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

What is a relay engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Fred Garber Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a relay engineer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $33.03 an hour? That's $68,709 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 relay engineer?

Fred Garber Ph.D.

Professor, Electrical Engineering, Wright State University

I think the primary question, in the minds of those who are yet to graduate or are still searching, is in regard to the strength of the technical job market, especially the local job market. But you are in a position to definitively answer that question.

In you article, I would ask that you address the following:
Number of employers looking to fill and number of job offerings in the region (by engineering and computer science major) compared to last year and to the previous five years.

Any noticeable differences in job descriptions Zippia is receiving relative to work environment, benefits, starting salaries, etc.

Many of our soon-to-graduate students would be very interested in these quantitative and qualitative comparisons. Additionally, vast numbers of potential students would benefit from such information to guide their career choices.

ScoreRelay EngineerUS Average

Salary

5.4

Avg. Salary $68,709

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.18%

Asian 15.68%

Black or African American 3.72%

Hispanic or Latino 7.66%

Unknown 4.48%

White 68.27%

Gender

female 8.16%

male 91.84%

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 relay engineer

Explore relay engineer education requirements

Most common relay engineer degrees

Bachelor's

76.9 %

Master's

15.4 %

Associate

5.1 %

Start to develop specific relay engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Cape	20.68%
SCADA	14.47%
API	11.54%
Logic Diagrams	10.74%
IEC	10.30%

Complete relevant relay engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New relay 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 relay engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real relay engineer resumes.

Research relay engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage ATM network, deploying switches into regional data centers, and troubleshooting connectivity.
Manage Jenkins security by providing specific access to authorize developers/testers using project base matrix authorization strategy.
Pursue hardware faults in Cisco (formerly Stratacom) IPX/IGX switches.
Implement utility network monitoring and alarming system which include outage notification and restoration.

Apply for relay engineer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a relay engineer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams