Duties and responsibilities
An Instrumentation and Electrical Reliability Engineer (I & E reliability engineer) leads and directs the electrical and instrumentation departments reliability and training initiatives. They provide technical assistance and act as the maintenance liaison with plant engineering. Their typical duties and responsibilities include:
- Leading the maintenance safety and environmental compliance initiatives
- Developing and managing training for E&I department
- Providing maintenance to electrical and instrumentation plants
- Leading E&I predictive and preventative maintenance programs
- Developing and managing stand Work Procedures for instrumentation
- Ensuring proper documentation is maintained and accurate for audit compliance
- Performing root cause analysis investigations on equipment failures
- Providing daily support as needed to the maintenance E&I department
- Liaising with engineers, operations, and others to discuss existing or potential engineering projects
Qualifications
Like all other engineers, I&E engineers will need a bachelor’s degree in engineering (preferably electrical engineering) from an ABET-accredited program. To obtain licensure, I&E engineers will need to pass several exams, participate in internships and obtain work experience. Many I&E engineers will go on to achieve a masters degree in electrical engineering, as this will allow them to enter high paying management positions.
Skills and relevant work experience
I&E engineers will learn many skills through their education and on-the-job training. As well as this, they will need skills such as:
- Problem-solving skills, as I&E engineers will need to troubleshoot and fix a whole range of mechanical problems
- Communication skills, as I&E engineers must work with other professionals, such as technicians and other engineers
- Creativity, as I&E engineers will need to come up with innovative and exciting solutions
- Analytical skills, as I&E engineers must be able to use advanced techniques to research and solve problems
Hours
I&E engineers are likely to work full time hours (40 hours per week). However, they may have to work overtime when they are working towards deadlines.
Salary
According to Zippia, the median annual salary for a circuit designer in the United States is $99,845. At the lower end, the bottom 10% of circuit designers can expect to earn less than $77,000 per year. Whereas, at the upper end, the top 10% can expect to earn over $127,000 per year.
Progression
By obtaining a masters degree, I&E engineers will have lots more opportunities. With more experience, I&E engineers may progress into management conditions, where they will become responsible for supervising a team of other engineers and technicians. They may also progress into project management, consultancy, research and lecturing roles.