Hardware Quality Assurance / Test Engineer
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Hardware Quality Assurance or Test Engineer designs and develops test processes for computer hardware and computer-related equipment. Creates test plans and equipment, implements and monitors test processes, and completes hardware product validations.
Job Outlook
There were 30 Hardware Quality Assurance / Test Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 2743 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Hardware Engineer industry, which includes the Hardware Quality Assurance / Test Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:
Salary
Many new Hardware Quality Assurance / Test Engineer jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $130,869.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $130,869.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Hardware Quality Assurance / Test Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $106,433.
Education and Experience
Posted Hardware Quality Assurance / Test Engineer jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 59.53% |
| Master's Degree | 23.73% |
| Doctoral Degree | 8.82% |
| Other | 0.84% |
Posted Hardware Quality Assurance / Test Engineer jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 13.7% |
| 3 to 5 years | 49.11% |
| 6 to 8 years | 15.54% |
| 9+ years | 21.65% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Hardware Quality Assurance / Test Engineer positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Communication (35%)
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (23.81%)
- Management (20.6%)
- Leadership (18.19%)
- Operations (16.88%)
- Mathematics (16.66%)
- Problem Solving (13.31%)
- Program Management (12.29%)
- Timelines (10.54%)
- Coaching (10.32%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Automation (20.13%)
- Electrical Engineering (34.7%)
- Test Planning (32.36%)
- Test Engineering (64.56%)
- Test Equipment (30.45%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Semiconductors (3.31%)
- TestStand (1.95%)
- Technical Support (0.86%)
- Automatic Test Equipment (2.38%)
- Agile Methodology (7.48%)
- C (Programming Language) (9.38%)
- Systems Engineering (10.71%)
- Data Analysis (7.79%)
- Software Testing (11.1%)
- Software Development (10.24%)
- Oscilloscope (15.65%)
- C# (Programming Language) (6.43%)
- Test Automation (21.69%)
- Printed Circuit Board (5.69%)
- JIRA (6.04%)
- C++ (Programming Language) (14.49%)
- Computer Science (22.2%)
- Computer Engineering (25.9%)
- Digital Electronics (1.99%)
- Integration Testing (6.58%)
- Hardware Architecture (10.01%)
- Debugging (34.81%)
- Hardware Design (8.53%)
- Linux (22.55%)
- Electronics (8.76%)
- Firmware (9.46%)
- Logic Analyzer (5.57%)
- MATLAB (11.37%)
- Python (Programming Language) (36.72%)
- LabVIEW (9.38%)
- Radio Frequency (6.7%)
- Verification And Validation (8.37%)
- System Testing (8.37%)
- Project Management (7.09%)
- New Product Development (23.79%)
- Scripting (14.02%)
- System Requirements (2.41%)
- Simulations (6.85%)
- Software Engineering (9.03%)
- Systems Integration (6.97%)
- Test Data (9.74%)
- Tcl (Programming Language) (2.06%)
- Sensors (7.59%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Boundary Scan (2.14%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Boundary Scan (6.42%)
- Test Planning (96.97%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Hardware Quality Assurance / Test Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Hardware Test Engineer
- Test Engineer
- Principal Software Engineer
- Hardware Engineer
- Principal Engineer
- Principal Systems Engineer
- Software Test Engineer
- Systems Test Engineer
- Electrical Hardware Engineer
- Antenna Engineer
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Mechanical Testing Engineer
- Manufacturing Test Engineer
- Hardware Engineer (General)
- Software QA Engineer / Tester
- Hardware Design Engineer
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Hardware Quality Assurance / Test Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Jabil (251)
- Northrop Grumman (188)
- Actalent (97)
- Cornerstone Ondemand (50)
- Insight Global (42)
- Raytheon Technologies (42)
- Blue Origin (41)
- Amazon (34)
- BAE Systems (31)
- Ford (28)
North Carolina
- Northrop Grumman (4)
- Cynet Systems (2)
- Thermo Fisher Scientific (1)
- Cubic Corporation (1)
- Lenovo (1)
- Cornerstone Ondemand (1)
- Xylem (1)
- Renesas Electronics (1)
- Bayone (1)
- Qorvo (1)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.