Also called: Printed Circuit Board Designer, Layout Engineer
Lays out the copper traces and parts on circuit boards so they work, stay cool and can be manufactured.
You get a schematic for a drone flight controller and fit 400 parts onto a board the size of a credit card, routing high-speed signals so they don't interfere. You send files to the board factory and check the first boards under a microscope.
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 engineering or associate plus CID certification and experience.
Ways in: 4-year college, Certification. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Electrical Engineering, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Electronics Engineering Technology.
Growing faster than average (about 7% over 10 years).
Medium risk in 5 years, high in 10. Auto-routing and AI layout tools are improving fast, so fewer layout specialists; high-speed and tricky boards still need human judgment.
Classes: Electronics class, Geometry, Computer science, Physics.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2072.
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.