Robotics Engineer jobs: skills, pay and how to get hired
Contents
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What a robotics engineer does
A robotics engineer, a Robotikingenieur in German ads, makes a robot do a job: welding, picking, packing, inspecting, driving goods through a warehouse or assisting a surgeon. The work runs from choosing the robot and gripper to planning its motion, giving it cameras and other sensors, writing or configuring its software, proving the cell is safe, and bringing it into service on site. Some roles lean to software, such as robotics software engineers who build on ROS; others to the automation cell on a factory floor.
Several titles sit next to this one. The mechatronics engineer joins mechanics, electronics and control in machines of many kinds; the mechanical engineer designs the structures and grippers; the electrical engineer the power and control cabinets; the embedded software engineer the firmware in drives and controllers. A Roboter-Programmierer or an Industriemechaniker in Germany is trained trade work on the shop floor, not covered here. The steps from junior robotics engineer to head of robotics are in the career paths of this role.
Machine rules differ by country, and each country's section names its own. This page describes the work around robots; it is not engineering, legal or career advice.
The skills the ads ask for
We read a sample of the ads every day and count the skills they name. On a computer, hover a skill in the text to see its share; on a phone, the table has the same figures.
| Skill | What is expected |
|---|---|
| Robotics | Design, program and bring into service robot systems, from the arm or vehicle to the cell around it. |
| ROS | Build robot software from ROS nodes and messages, and find a fault across them with the ROS tools. |
| C++ | Write fast, safe C++ for the parts of the robot that must react in time. |
| Python | Script tests, tools and data analysis, and prototype robot behaviour quickly. |
| Control Engineering | Tune control loops on joints and drives so motion is fast, stable and precise. |
| Computer vision | Detect and locate objects in camera images well enough for a robot to grasp or avoid them. |
| Motion Planning | Plan paths and trajectories that reach the goal, avoid collisions and respect the robot's limits. |
| PLC | Connect the robot to the line's PLC and read the signals and logic that run the cell. |
| Sensor Fusion | Combine cameras, lidar, encoders and inertial sensors into one estimate the robot can trust. |
| MATLAB | Model kinematics, dynamics and controllers before you build them. |
| Robot Simulation | Test motion and software in a simulator before the robot moves, and know its limits. |
| Functional Safety | Design safety functions, such as stops and speed limits, to the level the risk asks for. |
The heart of the job is roboticsDesign, program and bring into service robot systems, from the arm or vehicle to the cell around it. itself: kinematics, motion planningPlan paths and trajectories that reach the goal, avoid collisions and respect the robot's limits. and control engineeringTune control loops on joints and drives so motion is fast, stable and precise. for the arm or vehicle, with computer visionDetect and locate objects in camera images well enough for a robot to grasp or avoid them., sensor fusionCombine cameras, lidar, encoders and inertial sensors into one estimate the robot can trust. and, for mobile robots, localisation and mappingLet a mobile robot build a map and know where it is on it, and spot when it is lost.. Ads want C++Write fast, safe C++ for the parts of the robot that must react in time. and PythonScript tests, tools and data analysis, and prototype robot behaviour quickly., often ROSBuild robot software from ROS nodes and messages, and find a fault across them with the ROS tools., and on factory floors the PLCConnect the robot to the line's PLC and read the signals and logic that run the cell. that runs the line. Safety runs through everything: functional safetyDesign safety functions, such as stops and speed limits, to the level the risk asks for. and the robot standards, such as ISO 10218Apply the robot safety standards, such as ISO 10218 and ISO/TS 15066, with the safety team..
The tools are named side by side and none is a must everywhere: ROS 2 as the common software framework, Gazebo, Isaac Sim and Webots for simulationTest motion and software in a simulator before the robot moves, and know its limits., MoveIt for arm motion, MATLABModel kinematics, dynamics and controllers before you build them. for modelling, the robot makers' own programming tools on the shop floor, and 3D CADRead and adjust the 3D model of a cell, a gripper or a robot's reach. to check reach and layout. Much of the job is explaining a robot's limitsExplain a robot's limits and risks to operators, managers and customers in plain words. to operators and customers, in GermanAsked for in most German robotics ads, for teams, plants and customers in Germany. where the team speaks it and in EnglishThe language of ROS, of most documentation and of international robotics teams..
Where the jobs are, country by country
Each country below has its own figures: which cities have the most jobs in our list, whether the number is going up or down, how often ads offer remote or hybrid work, the titles used in the country, and pay ranges from published research, in the local currency.
Germany
Pay (Base salary)
- Entry level: €48,400 to €54,600 a year
- Mid-level: €54,600 to €66,900 a year
- Senior: €65,627 to €79,000 a year
Total pay: Payscale puts the yearly bonus of robotics engineers in Germany at up to about €6,000.
