Also called: Timing Engineer, PTP/GPS Timing Specialist
Makes sure cell towers, power grids and stock exchanges agree on the exact time down to billionths of a second, using GPS and atomic clocks.
A 5G network needs every tower synced to within a millionth of a second, so you test a new master clock in the lab and watch for drift. Then you plan a backup in case GPS signals get jammed. In the afternoon you help a trading firm prove its timestamps meet regulators' rules.
Estimated from telecom and electrical engineer pay.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in electrical or computer engineering.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, Network Engineering.
Growing faster than average. Growing with 5G, smart grids and worries about GPS jamming.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI helps analyze clock drift, but lab testing, hardware design and planning for GPS outages stay hands-on.
Classes: Physics, AP Calculus, Electronics CTE class, Computer science.
Official data: O*NET occupation 15-1241.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.