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

What is a robotics application engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

John Dolan

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a robotics application engineer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $45.68 an hour? That's $95,007 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 6,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What's a day at work look like for a robotics application engineer?

John Dolan

Principal Systems Scientist, Carnegie Mellon University

Many companies are starting employees in virtual mode, then moving them to the company's geographical location at a later time. So, in some cases graduating students may stay put in the city where they studied for some time before joining their company in a different part of the country. Since a lot of robotics work can be done in simulation and software, the actual content of work for many jobs is not drastically affected by coronavirus restrictions, though virtual meetings are not the same as face-to-face ones. However, ultimately you have to build and physically test robots. The good news it that a lot of such testing is done outdoors, where coronavirus restrictions are not as onerous.

ScoreRobotics Application EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.4

Avg. Salary $95,007

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.4

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.28%

Asian 18.27%

Black or African American 3.19%

Hispanic or Latino 7.54%

Unknown 4.39%

White 66.34%

Gender

female 0.00%

male 100.00%

Age - 42

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 - 42

Stress level

7.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.6

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a robotics application engineer

Explore robotics application engineer education requirements

Most common robotics application engineer degrees

Bachelor's

50.0 %

Associate

37.5 %

Master's

12.5 %

Start to develop specific robotics application engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Robotic	48.56%
FANUC	21.33%
Application Development	12.27%
Customer Sites	11.37%
Analog	4.99%

Complete relevant robotics application engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New robotics application 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 robotics application engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real robotics application engineer resumes.

Research robotics application engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage: client presentations; robotic configuration designs; welding/cutting/assembly programs; trade show exhibitions.
Perform onsite customer-focuse consulting during design and implementation of new automation systems, requirement analysis, architecture and solution implementation.
Perform onsite customer-focuse consulting during design and implementation of new automation systems, requirement analysis, architecture and solution implementation.

Apply for robotics application engineer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a robotics application 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