Entry level is the lower half of StepStone's range for robotics engineers and mid-level its upper half, both a salary site's estimate. The senior range runs from StepStone's average for robotics engineers with experience, also an estimate, to the salary below which Payscale puts nine in ten robotics engineers in Germany, which rests on 33 salaries.
Sources: StepStone: Robotics Engineer (2026), Payscale: robotics engineer (May 2026).
Pay researched on 29 Oct 2026.
Rules and work: robots sold in Germany carry the EU's CE marking under the machinery rules, and the EU Machinery Regulation replaces the Machinery Directive from January 2027. The DGUV, the German statutory accident insurance, publishes guidance on robot workplaces. German robotics work is strong in cars, machine building and logistics. German ads say Robotikingenieur or Ingenieur Robotik; a Roboter-Programmierer or an Industriemechaniker is trained trade work, not covered here.
Language: most German teams and plants work in German, so the ads mostly ask for GermanAsked for in most German robotics ads, for teams, plants and customers in Germany., and research and start-up teams add EnglishThe language of ROS, of most documentation and of international robotics teams..
United States
Pay (Base salary)
- Entry level: $75,000 to $100,221 a year
- Mid-level: $100,221 to $132,161 a year
- Senior: $132,161 to $220,581 a year
Total pay: Payscale puts the yearly bonus of US robotics engineers at about $1,000 to $15,000, with profit sharing of up to about $24,000 in some firms.
Entry level runs from the lower tenth of Payscale's US range for robotics engineers to its average, and mid-level from that average to the average of Indeed's range for robotics engineer ads. Senior runs from that Indeed average to its top, which takes in the highest-paid ads.
Sources: Payscale: robotics engineer (Oct 2026), Indeed: robotics engineer (Oct 2026).
Pay researched on 29 Oct 2026.
Rules and work: OSHA, the US workplace safety agency, expects robot cells to be safeguarded, and the US standard ANSI/A3 R15.06 adopts the international robot safety standard. US ads mostly offer full-time employment, in warehouses and logistics, cars, electronics, medical robots and research.
United Kingdom
Pay (Base salary)
- Entry level: £23,000 to £35,769 a year
- Mid-level: £31,797 to £50,631 a year
- Senior: £50,631 to £80,619 a year
Total pay: Payscale puts the yearly bonus of UK robotics engineers at up to about £2,000.
Entry level runs from the lower tenth of Payscale's UK range for robotics engineers to its average; that page rests on few salaries. Mid-level runs from the low end of Indeed's UK range for robotics engineer ads to its average, and senior from that average to its top.
Sources: Payscale: robotics engineer (Sep 2026), Indeed: robotics engineer (Oct 2026).
Pay researched on 29 Oct 2026.
Rules: machines sold in Great Britain carry the UK's UKCA mark or, for many goods, the CE mark, which the UK still accepts. UK robotics work spans warehouses, food production, nuclear sites and research.
Switzerland
Pay (Base salary)
- Entry level: CHF 75,100 to CHF 86,500 a year
- Mid-level: CHF 86,500 to CHF 98,400 a year
- Senior: CHF 109,978 to CHF 142,751 a year
Total pay: no Swiss source gives a bonus figure for robotics engineers.
The Swiss pages for robotics engineers rest on few salaries, so these are engineers' figures. Entry level runs from Lohncheck's figure for engineers with under two years of work to its figure for two to four years, and mid-level from there to its figure for over ten years. Senior runs from the average of Indeed's Swiss range for engineer ads to its top.
Sources: Lohncheck: engineer (Q1 2026), Indeed: engineer (Oct 2026).
Pay researched on 29 Oct 2026.
Rules: the Swiss Machinery Ordinance follows the EU's machinery rules, so the CE mark is accepted in Switzerland. Swiss robotics work is often in precision manufacturing, medical technology and research, and Swiss ads often ask for German or French next to EnglishThe language of ROS, of most documentation and of international robotics teams..
India
Pay (Base salary)
- Entry level: ₹1.17 lakh to ₹3.93 lakh a year
- Mid-level: ₹3.93 lakh to ₹5 lakh a year
- Senior: ₹5 lakh to ₹20 lakh a year
Total pay: Payscale puts the yearly bonus of robotics engineers in India at ₹1,000 to ₹3.88 lakh, with profit sharing of up to ₹1.25 lakh in some firms.
Entry level runs from the lower tenth of Payscale's range for robotics engineers to its average for engineers in their first year, including bonuses; mid-level from there to its average for all robotics engineers, and senior from that average to the salary below which it puts nine in ten, which it gives as ₹20 lakh. The page rests on few salaries and is from 2025; Indeed's India page for robotics engineers, on fewer still, gives lower monthly figures.
