Post job

What is a senior reliability engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
5 min read
Quoted expert
Andrea Welker Ph.D.

A senior reliability engineer ensures that products or systems consistently operate as intended over their expected lifespan. They design processes to identify potential failures and eliminate them through testing, analysis, and improvements to the design or manufacturing. Senior reliability engineers work with cross-functional teams of product development, quality assurance, supply chain management, and customer support. They also provide technical expertise to resolve issues and work proactively to improve overall reliability.

What general advice would you give to a senior reliability engineer?

Andrea Welker Ph.D.Andrea Welker Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Engineering Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Villanova University

Be open to new experiences. Find a good mentor. Become a valued employee. Always remember that you are designing something for someone.
ScoreSenior Reliability EngineerUS Average
Salary
8.2

Avg. Salary $121,562

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 15.48%

Black or African American 4.29%

Hispanic or Latino 10.53%

Unknown 3.89%

White 65.64%

Gender

female 12.26%

male 87.74%

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 senior reliability engineer?

Pros

  • High salary and good benefits

  • Possibility for career advancement and growth

  • Great job security and stability in the industry

  • Flexibility in work hours and location

  • Opportunities for travel and global networking

Cons

  • Long hours of work, including weekends and holidays

  • Can be emotionally draining due to the consequences of product failures or malfunctions

  • May require working in hazardous or challenging environments

  • Can be isolating or isolating from other departments or teams within the company

  • May require extensive travel, which can be exhausting and disruptive to personal life

Senior reliability engineer career paths

Key steps to become a senior reliability engineer

  1. Explore senior reliability engineer education requirements

    Most common senior reliability engineer degrees

    Bachelor's

    71.3 %

    Master's

    16.8 %

    Associate

    6.3 %
  2. Start to develop specific senior reliability engineer skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Jenkins9.63%
    Azure8.86%
    Ruby8.66%
    Microservices4.34%
    Product Development4.32%
  3. Complete relevant senior reliability engineer training and internships

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

    • Utilize IR, laser, and probing techniques that lead to the identification of new failure mechanisms.
    • Used RCM analysis on equipment to develop effective maintenance strategies to manage risk and improve reliability of assets.
    • Cloud Virtualization environment, manage with Rightscale.
    • Lead the ISO preparation team for the reliability department support by familiar ISO9000 philosophies yielding operationally profitable results.
  5. Get senior reliability engineer experience

    Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a senior reliability engineer. The most common roles before becoming a senior reliability engineer include reliability engineer, engineer team lead and project engineer.
  6. Prepare your senior reliability engineer resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior reliability 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 reliability 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 reliability engineer resume templates

    Build a professional senior reliability engineer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your senior reliability engineer resume.
    Senior Reliability Engineer Resume
    Senior Reliability Engineer Resume
    Senior Reliability Engineer Resume
    Senior Reliability Engineer Resume
    Senior Reliability Engineer Resume
    Senior Reliability Engineer Resume
    Senior Reliability Engineer Resume
    Senior Reliability Engineer Resume
    Senior Reliability Engineer Resume
  7. Apply for senior reliability engineer jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a senior reliability engineer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first senior reliability engineer job

Zippi

Are you a senior reliability engineer?

Share your story for a free salary report.

Average senior reliability engineer salary

The average senior reliability engineer salary in the United States is $121,562 per year or $58 per hour. Senior reliability engineer salaries range between $90,000 and $163,000 per year.

Average senior reliability engineer salary
$121,562 Yearly
$58.44 hourly

What am I worth?

salary-calculator

How do senior reliability engineers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Senior reliability engineer reviews

profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2019
Pros

Troubleshooting and commissioning


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2019
Pros

Challenge, satisfaction of problem resolution and working with team


Working as a senior reliability engineer? Share your experience anonymously.
Overall rating*
Career growth
Work/Life balance
Pay/Salary

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Browse architecture and engineering jobs