Biotech Engineer
Impact: Patient outcomes, public health, and technological advancement in medicine
Applies engineering principles to biological systems to design and create equipment, devices, computer systems, and software for healthcare and other fields.
What the day looks like
- People interaction
- Moderate
- Team vs solo
- 70% Team / 30% Solo
- Client facing
- Sometimes
- Impact visibility
- Very High
- Travel
- Occasional domestic travel for site visits or conferences (5-15%)
- Schedule flexibility
- Structured
- Remote work
- Limited Remote
- Typical work hours
- 40-50 hours/week
- Stress level
- Moderate
At a glance
- Median salary
- $106,950
- Entry-level
- $75,000 - $95,000
- Senior
- $125,000+
- Growth by 2033
- 5% (Faster than average)
- Demand
- Growing
- Freelance potential
- Low
- Salary growth potential
- High to 60-80% growth from entry to senior
- Typical student debt
- $40,000 - $80,000
Skills you'll use
Hard skills
- Biomedical equipment design
- Data analysis
- Statistical modeling
- Technical writing
- Software development
- Biomaterials
Soft skills
- Analytical skills
- Communication skills
- Creativity
- Problem-solving skills
- Teamwork
Technical complexity: Very High
How to get there
- Minimum education
- Bachelor's Degree
- Licensing
- Optional
- Years to mid-career
- 3-5 years
- Years to senior
- 7-10 years
- Career switching
- Moderate
Where this career leads
How people arrive here
Where you can go from here
Typical progression
- Entry-Level Engineer
- Mid-Level Engineer
- Senior Engineer
- Lead Engineer/Project Manager
- R&D Director/Technical Fellow
Future outlook
- Automation probability
- 10% to low risk
- AI disruption risk
- Moderate
- Demand trend
- Growing
How people feel about it
- Overall satisfaction
- 3.8/10
- Meaning
- 4/10
- Work-life balance
- 3.2/10
- Prestige
- 8.5/10
- Social perception
- High