What does a senior electronics design engineer do?
Senior electronics design engineer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior electronics design engineer resumes:
- Implement industry leading design practices and development tools to achieve high performing FPGA base systems.
- Apply technical knowledge in electromagnetic theory and microwave technology to plan and manage projects concern with ground-base radar systems.
- Co-Design the software control program architecture and write significant amounts of C++ test software used for PCB and I/F check-out.
- Design wireless charger TX and RX circuits and an automate RF matching network.
- Work with layout engineers and PCB fabrication and assembly suppliers to produce the best product possible.
- Perform compliance testing of designs to verify adherence to applicable standards from SAE, UL, FCC, etc.
- Analyze new hardware designs (analog / digital) recently introduce, develop engineering design fixes and coordinate those solutions.
- Perform transient suppression design and analysis for digital I/O interfaces.
- Design layout for integrate circuits according to engineering specifications using IC design rules.
- Implement and maintain FPGA base design methodologies to ensure optimal and efficient resource utilization.
- Perform top-level verification and analysis of SerDes lanes to ensure block-to-block interface meet specifications.
- Furnish exceptional documentations for technical communications, IP capture, and knowledge transfers with technology development partners.
- Supporty parasitic extraction flows for delay calculation and circuit simulation, focuse on reduction of over-design and associate product costs
- Update existing liberty generation tool to minimize user input by extracting liberty relate information from internal standard specs of IP.
- Devise methodologies and flows to facilitate SRAM simulations and analyses.
Senior electronics design engineer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Senior Electronics Design Engineers are proficient in Analog, Power Electronics, and PCB. They’re also known for soft skills such as Initiative, Speaking skills, and Writing skills.
We break down the percentage of Senior Electronics Design Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Analog, 10%
Analyze new hardware designs (analog / digital) recently introduced, developed engineering design fixes and coordinated those solutions.
- Power Electronics, 8%
Validated two power electronics technologies to help system architecture team define electric drive architecture using cost effective and robust power electronics.
- PCB, 7%
Co-designed the software control program architecture and wrote significant amounts of C++ test software used for PCB and I/F check-out.
- Firmware, 6%
Resolved field issues related to temperature stability in Antigen Retrieval System that involved firmware modification.
- Circuit Design, 4%
Circuit design included schematic capture, circuit modeling and prototype testing, high volume consideration, and applications into other industries.
- RF, 4%
Designed F-16 RF Seeker Pod circuit to identify unknown radar Pulse Repetition Interval (PRI) pulses.
"analog," "power electronics," and "pcb" are among the most common skills that senior electronics design engineers use at work. You can find even more senior electronics design engineer responsibilities below, including:
Initiative. The most essential soft skill for a senior electronics design 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 senior electronics design engineer resume shows how their duties depend on initiative: "appraised the foxboro software development process against the cmm and participated in the process improvements initiatives from that activity. "
Speaking skills. Another essential skill to perform senior electronics design engineer duties is speaking skills. Senior electronics design engineers responsibilities require that "electrical and electronics engineers work closely with other engineers and technicians." Senior electronics design engineers also use speaking skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "addressed deficiency reports (dr) with electronic components. "
Writing skills. This is an important skill for senior electronics design engineers to perform their duties. For an example of how senior electronics design 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 senior electronics design engineer: "validate ecm design on fpga by writing test cases in verilog. ".
Math skills. A big part of what senior electronics design engineers do relies on "math skills." You can see how essential it is to senior electronics design engineer responsibilities because "electrical and electronics engineers must use the principles of calculus and other advanced math in order to analyze, design, and troubleshoot equipment." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical senior electronics design engineer tasks: "hand instantiated xilinx virtex-6 fpga dsp48e1 core into verilog rtl modules for high speed (approaching 600 mhz) mathematical functions. "
The three companies that hire the most senior electronics design engineers are:
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Compare different senior electronics design engineers
Senior electronics design engineer vs. 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. They also identify cost-efficient materials and resources that meet quality standards and client specifications. An engineering trainee must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in writing reports, attending meetings, and ensuring that all reports are submitted for management's reviews, such as contracts from suppliers and vendors.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a senior electronics design engineer are more likely to require skills like "analog," "power electronics," "firmware," and "circuit design." On the other hand, a job as an engineering trainee requires skills like "excellent interpersonal," "fire protection," "boilers," and "geotechnical." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Engineering trainees earn the highest salaries when working in the energy industry, with an average yearly salary of $63,253. On the other hand, senior electronics design engineers are paid more in the automotive industry with an average salary of $133,934.The education levels that engineering trainees earn slightly differ from senior electronics design engineers. In particular, engineering trainees are 7.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a senior electronics design engineer. Additionally, they're 1.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior electronics design engineer vs. Engineer
Engineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects. They should also be well-versed in different construction or industrial materials, and they ensure that appropriate materials are used for the project. They also ensure that the projects meet the requirements of the groups that hired them. They create spaces that would both address the needs of the end-users and the industry standards. They also ensure that the projects they make would stand the test of time.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that senior electronics design engineer responsibilities requires skills like "analog," "firmware," "circuit design," and "ul." But an engineer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "python," "cloud," "c #," and "aws."
Engineers earn a lower average salary than senior electronics design engineers. But engineers earn the highest pay in the automotive industry, with an average salary of $97,672. Additionally, senior electronics design engineers earn the highest salaries in the automotive with average pay of $133,934 annually.In general, engineers achieve lower levels of education than senior electronics design engineers. They're 10.6% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior electronics design engineer vs. 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. They make sure that equipment is up to high standards by traveling to different areas as needed, troubleshooting issues to identify the root of problems and performing corrective measures required. Furthermore, a radio frequency engineer must continuously optimize equipment quality and ensure efficiency while adhering to the laws and regulations.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a senior electronics design engineer is likely to be skilled in "analog," "power electronics," "firmware," and "circuit design," while a typical radio frequency engineer is skilled in "antenna," "system performance," "troubleshoot," and "macro."
Radio frequency engineers earn the highest salary when working in the technology industry, where they receive an average salary of $94,522. Comparatively, senior electronics design engineers have the highest earning potential in the automotive industry, with an average salary of $133,934.When it comes to education, radio frequency engineers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to senior electronics design engineers. In fact, they're 3.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.9% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Senior electronics design engineer vs. Customer engineer
A customer engineer provides technical support to organizations having issues with their products or services. Duties and responsibilities may vary depending on the sector, but generally include diagnosing and troubleshooting technical problems with products, performing tests, upgrades and diagnostics to prevent delay or downtime caused by-product issues, and keeping updated reports outlining the problems and measures taken to resolve them. A customer engineer is also responsible for discussing service contracts and their benefits with clients.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between senior electronics design engineers and customer engineers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a senior electronics design engineer might have more use for skills like "analog," "power electronics," "pcb," and "firmware." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of customer engineers require skills like "customer service," "technical problems," "level agreements," and "customer satisfaction. "
In general, customer engineers earn the most working in the start-up industry, with an average salary of $106,798. The highest-paying industry for a senior electronics design engineer is the automotive industry.In general, customer engineers hold lower degree levels compared to senior electronics design engineers. Customer engineers are 16.9% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 2.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of senior electronics design engineer
Updated January 8, 2025
