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

What is a senior research engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Daisy Huang

Senior Research Engineers are responsible for leading a team of engineers in developing and designing new products and technology. They also improve existing processes and implement innovative technologies. A Senior Research Engineer typically works in a research department and guides the research engineers in information and data collection and sample testing to enable them to come up with the best product or process. A Senior Research Engineer may work in one of three sectors: Product Engineering, Biochemical Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering.

Their day-to-day duties depend on the sector of engineering they work in, but the general duties include planning and conducting cutting edge engineering research, designing and overseeing data collection and sample testing to ensure quality control, evaluating and reviewing research results, and drawing appropriate conclusions, project budget preparation, and providing necessary support to other technicians. The typical workweek for a Senior Research Engineer is 40 hours a week, five days a week from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

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

Daisy Huang

Assistant Professor, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Be flexible. There are many career paths, and many could be good for you. Don't get stuck in a comfort zone where you aren't growing.

ScoreSenior Research EngineerUS Average

Salary

8.0

Avg. Salary $115,047

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.4

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.11%

Asian 17.05%

Black or African American 3.09%

Hispanic or Latino 7.89%

Unknown 4.51%

White 67.36%

Gender

female 11.23%

male 88.77%

Age - 39

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 - 39

Stress level

7.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.6

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.1

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior research engineer

Explore senior research engineer education requirements

Most common senior research engineer degrees

Bachelor's

58.5 %

Master's

22.2 %

Doctorate

16.7 %

Start to develop specific senior research engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Python	14.51%
Java	6.15%
Project Management	4.28%
Software Development	3.91%
Data Analysis	3.79%

Complete relevant senior research engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior research 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 research engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior research engineer resumes.

Research senior research engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage a proof-of-concept and prototyping program for a vehicle tagging and electronic tracking system.
Carry out ETL tasks using Java and Apache/Hadoop.
Design plastic and metal components for cells and batteries using Solidworks.
Select to travel to Malaysia to identify and resolve issues in filter prototyping and manufacture.

Get senior research engineer experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a senior research engineer. The most common roles before becoming a senior research engineer include research assistant, research engineer team lead and graduate research assistant.

Prepare your senior research engineer resume

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

Build a professional senior research 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 research engineer resume.

Apply for senior research engineer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a senior research 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

How do senior research engineers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Senior research engineer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2019

Pros

Investigation. I love to dig and dig to find hidden gems of information that can be pivtol to the project.

Cons

There is tons of reading involved, not everything is interesting so it can be a bit much to read and analyze what seems like endless information. But I still love it.