What is a Software Automation Engineer?

In IT, a software automation engineer refers to someone who delivers automated solutions for software processes. Automation engineers work closely with other teams to discover and eliminate problems by gathering requirements and implementing process automation. Sometimes, this will include hardware or software, but other times they might be asked to automate service or business processes.

They need at least a bachelor's degree in computer science, computer engineering, or a similar field to become an automation engineer. They also want a program that includes courses on robotics, databases, statistics, AI, control systems, and artificial neural networks (ANN). Some employers also want applicants to have a master's degree and experience with manual and automated testing procedures depending on the role.

The software automation engineering jobs fall under the role of QA engineer. So, the average salary for QA automation engineers, and similar job titles, is $100,580 per year. Senior QA automation engineers reportedly earn an average salary of $124,000 per year.

What Does a Software Automation Engineer Do

When it comes to the most important skills required to be a software automation engineer, we found that a lot of resumes listed 13.9% of software automation engineers included python, while 10.3% of resumes included java, and 7.9% of resumes included c #. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.

Learn more about what a Software Automation Engineer does

How To Become a Software Automation Engineer

If you're interested in becoming a software automation engineer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 72.6% of software automation engineers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 20.1% of software automation engineers have master's degrees. Even though most software automation engineers have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Software Automation Engineer
Top Software Automation Engineer Jobs Near You

Software Automation Engineer Career Paths

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of senior software engineer you might progress to a role such as team leader eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title quality assurance lead.

Software Automation Engineer

Top Careers Before Software Automation Engineer

Software Engineer(339,938 Jobs)
22.0 %
Quality Assurance Engineer(243,536 Jobs)
18.0 %
Software Test Engineer(243,382 Jobs)
8.6 %

Top Careers After Software Automation Engineer

Senior Software Engineer(338,989 Jobs)
17.5 %
Software Engineer(339,938 Jobs)
16.0 %
Quality Assurance Engineer(243,536 Jobs)
11.5 %

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Average Salary for a Software Automation Engineer

Software Automation Engineers in America make an average salary of $102,812 per year or $49 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $138,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $76,000 per year.
Average Software Automation Engineer Salary
$102,812 Yearly
$49.43 hourly
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Roles and Types of Software Automation Engineer

The role of a software automation engineer includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general software automation engineer responsibilities:

  • Plan test schedules or strategies in accordance with project scope/delivery dates implement
  • Design and develop automation processes and tools in java or similar programing language. Maintain existing automation processes
  • Create and/or improve the tools that provide insight into availability

There are several types of software automation engineer, including:

Software Engineer

Role:

Software Engineers get to apply lots of different areas of study into their everyday work. Whether it's science, engineering, mathematics, computer science, or even design, these engineers are able to use lots of different methods and techniques in their line of work.

Essentially, software engineers design, develop and test software applications for computers. They usually work in offices or labs during their average 40-hour workweek. Even though they use a wide range of study, typically software engineers only require a Bachelor's degree, although a Master's degree is appealing to most employers.
  • Average Salary: $100,260
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Software Developer

Role:

As a software developer, you'll spend a lot of time analyzing what exactly customers need. In fact, you might put those needs ahead of other aspects of your job. After all, a happy customer means a happy business.

On top of assessing needs, you'll be responsible for making sure those needs are met through developing special software. You might even recommend certain upgrades for customers, if you feel that will help them along the way.

Most employers will expect you to have a bachelor's degree. So it looks like you might need to put some time and resources into your education. Just to make sure potential employers are impressed. If nothing else, the extra education may put you ahead of your colleagues.
  • Average Salary: $87,521
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Test Engineer

Role:

If you want to earn an annual average salary of $74,632, you can try being a Test Engineer. Not only that, but you can also excel and try other roles related to being a Test Engineer. You can be a Software Engineer, a Project Engineer, a Systems Engineer, and a Manager of Systems Engineering.

If you are a Test Engineer, you will be observing and recording product quality like durability, safety, speed, and functionality. You will check the materials of the product and procedures done to come up with this product. You will be running tests and identifying technical issues.

Most Test Engineer applicants today include Test Scripts, C++, Hardware, Python, and Test Equipment in their resumes, so you might want to brush up your skills and knowledge on these things. This way, you are at par with other applicants and have a good chance of getting hired since you know relevant things about the field.

