Whether it's inspecting manufacturing equipment or monitoring devices, Senior Instrumentation Technicians are competent everywhere. They typically work for manufacturing plants, ensuring that equipment is working correctly, safely, and efficiently. You will work with scientific and analytic computer software, calculators, and electronic probes to diagnose faults in circuitry on a typical day. These require you to be extremely precise in measuring and monitoring equipment to manage power use and ensure safety.

A minimum of a high school diploma or GED is required to work as an instrumentation technician, but post-secondary coursework may benefit you in the field. However, to achieve that senior role, you need a strong background in mathematics, computer software, and mechanical skills alongside more than five years of experience as an Instrumentation Technician for the same company. Accomplishing this, you are bound to earn a hefty sum that calculates to $65,000 a year.

What Does a Senior Instrument Technician Do

There are certain skills that many senior instrument technicians have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed math skills, mechanical skills and writing skills.

How To Become a Senior Instrument Technician

If you're interested in becoming a senior instrument technician, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 27.8% of senior instrument technicians have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 3.0% of senior instrument technicians have master's degrees. Even though some senior instrument technicians have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Senior Instrument Technician
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Senior Instrument Technician Career Paths

Average Salary for a Senior Instrument Technician

Senior Instrument Technicians in America make an average salary of $80,934 per year or $39 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $117,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $55,000 per year.
Average Senior Instrument Technician Salary
$80,934 Yearly
$38.91 hourly

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Roles and Types of Senior Instrument Technician

There are several types of senior instrument technician, including:

Electronics Engineering Technician

Role:

If you like fiddling with machines and building things out of spare parts, then the job of an electronics engineering technician might be for you. As an electronics engineering technician, you would get to work with brilliant engineers and build cool gadgets from computers to pulse oximeters. The gadgets you work on could even help save lives.

If you want to be an electronics engineering technician, hopefully, you would need hands-on education. You would probably get a degree from a technical school or community college where you'd learn basic programming and how to work with electronics. If you're interested in this field, hopefully, you are prepared to spend your life working in a boys' club. A whopping 89% of electronics engineering technicians are men. If you are a woman who's handy with some pliers and electrical wires, maybe you'll be the one to break down the gender barriers in this field.

  • Average Salary: $67,801
  • Degree: Associate Degree

Engineering Technician Lead

Role:

The old cliche goes that there are two kinds of people in the world: the dreamers and the doers. Engineering lead technicians are doers that help dreamers turn their ideas into prototypes and then finished products. The engineering lead technicians lead a team that manages every step of the equipment development process, from design to maintenance, once the production is complete.

Engineering lead technicians can work on a variety of projects depending on their specialized knowledge, from big projects in civil engineering to small, complex ones in computer engineering. They need extensive experience in engineering before working their way up to a leadership position, often including a bachelor's or master's degree.

But working as an engineering lead technician is not just about wires, pliers, and blueprints. An engineering lead technician also needs to be a good communicator who enjoys working with people as they manage their team and act as a liaison with other teams, such as the design or manufacturing departments.

  • Average Salary: $107,373
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

IE Technician

Role:

The full meaning of IE is Electrical and Instrumentation Technician. This personnel is responsible for inspecting, installing, maintaining, repairing, and calibrating several electrical and electronic equipment. You are to perform preventative maintenance checks on drivers, compressors, and auxiliary equipment. In addition to this, you are allowed to perform inspection and maintenance checks on all control systems. Your role is to identify, report, and correct environmental and safety concerns. All your work must comply with company standards, procedures, regulatory, and tariff requirements.

Additionally, you are in charge of maintaining the general upkeep of all appliances and equipment as required. This also involves maintaining electrical gear and power disruption. As an IE technician, you are in charge of your workers; therefore, you must monitor their performance and affairs when an opportunity presents itself. When constructions are done by third parties, you are responsible for overseeing and monitoring all of their activities. More importantly, you must stay up-to-date on operational requirements and required training.

To become efficient in this role, you must be able to work with the team, pay attention to details, display good verbal and written communication skills, excellent customer service skills, and solve basic mathematics calculations. An IE technician earns an average salary of $45,000 annually. To become qualified for this position, you need a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or other related fields.

  • Average Salary: $67,439
  • Degree: Associate Degree

States With The Most Senior Instrument Technician Jobs

Number Of Senior Instrument Technician Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California1,502$98,796
2Texas1,080$90,932
3Florida1,033$64,895
4New York771$74,280
5Illinois615$72,119
6Georgia587$67,052
7Virginia547$91,174
8Pennsylvania546$62,757
9North Carolina535$78,807
10Massachusetts515$74,730
11Colorado467$63,323
12Ohio462$70,394
13New Jersey453$76,280
14Arizona410$70,441
15Indiana389$66,036
16Michigan386$79,463
17Wisconsin370$60,910
18Minnesota347$65,598
19Maryland341$71,426
20Washington329$67,826
21Missouri318$65,097
22Tennessee293$55,376
23Connecticut290$73,290
24Alabama278$56,997
25South Carolina275$69,681
26Utah237$56,167
27Iowa212$59,893
28Oregon181$69,701
29Louisiana168$69,539
30Oklahoma161$58,556
31Kentucky160$58,967
32Arkansas149$60,844
33Nevada142$77,332
34Kansas125$54,827
35Maine118$50,256
36West Virginia115$67,299
37Nebraska115$53,542
38New Hampshire105$59,497
39Mississippi102$70,734
40Delaware99$80,265
41New Mexico99$74,710
42Alaska76$78,813
43Vermont65$66,879
44Montana60$60,718
45Rhode Island59$68,243
46Idaho58$62,864
47Hawaii57$130,258
48South Dakota53$58,557
49North Dakota37$55,670
50Wyoming28$65,419

Senior Instrument Technician Education

Senior Instrument Technician Majors

10.6 %

Senior Instrument Technician Degrees

Associate

49.1 %

Bachelors

27.8 %

Diploma

7.8 %

Top Colleges for Senior Instrument Technicians

1. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,522

Enrollment

13,760

2. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,798

Enrollment

31,503

3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,832

Enrollment

4,550

4. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

5. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

6. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

7. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Pomona, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,353

Enrollment

24,841

8. Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

Tallahassee, FL • Private

In-State Tuition

$5,785

Enrollment

7,711

9. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

10. Texas A&M University

College Station, TX • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,870

Enrollment

53,194

Top Skills For a Senior Instrument Technician

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 5.2% of senior instrument technicians listed control systems on their resume, but soft skills such as math skills and mechanical skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Senior Instrument Technician Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Senior Instrument Technician templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Senior Instrument Technician resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Senior Instrument Technician diversity

Senior Instrument Technician Gender Distribution

Male
Male
93%
Female
Female
7%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among senior instrument technicians, 7.3% of them are women, while 92.7% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among senior instrument technicians is White, which makes up 70.8% of all senior instrument technicians.

  • The most common foreign language among senior instrument technicians is Spanish at 66.7%.

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Top Senior Instrument Technician Employers

Most Common Employers For Senior Instrument Technician

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Murphy Oil$123,041$59.153
2Exxon Mobil$116,632$56.076
3Genentech$114,188$54.907
4Shell Trading$107,060$51.474
5Eli Lilly and Company$104,467$50.2210
6Seadrill$99,411$47.795
7Amgen$95,968$46.1414
8BASF$95,919$46.113
9The Dow Chemical Company$93,525$44.968
10BHP$91,208$43.853

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