Also called: Optical Network Engineer, Fiber Network Design Engineer
Designs the glass-fiber networks that carry internet traffic across towns, oceans and data centers.
You plan a fiber route connecting a new data center to the city, calculating how much light is lost over every splice and mile. Then you visit a cabinet on the roadside to test a link with a light meter that sends pulses down the fiber.
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 telecommunications; fiber certifications (FOA) help.
Ways in: 4-year college, Certification. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications Engineering.
Growing faster than average. Broadband buildout and data centers are driving demand.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI planning tools auto-design fiber routes; field surveys, testing and solving network problems stay human, with data-center demand growing.
Classes: Physics, Algebra II, Computer science, Electronics CTE.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2199.
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.