Systems Engineer
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Systems Engineer creates computer and data communication networks for companies and organizations. Plans and designs layout for a network, determines the hardware needed and placement of computers, servers, cables and routers; determines data storage and system capacity, speed and software needed for a system.
Job Outlook
There were 1580 Systems Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 80301 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Computer Systems Engineer / Architect industry, which includes the Systems Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Systems 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 $101,186.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $93,672.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Systems Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $86,179.
Education and Experience
Posted Systems 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 | 3.77% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 74.24% |
| Master's Degree | 33.34% |
| Doctoral Degree | 13.06% |
| Other | 4.06% |
Posted Systems 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 | 12.41% |
| 3 to 5 years | 39.63% |
| 6 to 8 years | 19.55% |
| 9+ years | 28.41% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Systems 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 (37.04%)
- Management (32.26%)
- Operations (26.7%)
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (24.22%)
- Planning (23.21%)
- Leadership (19.56%)
- Problem Solving (16.71%)
- Mathematics (15.1%)
- Writing (12.91%)
- Coordinating (11.8%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Systems Engineering (82.06%)
- Verification And Validation (10.18%)
- Windows Servers (6.72%)
- Systems Architecture (12.72%)
- Computer Science (26.47%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Agile Methodology (14.37%)
- Test Planning (9.4%)
- Microsoft Azure (9.64%)
- Electrical Engineering (12%)
- Amazon Web Services (8.79%)
- Scripting (13.53%)
- Active Directory (8.56%)
- New Product Development (8.15%)
- Project Management (15.06%)
- Requirements Management (7.41%)
- Linux (13.43%)
- Computer Engineering (8.57%)
- Operating Systems (13.2%)
- Control Systems (5.84%)
- Physics (9.03%)
- MATLAB (7.62%)
- Python (Programming Language) (16%)
- Configuration Management (8.64%)
- Software Development (9.51%)
- Systems Design (14.52%)
- Automation (16.31%)
- Windows PowerShell (7.5%)
- Systems Integration (14.02%)
- Software Engineering (7.63%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) (3.4%)
- Concept Of Operations (6.91%)
- Hyper-V (2.17%)
- Maintainability (3.1%)
- Model Based Systems Engineering (12.9%)
- Traceability (3.72%)
- Systems Modeling Language (5.73%)
- System Requirements (5.97%)
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.
- Systems Engineering (97.22%)
- Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) (4.03%)
- Traceability (4.41%)
- Hyper-V (2.57%)
- Model Based Systems Engineering (15.29%)
- Verification And Validation (12.06%)
- Systems Architecture (15.07%)
- System Requirements (7.08%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Systems Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Principal Systems Engineer
- Infrastructure Engineer
- Control Systems Engineer
- Lead Systems Engineer
- Systems Engineering Intern
- Model Based Systems Engineer
- Space Systems Engineer
- Specialist Systems Engineer
- System Safety 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.
- Automation Engineer
- Aerospace Engineer
- Systems Administrator
- Electronic Warfare Engineer
- VMware Engineer / Administrator
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Systems Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Northrop Grumman (3195)
- Boeing (2283)
- Lockheed Martin (2118)
- Raytheon Technologies (2087)
- Leidos (2051)
- L3Harris Technologies (2032)
- SAIC (1067)
- Actalent (959)
- Peraton (914)
- General Dynamics (906)
North Carolina
- General Dynamics (44)
- Randstad (41)
- Wells Fargo (34)
- Actalent (32)
- Allegis Group (30)
- Northrop Grumman (24)
- TEKsystems (23)
- First Citizens Bank (20)
- ASGN (19)
- Truist Financial (17)
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.