Connecticut	$89,897	$43
   15	New Hampshire	$89,377	$43
   16	Oklahoma	$89,099	$43
   17	Louisiana	$84,474	$41
   18	North Dakota	$83,931	$40
   19	Missouri	$83,895	$40
   20	Georgia	$83,394	$40

   Average electronics research engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Nokia	$120,960	$58.15	17
   2	KLA	$116,125	$55.83	11
   3	Johnson & Johnson	$111,820	$53.76	30
   4	Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory	$104,060	$50.03
   5	General Electric	$104,001	$50.00	41
   6	Ford Motor	$103,462	$49.74	33
   7	General Motors	$103,119	$49.58	30
   8	Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky	$100,463	$48.30
   9	Pacific Northwest National Laboratory	$100,371	$48.26	11
   10	Intel	$98,545	$47.38	4
   11	Alcatel Networks Inc	$95,692	$46.01
   12	Fermi Research Alliance	$94,267	$45.32
   13	ITU	$92,480	$44.46
   14	Danfoss	$88,903	$42.74	2
   15	National Renewable Energy Laboratory	$84,882	$40.81	2
   16	Southwest Research Institute	$83,552	$40.17	10
   17	ARA	$82,690	$39.75	3
   18	Case Western Reserve University	$82,513	$39.67	4
   19	Carnegie Mellon University	$82,195	$39.52	75

4. Writing an electronics research engineer job description

   An electronics research engineer job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of an electronics research engineer job description:

   Electronics research engineer job description example

   Who We Are:
   
   Ongoing threats to national security require timely intelligence data, including signal intelligence obtained through electronic surveillance. Since the 1940s, SwRI has supported U.S. and friendly foreign governments, as well as commercial clients.
   
   Objectives of this Role:
   
   * Participate in embedded hardware and software development teams involved in developing requirements, designing, implementing, testing, and documenting embedded hardware/software applications.
   * Perform embedded hardware design, development, prototyping, integration, and testing against customer requirements.
   * Experience in FPGA hardware and/or DSP software development is desirable. Develop technical documentation and reports based on software and hardware investigations.
   
   Daily and Monthly Responsibilities:
   
   * Perform embedded design, development, coding, integration, testing, research, programming and documentation.
   * Perform laboratory test, field test, and troubleshooting.
   * Interact directly with technical customer to more fully understand requirements and constraints of the task objectives.
   
   Requirements:
   
   * Requires a Bachelors with a 3.00 GPA in Electrical or Computer Engineering
   * 0-5 years: Experience in embedded hardware design and test, analog and digital circuits, and PWB.
   * 0-5 years: Experience in VHDL/Verilog embedded firmware design and test
   * Knowledge of experience in embedded hardware design and test, analog and digital circuits, FPGAs, and PWB. Familiarity with schematic and layout software such as Mentor Graphic PADS is helpful
   * Familiarity with Altera Quartus, Xilinx Vivado, FPGA hardware development, C/C++ embedded software design and test or visual studio is helpful
   * Familiarity with configuration management tools such as AccuRev
   * Requires excellent interpersonal skills
   * A valid/clear driver's license is required
   
   Special Requirements:
   
   Applicant selected will be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information. Applicant must be a U.S. citizen.
   
   Job Locations: San Antonio, Texas Or Dayton, Ohio
   
   For more information about this division, visit the Defense & Intelligence Solutions home page.
   
   For benefits information at our San Antonio location, click here.
   
   For benefits information at all other locations, click here.
   
   An Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer
   
   Race/Color/Religion/Sex/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity/National Origin/Disabled/Veteran
   
   Committed to Diversity in the Workplace

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find electronics research engineers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your electronics research engineer job on Zippia to find and recruit electronics research engineer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with electronics research engineer candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new electronics research engineer

   Once you've decided on a perfect electronics research engineer candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new electronics research engineer. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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