What does a lighting engineer do?
A lighting engineer oversees everything that is happening in a tv show, concert, play, or theater production. This is the person responsible for ensuring that the lighting and the visual effects are operating just right. Their skills are essential because this will set the mood for the audience with the lighting effects that they provide. Also, they monitor the work of the flight crew and technicians.
Lighting engineer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real lighting engineer resumes:
- Perform subsequent energy analysis and modeling, and design retrofit solutions to achieve energy savings while meeting and exceeding customer requirements.
- Source product & work with IES codes and files in AGi32 and various other software & develop construction documents in AutoCAD.
- Delegate jobs to necessary crew members and make sure that all rehearsals and performances run smoothly, efficiently and trouble free.
- Perform multiple augments installing and adding new devices/servers along with adding configurations for video streaming using Unix and checking router configurations.
- Operate production board for high school basketball and baseball games without managerial supervision.
Lighting engineer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 29% of Lighting Engineers are proficient in A/V, Technical Aspects, and STARS. They’re also known for soft skills such as Initiative, Speaking skills, and Writing skills.
We break down the percentage of Lighting Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- A/V, 29%
Provide sound board operations, band setups, and trouble shooting for worship services and other A/V duties for church functions.
- Technical Aspects, 20%
Designed and coordinated all lighting and technical aspects for a company specializing in corporate special events and large-scale high-tech fashion shows.
- STARS, 11%
Ensured flawless audio signals and audio quality were routed to the microphones of the comedians and guest stars.
- Autocad, 9%
Produced general equipment arrangements and electrical schematics using AutoCAD.
- Live Events, 8%
Contracted to oversee audio post-production to support television programs and live events for this non-profit organization.
- Event Production, 6%
Show production, provides rental equipment for live sound recording and live event production.
"a/v," "technical aspects," and "stars" are among the most common skills that lighting engineers use at work. You can find even more lighting engineer responsibilities below, including:
Initiative. The most essential soft skill for a lighting 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, a lighting engineer resume shows how their duties depend on initiative: "provide technical support for project initiatives thru entire life cycle of projects. "
Speaking skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling lighting engineer duties is speaking skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "electrical and electronics engineers work closely with other engineers and technicians." According to a lighting engineer resume, here's how lighting engineers can utilize speaking skills in their job responsibilities: "mixed and regulated sound inputs and feeds for live music or spoken dialog. "
Writing skills. This is an important skill for lighting engineers to perform their duties. For an example of how lighting 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 a lighting engineer: "specialize in avid pro tools writing and editing experience. ".
Math skills. lighting 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 lighting engineers do with math skills on a typical day: "created production scripts to collect team statistics using python and mysql. "
The three companies that hire the most lighting engineers are:
- Live Nation Entertainment37 lighting engineers jobs
- House of Blues13 lighting engineers jobs
- Tetra Tech4 lighting engineers jobs
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Compare different lighting engineers
Lighting engineer vs. Electrical & instrumentation designer
An electrical instrumentation designer's main job is to design instruments that can be used in various areas such as laboratories, power plants, or research institutes. They work together with a team or individually to design instruments, create a prototype, and test its functions. They can even install these instruments in different establishments and locations. They are tasked with repair and training engineers. At other times, they are assigned to record expenses and other documentation.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between lighting engineers and electrical & instrumentation designer. For instance, lighting engineer responsibilities require skills such as "a/v," "technical aspects," "stars," and "autocad." Whereas a electrical & instrumentation designer is skilled in "plc," "instrumentation design," "control systems," and "p id." This is part of what separates the two careers.
On average, electrical & instrumentation designers reach similar levels of education than lighting engineers. Electrical & instrumentation designers are 4.0% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Lighting engineer vs. Senior electrical designer
A Senior Electrical Designer is in charge of creating electrical schematics, layouts, and other grid plans for their organization, as well as providing the best solution for improvements. They supervise the material, construction, labor costs, and project timescales.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, lighting engineer responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "a/v," "technical aspects," "stars," and "autocad." Meanwhile, a senior electrical designer has duties that require skills in areas such as "electrical design," "revit," "electrical equipment," and "electrical systems." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Senior electrical designers may earn a higher salary than lighting engineers, but senior electrical designers earn the most pay in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $90,234. On the other hand, lighting engineers receive higher pay in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $88,444.senior electrical designers earn similar levels of education than lighting engineers in general. They're 0.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for lighting engineers in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Galen Duree
Head of the Department of Physics and Optical Engineering and Professor, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Lighting engineer vs. Electrical designer
An electrical designer designs and develops electrical circuit and system layouts for electric power distribution. The responsibilities of an electrical designer include assembling electrical panels and leading a team of document control personnel in-charged to identify and organize facility maintenance drawings. The position requires good initiative, writing, speaking, and mathematical skills to accomplish such responsibilities. The job's education requirements include possessing a college degree in electrical engineering, design, or a related field.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, lighting engineers are more likely to have skills like "a/v," "technical aspects," "stars," and "live events." But a electrical designer is more likely to have skills like "revit," "electrical design," "autocad electrical," and "ul."
Electrical designers earn the best pay in the manufacturing industry, where they command an average salary of $72,768. Lighting engineers earn the highest pay from the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $88,444.Most electrical designers achieve a similar degree level compared to lighting engineers. For example, they're 1.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Lighting engineer vs. Electrical engineer internship
The electrical engineer internship offers tasks to undergraduate engineering students related to electrical systems analysis and branch circuiting, site investigations, lighting calculations, and design drawings by complementing theoretical knowledge with practical duties on the job to gain experience and increase marketability. Through the internship, the undergraduate engineering students may develop professional aptitude, strengthen their character, and may increase their confidence in their work as it prepares them for what to expect in their field.
Types of lighting engineer
Updated January 8, 2025
