Signal Processing Engineer
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Signal Processing Engineer develops, tests, and implements digital signal processing algorithms.
Job Outlook
There were 52 Signal Processing Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 3958 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Electrical Engineer industry, which includes the Signal Processing Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Signal Processing 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 $136,409.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $136,409.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Signal Processing Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $112,906.
Education and Experience
Posted Signal Processing 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 | 61.22% |
| Master's Degree | 44.26% |
| Doctoral Degree | 20.11% |
| Other | 10.08% |
Posted Signal Processing 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 | 18.25% |
| 3 to 5 years | 38.6% |
| 6 to 8 years | 19.83% |
| 9+ years | 23.32% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Signal Processing 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 (42.04%)
- Mathematics (23.62%)
- Research (17.31%)
- Problem Solving (14.53%)
- Leadership (14.15%)
- Innovation (12.86%)
- Teamwork (10.41%)
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (10.33%)
- Writing (10.21%)
- Planning (9.78%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Algorithms (41.69%)
- C (Programming Language) (30.28%)
- Electrical Engineering (44.58%)
- Digital Signal Processing (41.31%)
- Algorithm Design (19.97%)
- MATLAB (42.72%)
- Modulation (9.36%)
- C++ (Programming Language) (42.31%)
- Python (Programming Language) (39.47%)
- Signal Processing (48.97%)
- Simulations (33.03%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Digital Communications (9.25%)
- Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes) (5.56%)
- Agile Methodology (12.44%)
- Data Analysis (6.31%)
- Printed Circuit Board (9.61%)
- Communications Systems (7.28%)
- Debugging (16.75%)
- Computer Science (23.11%)
- Linux (17.72%)
- Electronic Warfare (9.44%)
- Signals Intelligence (12.08%)
- Systems Engineering (20.81%)
- Automation (4.81%)
- Telecommunications (8.58%)
- Artificial Intelligence (9.33%)
- Java (Programming Language) (7.72%)
- Physics (20.53%)
- Machine Learning (15.17%)
- Software Development (18.36%)
- Prototyping (6.94%)
- Embedded Systems (4.75%)
- PCI Express (4.78%)
- Control Systems (3.42%)
- Signal Integrity (16.83%)
- Radio Frequency (19.83%)
- Computer Engineering (23.22%)
- Systems Design (7.94%)
- Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) (14.92%)
- VHSIC Hardware Description Language (VHDL) (4.67%)
- Radar (14.56%)
- Firmware (6.89%)
- Embedded Software (3.31%)
- Technical Leadership (2.56%)
- Interlock System (3.89%)
- Simulink (5.44%)
- Software Engineering (16.31%)
- Sensors (9.5%)
- Scripting (6.39%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Software Defined Radio (SDR) (4.89%)
- Stochastic Process (3.67%)
- Estimation Theories (5.78%)
- Communication Theory (6.03%)
- Frequency Domain (3.89%)
- Octave (1.31%)
- Floating Point Algorithm (0.97%)
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.
- C (Programming Language) (58.07%)
- Communication Theory (11.56%)
- Frequency Domain (7.46%)
- MATLAB (81.94%)
- Octave (2.5%)
- Floating Point Algorithm (1.86%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Signal Processing Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Signal Integrity Engineer
- Digital Signal Processing Engineer
- DSP Software Engineer
- DSP Engineer
- DSP Driver
- Electrical Apprentice
- Audio DSP Engineer
- Radar Signal Processing Engineer
- Principal Systems 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.
- Electronic Warfare Engineer
- Radio Frequency (RF) Engineer
- Hardware Design Engineer
- Hardware Engineer (General)
- Firmware Engineer
- Electronics Engineer (General)
- Research & Development Engineer
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Signal Processing Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Raytheon Technologies (343)
- Meta (116)
- Leidos (115)
- Norfolk Southern (105)
- Intel (91)
- Apple (91)
- L3Harris Technologies (66)
- Amazon (63)
- General Motors (56)
- Northrop Grumman (52)
North Carolina
- Skill Creations (9)
- CyberCoders (3)
- Celestica (2)
- MITRE Corporation (2)
- Norfolk Southern (2)
- Delviom (2)
- Zachary Piper Solutions (2)
- Lenovo (1)
- General Dynamics (1)
- Insight Global (1)
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.