System Engineer

The system engineer, in the area of embedded systems, designs complex “things” implementing electronics and software; the system engineer is therefore multidisciplinary and focuses his attention on the functional aspect of systems. This first definition, quite broad, covers many professions, which necessitate as a prerequisite specialized educational background and skills.
These jobs are then performed inside many industries (aeronautics, space, transport etc.); which very often call on specialized companies to support them in their projects. Some of these companies offer recruit, with attractive salaries.

Summary:

• Roles & responsibilities
• Educational background
• System engineer skills
• Salary
• Main employers
• Employment & job opportunities

System engineers roles & responsibilities

In embedded systems, the system engineer can have several roles & responsibilities.

Embedded System Architect

The embedded system architect may have a particularly wide scope of action. He will for example contribute to enrich the technical and functional specifications provided by the customer, propose an architecture for the system, supervise the engineers in charge of its design, monitor and validate the different deliverables.

It is usually an experienced engineer, familiar with the technical constraints of the embedded world (real-time systems, memory / CPU resources limited / limited consumption, and often the constraints of partitioning between different software tasks).

Study engineer

The study engineer also has a particularly large role, as he intervenes throughout the life cycle of projects. He participates in the study of needs, proposes functional and technical solutions to answer them, manages the operational part of the project (coordination of the team, customer / supplier relations) and can even be responsible for carrying out himself some parts of the development.

For more details about the study engineer.

Continuous integration engineer

The continuous integration engineer implements a set of principles used in the field of software engineering. These principles are intended to verify at each source code modification that the result does not produce regression in the entire developed application. The continuous integration engineer is in charge of the common developer development environment that makes their job easier.

For more information about the continuous integration engineer.

Validation engineer

The validation engineer main mission is to fully validate a system (software, application or equipment) before it is delivered to the applicant. In the field of embedded systems, electronic systems and subsystems (IP, component, card, etc.) and / or software (drivers, etc.) are validated.

In other words, after deeply studying the product specification, he creates and runs a battery of tests until the results are in line with the expectations of the applicant. He carries out a precise reporting of his work and, once the software / equipment delivered, he can continue the surveillance by setting up non-regression scripts.

For more information about the validation engineer.

Synonyms for validation engineer: test bench engineer, test engineer, V&V engineer.

Methods engineer

The methods engineer takes care of the industrialization part of the new products. He is involved from the start of projects because it is he who is responsible for defining a means of production, to qualify and follow the chosen subcontractor if the company for which he works does not have his own lines of production.

The method engineer is in contact with many professionals (electronics engineers, embedded software engineers, mechanical engineers, R & D project managers etc.)

For more information about the methods engineer.

Synonym for methods engineer: industrialization engineer.

Become system engineer

To become a system engineer, you must have a master’s degree, with a specialty whether in electronic systems, embedded systems, software, automatic, etc.

System engineer skills

The system engineer must first have solid technical skills in his field of specialization (electronics, board, embedded software) and master the associated technical environment.

During his various professional experiences, he has acquired a “system” vision allowing him to understand the functioning of the various parts realized at the electronic and software levels, as well as their numerous interactions.

Humanly, he is someone open, attentive, able to interact with very different professionals.

System engineer salary

What is the salary of a system engineer? Difficult question! Indeed, we have seen in the section of this page devoted to the several roles and responsibilities that can be included in the category “system” that the activities are different. For example, between an embedded system architect and a validation engineer.

In general, however, it can be said that the salary of a system engineer depends on his educational background, his experience, his specialty, or the country / region where he works.

Systems enginer main employers

The main employers of systems engineers may be the companies that design them. The latter can be large companies, midcaps or even SMEs, which evolve in the fields of aeronautics, automotive, defense, consumer electronics, railway, IoT, medical , space, telecommunications…

These companies regularly call upon technological partners, in other words specialized companies that support them in carrying out their projects. These companies often recruit.

System engineer employment & job opportunities

In the field of embedded systems, ELSYS Design recruits all year long system engineers for its various locations in France: Paris, Grenoble, Lyon, Nice Sophia Antipolis, Aix en Provence, Toulouse, Nantes and Rennes.

The offers can be found on its jobs board.