Manufacturing Automation Engineer
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Manufacturing Automation Engineer designs, programs and improves automated machinery and processes within a manufacturing environment. Are responsible for the design specifications, documentation and troubleshooting of the equipment. Often work within vehicle manufacturing and food processing plants, where robots or machines are used to perform specific functions.
Job Outlook
There were 169 Manufacturing Automation Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 2280 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Manufacturing Engineer industry, which includes the Manufacturing Automation Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:
Salary
Many new Manufacturing Automation 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 $112,572.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $109,163.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Manufacturing Automation Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $102,068.
Education and Experience
Posted Manufacturing Automation 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 | 80.31% |
| Master's Degree | 13.55% |
| Doctoral Degree | 1.62% |
| Other | 2.59% |
Posted Manufacturing Automation 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 | 18.16% |
| 3 to 5 years | 52.96% |
| 6 to 8 years | 17.28% |
| 9+ years | 11.6% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Manufacturing Automation 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.
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (60.61%)
- Operations (40.7%)
- Communication (39.56%)
- Problem Solving (32.76%)
- Leadership (25.31%)
- Management (24.52%)
- Innovation (21.05%)
- Planning (15.31%)
- Microsoft Office (11.32%)
- Packaging And Labeling (10.26%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Industrial Automation (14.25%)
- Continuous Improvement Process (29.39%)
- Systems Engineering (42.28%)
- Automation (87.24%)
- Control Systems (28.07%)
- Manufacturing Processes (38.73%)
- Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) (22.98%)
- Robotics (33.46%)
- Project Management (33.95%)
- Programmable Logic Controllers (52.02%)
- Automation Systems (22.85%)
- Human Machine Interfaces (39.56%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Industry 4.0 (4.61%)
- Automation Controls (9.21%)
- Industrial Robotics (3.38%)
- Project Engineering (2.41%)
- Supply Chain (6.05%)
- Process Failure Mode And Effects Analysis (PFMEA) (3.33%)
- Actuators (4.96%)
- Six Sigma Methodology (8.68%)
- Computer-Aided Design (9.34%)
- AutoCAD (14.34%)
- C# (Programming Language) (5.61%)
- Process Engineering (10.66%)
- Computer Science (12.15%)
- C++ (Programming Language) (4.21%)
- Electrical Engineering (27.15%)
- Data Collection (5.83%)
- Industrial Engineering (14.47%)
- Business Process Automation (7.81%)
- Change Management (3.29%)
- Good Manufacturing Practices (18.29%)
- Electrical Wiring (7.63%)
- Procurement (6.62%)
- Instrumentation (9.78%)
- Electrical Systems (6.18%)
- Lean Manufacturing (19.3%)
- SolidWorks (CAD) (11.32%)
- Manufacturing Automation (17.41%)
- Control Engineering (4.87%)
- Debugging (11.84%)
- Cyber Security (1.58%)
- Electronics (4.65%)
- Mechanical Engineering (19.74%)
- Machinery (15%)
- Manufacturing Engineering (14.82%)
- Standard Operating Procedure (6.75%)
- Manufacturing Execution System (MES) (13.82%)
- Hydraulics (4.17%)
- Python (Programming Language) (8.25%)
- PROFINET Standards (2.94%)
- Machining (6.84%)
- Production Process (7.81%)
- Manufacturing Operations (14.61%)
- Root Cause Analysis (7.94%)
- Wonderware (4.21%)
- Technical Documentation (2.24%)
- Machine Vision (7.68%)
- Tooling (10.88%)
- Ladder Logic (9.21%)
- SQL (Programming Language) (7.98%)
- Industrial Control Systems (6.14%)
- Safety Standards (6.23%)
- Process Control (13.51%)
- Pharmaceuticals (11.84%)
- New Product Development (11.18%)
- Motion Control Systems (10.7%)
- Process Improvement (18.51%)
- Pneumatics (5%)
- Production Equipment (7.37%)
- Production Line (4.74%)
- Rockwell FactoryTalk (6.36%)
- Software Engineering (4.04%)
- Equipment Design (6.58%)
- Environment Health And Safety (6.01%)
- Commissioning (11.84%)
- Programmable Logic Controllers Programming (19.08%)
- Sensors (14.34%)
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.
- Automation (100%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Manufacturing Automation Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Automation Engineer
- Controls Engineer
- Automation Controls Engineer
- Industrial Automation Engineer
- Automation and Controls Engineer
- Process Engineer
- Principal Engineer
- Process Automation Engineer
- Automation Director
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.
- Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) Programmer
- Electrical Controls Engineer
- Automation Engineer
- Manufacturing Engineer (General)
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Manufacturing Automation Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Actalent (95)
- GPAC (55)
- Lonza (45)
- Jobot (28)
- Randstad (28)
- The Judge Group (25)
- Kelly Services (25)
- Tesla (24)
- Eli Lilly (21)
- Diedre Moire (20)
North Carolina
- Actalent (13)
- Baxter International (8)
- Corning (8)
- Jabil (7)
- Grail (6)
- Eli Lilly (6)
- Jobot (5)
- Randstad (5)
- Thermo Fisher Scientific (4)
- Insight Global (4)
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.