Also called: Navigation Algorithm Engineer, Routing Engineer
Builds the algorithms that pick the fastest route in navigation apps, mixing road data, live traffic and turn rules.
Drivers complain the app keeps sending them through a school zone at pickup time. You trace the bug to old speed data, change how live traffic is weighed, and replay a million past trips to test the fix. Then you work on routes for electric trucks that must stop to charge.
Estimated from mapping and delivery company postings.
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 computer science or applied math.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Operations Research, Geography (GIS).
Growing about average. Small specialty inside big tech and logistics companies.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI predicts traffic better each year, but designing reliable routing systems at huge scale still needs engineers.
Classes: AP Computer Science, AP Calculus, Geography.
Official data: O*NET occupation 15-1252.
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