How To Become An Avionics Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is an avionics engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Brian Talbot

Avionics engineers can also be called aerospace engineers as they work in the aerospace industry designing and developing aircraft, spacecraft, satellites, and missiles. Some of your duties will include researching problems associated with flight safety problems, landing gear, and electronic navigation problems, and then you will test prototypes to ensure that all systems function as they ought to.

You will also assist with installing and servicing avionics communication equipment and ensuring that all systems comply with Federal Aviation Administration requirements and manufacturers' specifications. You will also be required to create acceptance criteria for design methods, quality standards, and sustainability.

The average yearly salary of an avionic engineer is $82,263 and $39.84 per hour. Required skills for this role include clearance, FAA, Avionics, Electrical systems, DOD, system integration, troubleshooting, and technical support and data. The most commonly required educational qualification is a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and other relevant fields.

What general advice would you give to an Avionics Engineer?

Brian Talbot

Senior Director, AIAA

Entering the aerospace workforce now is different in the COVID environment. It's important to find more avenues to get connected and expand your knowledge beyond the classroom. AIAA has hosted virtual recruiting events for our student members with companies like SpaceX, Ball Aerospace, and Lockheed Martin. We've created an online-based mentor-mentee matching program. We've also created new online educational opportunities that can differentiate candidates with both technical and soft skills. There are many opportunities out there, so look for new ways that you can find connections at the companies whose missions excite you. It's important for graduates to be proactive and take advantage of options available. It's through these channels that you can actively shape your career journey, even during challenging times.

ScoreAvionics EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.5

Avg. Salary $95,470

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

5.4

Growth Rate 6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.30%

Asian 11.04%

Black or African American 4.14%

Hispanic or Latino 10.82%

Unknown 4.42%

White 69.27%

Gender

female 7.64%

male 92.36%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress Level

5.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.0

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.7

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an avionics engineer

Explore avionics engineer education requirements

Most common avionics engineer degrees

Bachelor's

72.9 %

Master's

14.3 %

Associate

8.8 %

Start to develop specific avionics engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
FAA	8.24%
Avionics Systems	6.95%
Electrical Systems	4.98%
DOD	4.75%
System Integration	4.59%

Complete relevant avionics engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New avionics engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an avionics engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real avionics engineer resumes.

Research avionics engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage the fuel supply and aircraft electrical distribution system on board ship, including radar tank gauging and filtration systems.
Manage Jenkins security by providing specific access to authorize developers/testers using project base matrix authorization strategy.
Test and integrate DSP and RF ASIC and FPGA interface into designs.
Serve as consultant and technical expert on a multitude of RF and electrical systems.

Get avionics engineer experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become an avionics engineer. The most common roles before becoming an avionics engineer include avionics technician, electrical engineer team lead and senior engineer.

Prepare your avionics engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your avionics engineer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an avionics engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Avionics Engineer Resume templates

Build a professional Avionics Engineer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Avionics Engineer resume.

Apply for avionics engineer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an avionics engineer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do avionics engineers rate their job?

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Avionics Engineer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2023

Cons

Very hard job. Will definitely get home late and you have to be mega smart.