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

What is a senior field engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Fred Garber Ph.D.

Those passionate about engineering have endless career opportunities they may consider, including a career as a Senior Field Engineer. Working a standard full-time schedule, Senior Field Engineers earn an average of $59.38 an hour, which comes to $123,516 a year. The expected career growth rate between 2008 and 2028 is two percent, generating 8,000 job opportunities in the United States. Most senior field engineers work in manufacturing and technology industries.

Senior field engineers are responsible for managing staff and mentoring junior engineers. They conduct installations and upgrades and provide technical support. Senior field engineers perform adjustments and repairs where necessary.

A large percentage of senior field engineers have bachelor's degrees, but some have a high school diploma degree, which is also acceptable. As for experience, many jobs require that you have previously worked as a field engineer, electronics technician, or field service technician. The most common major for senior field engineers is in electrical engineering. It is necessary to have solid communication, analytical, mechanical, and technical support skills for the position of senior field engineer.

What general advice would you give to a senior field 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.

ScoreSenior Field EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.5

Avg. Salary $97,104

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.18%

Asian 14.32%

Black or African American 4.91%

Hispanic or Latino 11.48%

Unknown 4.72%

White 64.37%

Gender

female 4.93%

male 95.07%

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 senior field engineer

Explore senior field engineer education requirements

Most common senior field engineer degrees

Bachelor's

53.2 %

Associate

28.7 %

Master's

7.7 %

Start to develop specific senior field engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
RF	6.67%
Technical Support	6.45%
Excellent Interpersonal	5.52%
Technical Problems	5.07%
Test Equipment	4.71%

Complete relevant senior field engineer training and internships

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

Research senior field engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage a team of 10 engineers to install and repair commercial HVAC and refrigeration units.
Promote from original position as a staff engineer managing a variety of geotechnical engineering activities to a field engineer inspector position.
Upgrade firmware on all components in the SAN.
Provide UNIX host setup and provide administration for the duration of the engagement.

Get senior field engineer experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a senior field engineer. The most common roles before becoming a senior field engineer include field engineer, field service technician team lead and electronics technician.

Prepare your senior field engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior field engineer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a senior field engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable senior field engineer resume templates

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