  • Average Salary: $79,832
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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States With The Most Software Automation Engineer Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active software automation engineer jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where software automation engineers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Software Automation Engineer Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California14,028$129,719
2Washington5,390$115,209
3Texas5,231$92,343
4Virginia3,754$89,002
5New York3,432$93,243
6Massachusetts3,141$93,227
7Florida2,951$81,256
8Illinois2,606$81,139
9Maryland2,549$93,266
10Pennsylvania2,285$85,800
11North Carolina2,257$81,390
12Georgia2,087$83,541
13New Jersey2,039$92,115
14Colorado1,928$90,296
15Ohio1,833$83,494
16Oregon1,686$112,194
17Michigan1,533$84,680
18Minnesota1,528$86,541
19Indiana1,404$80,094
20Arizona1,339$95,757
21Utah1,297$84,828
22Wisconsin1,154$80,457
23Missouri1,136$81,132
24Alabama927$86,724
25Tennessee848$77,442
26Kansas697$77,378
27Connecticut683$90,890
28Iowa623$84,948
29Kentucky621$76,456
30Arkansas616$76,356
31South Carolina607$76,766
32Nebraska568$87,517
33Rhode Island471$81,980
34Louisiana459$88,028
35Delaware427$96,707
36New Hampshire407$106,466
37Oklahoma405$83,778
38Nevada393$104,321
39New Mexico369$80,883
40Idaho357$94,597
41Montana277$93,959
42Vermont255$80,418
43Mississippi251$79,686
44West Virginia248$75,019
45South Dakota235$88,277
46Maine226$91,464
47North Dakota186$85,425
48Wyoming160$94,409
49Hawaii155$84,911
50Alaska135$97,118

Software Automation Engineer Education

Software Automation Engineer Majors

Computer Science
34.4 %
Electrical Engineering
14.4 %
Computer Engineering
13.0 %

Software Automation Engineer Degrees

Bachelors

72.6 %

Masters

20.1 %

Associate

5.1 %

Top Colleges for Software Automation Engineers

1. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Economics
Computer Science
Finance
Computer Engineering

2. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Economics
Computer Science
Mechanical Engineering
Electrical Engineering

3. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,798

Enrollment

31,503

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Computer Science
Mechanical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Civil Engineering

4. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Finance
Business
Information Systems
Computer Science
Mechanical Engineering

5. Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$12,424

Enrollment

15,201

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Information Systems
Mechanical Engineering
Business
Electrical Engineering
Computer Science

6. Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,992

Enrollment

33,495

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Mechanical Engineering
Computer Science
Electrical Engineering
Information Systems

7. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Economics
Computer Science
Mechanical Engineering
Electrical Engineering

8. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Computer Science
Economics
Information Systems
Electrical Engineering

9. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Pomona, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,353

Enrollment

24,841

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Civil Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Computer Science
Electrical Engineering

10. University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$13,226

Enrollment

31,568

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Economics
Mathematics
Computer Science
Electrical Engineering

Top Skills For a Software Automation Engineer

Choose From 10+ Customizable Software Automation Engineer Resume templates

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

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Software Automation Engineer Resume

Software Automation Engineer Demographics

Software Automation Engineer Gender Distribution

Male
Male
78%
Female
Female
22%

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

  • Among software automation engineers, 21.9% of them are women, while 78.1% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among software automation engineers is White, which makes up 67.7% of all software automation engineers.

  • The most common foreign language among software automation engineers is Spanish at 44.4%.

Online Courses For Software Automation Engineer That You May Like

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Best States For a Software Automation Engineer

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a software automation engineer. The best states for people in this position are California, Washington, Oregon, and New Hampshire. Software automation engineers make the most in California with an average salary of $129,719. Whereas in Washington and Oregon, they would average $115,209 and $112,194, respectively. While software automation engineers would only make an average of $106,466 in New Hampshire, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. California

Total Software Automation Engineer Jobs: 14,028
Highest 10% Earn:
$179,000
Location Quotient:
1.74

$129,719

Avg. Salary

View 14,028 Software Automation Engineer Jobs In CA

2. Washington

Total Software Automation Engineer Jobs: 5,390
Highest 10% Earn:
$155,000
Location Quotient:
2.67

$115,209

Avg. Salary

View 5,390 Software Automation Engineer Jobs In WA

3. Oregon

Total Software Automation Engineer Jobs: 1,686
Highest 10% Earn:
$152,000
Location Quotient:
1.47

$112,194

Avg. Salary

View 1,686 Software Automation Engineer Jobs In OR
Full List Of Best States For Software Automation Engineers

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Top Software Automation Engineer Employers

Most Common Employers For Software Automation Engineer

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Roku$148,874$71.5722
2Apple$147,802$71.069
3Twitter$135,922$65.356
4AppDynamics$128,355$61.719
5Salesforce$115,020$55.309
6Ford Motor$112,142$53.9111
7Slack$107,008$51.458
8Intel$102,870$49.4617
9General Motors$102,717$49.386
10Sena$101,282$48.697
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Updated February 6, 2023