Also called: Surface Mount Engineer, PCBA Process Engineer
Runs the high-speed lines that place thousands of tiny components onto circuit boards per minute and solder them in place.
A new circuit board for a medical monitor is launching. You program the pick-and-place machines, set up the solder reflow oven's temperature profile, and study X-ray images of solder joints hidden under chips. Then you train operators on the new line.
Estimate.
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, manufacturing or industrial engineering.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering.
Growing about average.
Medium risk for 10 years. SMT lines are highly automated and AI tunes process data; engineers still solve defects, but fewer are needed per line.
Classes: AP Physics, AP Calculus, Electronics class.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2071.
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.