Sources: Payscale: robotics engineer (Jun 2025), Indeed: robotics engineer (Feb 2026).
Pay researched on 29 Oct 2026.
Rules and work: the BIS, India's standards bureau, publishes Indian standards that often adopt the international ones. Indian robotics roles sit in car plants, warehouses, electronics assembly and the engineering centres of global companies.
Machine rules are named side by side, each with its place. In the EU, robots carry the CE marking under the machinery rules, and the EU Machinery Regulation takes over from the Machinery Directive in 2027; the German DGUV adds guidance for robot workplaces; in the US, OSHA expects safeguarding and ANSI/A3 R15.06 is the national robot safety standard; the UK uses its UKCA mark next to the CE mark; the Swiss Machinery Ordinance follows the EU's rules; and India's BIS publishes national standards. Which rules apply to a cell is for the safety team and the maker to settle.
The safety standards themselves are international: ISO 10218 for industrial robots and robot cells, ISO/TS 15066 for robots that work next to people, and ISO 13849 for the safety functions of machine controls.
One robot cell, step by step
- Scope: agree the task, the parts, the cycle time, the space and the people who work nearby.
- Design: choose the robot, gripper and sensors, check reach and layout in 3D, and plan the safety concept.
- Simulate: program and test the motion and the cycle in simulation before anything moves.
- Commission: install, calibrate, connect the cell to the line's controls, and test every safety function.
- Hand over: train the operators, document the cell and support the first weeks of production.
Most of the hard surprises are not in the robot but around it: parts that arrive slightly different, light that changes during the day, and people who find shortcuts.
Your CV for a robotics engineer job
A robotics engineer's CV first meets software that searches it for the ad's words, then a lead engineer who wants to know which robots you made work, what was hard and whether they run in production. Give both: the keywords and the evidence.
Use the keywords the ads use
- Write the work as the ads do: "robotics", "ROS", "motion planning", "computer vision", "commissioning", the robot or framework you used. The skills table above shows which keywords the ads use most.
- Name the kind of robot: industrial arm, collaborative robot, mobile robot, drone, and the industry.
- Say how far the work went: simulation, prototype, a cell in production, a fleet in service.
- A safety course or a robot maker's training you are still taking goes on the CV as in progress, with the planned date.
Prove each skill
A robotics line proves itself with a robot, the problem you solved and what came of it.
| Skill | Weak line | Strong line, with proof |
|---|---|---|
| MotionPlan paths and trajectories that reach the goal, avoid collisions and respect the robot's limits. | Did motion planning. | Planned collision-free paths for a two-arm assembly cell that met its cycle time in the first week. |
| VisionDetect and locate objects in camera images well enough for a robot to grasp or avoid them. | Worked on computer vision. | Built the part detection for bin picking that lifted the pick rate on mixed parts. |
| ROSBuild robot software from ROS nodes and messages, and find a fault across them with the ROS tools. | Used ROS. | Split a mobile robot's software into ROS 2 nodes, so navigation and perception could be tested apart. |
| NavigationLet a mobile robot build a map and know where it is on it, and spot when it is lost. | Worked on SLAM. | Tuned mapping and localisation so warehouse robots stayed on course after shelves were moved. |
| SafetyDesign safety functions, such as stops and speed limits, to the level the risk asks for. | Handled safety. | Wrote the risk assessment and tested the safety functions of a collaborative cell with the safety team. |
Leave out what the employer keeps confidential: no customer plants, no unreleased products.
How we read our data
- The jobs: the robotics engineer jobs in our job search (robotics engineers, robotics software engineers, automation robotics engineers, and the German titles Robotikingenieur and Ingenieur Robotik), matched by their titles the way the search matches them; mechatronics engineers are counted on their own page. Our list is not the whole market, so we give shares and rankings, never counts.
- The skills: every day we read a sample of these ads and count the skills in them with a fixed word list. Only the counts are kept, never the text of an ad.
- Pay: from published salary research, each source named with its date, as a range from entry level to senior. Our ads are not used for it.
- Dates: every figure is worked out again each day and shows the day it was worked out.
Frequently asked questions
- What does a robotics engineer do?
- Makes robots do useful work safely: motion, sensing, software, safety and bringing the robot into service.
- Is a robotics engineer a mechatronics engineer?
- Related; mechatronics engineers work on machines of many kinds, which their page covers.
- Is a Roboter-Programmierer a robotics engineer?
- No: in Germany it is trained shop-floor work, while robotics engineers design and plan the robot systems.
- Do I need ROS?
- Often in research, start-ups and mobile robots; factory cells more often use the robot makers' own tools.
- What should a robotics engineer's CV show first?
- The robots you made work, the hard part of each, and whether they run in production.
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