Site Reliability Engineer vs. Devops

A site reliability engineer is a tech professional that is development-focused, while a devops is a tech professional that focuses on operations. Site reliability engineers are development-focused and solve problems with operations, scale and reliability. They mainly focus on enhancing system availability. Site reliability engineering teams also focus on safety, health, uptime, and the ability to remedy unforeseen problems.

Is reliability engineering a good career?

Yes, reliability engineering is a good career. Professionals in the reliability engineering field have reported great pay and a basic 40-hour workweek. The work-life balance is also reported to be substantial and fitting for most employees and their lifestyles.

What makes a good reliability engineer?

A good reliability engineer should have the following skills: creativity, deep organizational skills, great understanding of risk management protocols and methodologies, collaborative team-building and project management, and excellent communication skills.

What is a reliability engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Kambiz Farahmand Ph.D., P.E.

A reliability engineer ensures that products or systems perform their intended functions without failure. They analyze data, identify problems, design solutions, and implement processes to improve reliability and reduce downtime. A reliability engineer conducts tests, analyzes data, and monitors performance. They work in industries including manufacturing, aerospace, automotive, and electronics. The role requires analytical skills and engineering knowledge. A reliability engineer also needs communication skills to collaborate with others and present findings.

What general advice would you give to a reliability engineer?

Kambiz Farahmand Ph.D., P.E.

Professor and Interim Chair, Website

After you proved yourself to your peers and supervisors, you can always ask your price. Otherwise, there are a lot of other companies that will meet your ask and value your abilities.

ScoreReliability EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.7

Avg. Salary $105,551

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.5

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 14.31%

Black or African American 4.39%

Hispanic or Latino 10.78%

Unknown 3.90%

White 66.45%

Gender

female 12.53%

male 87.47%

Age - 41

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 - 41

Stress level

7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.1

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a reliability engineer?

Pros

High demand for reliability engineers
Competitive salary and benefits
Potential for career advancement into management or technical leadership roles
Opportunity to work with cutting-edge tools and technologies
Relatively stable job market compared to other engineering fields

Cons

High level of responsibility and accountability for product reliability and safety
High pressure to meet tight deadlines and deliver high-quality products
Limited job opportunities in some geographic regions or industries
Difficulty in quantifying the return on investment of reliability engineering efforts
Need to balance short-term cost considerations with long-term reliability goals

Key steps to become a reliability engineer

Explore reliability engineer education requirements

Most common reliability engineer degrees

Bachelor's

76.0 %

Master's

12.9 %

Associate

8.1 %

Start to develop specific reliability engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Java	21.70%
Troubleshoot	9.64%
Ruby	6.75%
Jenkins	4.65%
Azure	3.97%

Complete relevant reliability engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New reliability 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 reliability engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real reliability engineer resumes.

Research reliability engineer duties and responsibilities

Lead a team of over 20 engineers responsible for implementing NASA human-rating requirements to achieve human-rating safety certification.
Manage GMP compliance, FDA audits, and the writing of [] procedures.
Achieve completion of the resistors and capacitor sections of the AVL.
Lead the implementation of utilizing SPC data for software and test set improvement initiatives.

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