Robotics Skills Map 2026

Name: Robotics Skills Map 2026
Creator: CareersInRobotics.com
Published: 2026-02-03
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

We analyzed 5,878 robotics job postings to find out which high-signal skills employers actually want. Here's what the data shows.

The Landscape

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Controls & Automation

Robotics & Autonomy

Software & Cloud

Operations Management

AI & Data

Hardware & Electrical

Professional Skills

Process & Quality

Embedded & Firmware

Hardware & Mechanical

Spoken Languages

Business & Commercial

* Skills that appear fewer than 100 times are grouped together within a category

Ranked by Demand

Direct Mention

Inferred from Sub-skills

Highest-Paying Skills

We analyzed 2,181 jobs with salary data to identify skills that command the highest median salaries and salary premiums (the % difference between median salary with and without the skill). Here are the top 20 by median salary.

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Skill	Premium	Median Salary	Range	Jobs
CUDA	+72%	$214,838	$185,000 - $270,250	84
JAX	+66%	$212,750	$179,700 - $234,125	58
TensorRT	+66%	$212,750	$185,000 - $270,000	37
Kubernetes	+65%	$210,700	$178,708 - $256,000	43
MLOps	+63%	$207,500	$178,028 - $232,219	56
Vision-Language Models (VLM/VLA)	+61%	$207,288	$179,698 - $235,050	32
Imitation Learning	+61%	$205,200	$175,600 - $238,750	63
Model Predictive Control	+59%	$205,200	$183,500 - $212,694	36
Sim-to-real transfer	+59%	$205,200	$184,675 - $225,550	31
Reinforcement Learning	+67%	$205,000	$162,500 - $231,000	163
Generative AI / LLMs	+63%	$199,009	$165,465 - $231,500	174
DevOps & Cloud	+61%	$195,000	$153,825 - $223,250	175
TensorFlow	+56%	$194,800	$153,500 - $228,050	134
MuJoCo	+52%	$194,550	$165,094 - $223,750	54
Sensor Fusion	+61%	$193,000	$166,895 - $216,197	198
Rust	+53%	$193,000	$158,938 - $214,728	70
SLAM	+48%	$189,500	$143,145 - $215,562	70
PyTorch	+55%	$188,200	$150,000 - $231,500	220
Artificial Intelligence	+54%	$187,950	$139,600 - $217,000	201
Technical Leadership	+63%	$187,000	$146,913 - $223,500	409

Skills by Role, Seniority & Industry

Showing top 5 most common skills for each category. One job may belong to multiple categories.

By Seniority Level

Entry Level (505 jobs)	Python (29.1%) · Electrical Design (26.9%) · PLC Programming (26.3%) · Maintenance & Reliability (25.9%) · C++ (24.4%)
Junior Level (1166 jobs)	PLC Programming (38.1%) · Maintenance & Reliability (29.8%) · Electrical Design (29.6%) · HMI / SCADA (25.6%) · Python (24.3%)
Mid Level (865 jobs)	PLC Programming (35.3%) · HMI / SCADA (27.7%) · Electrical Design (26.2%) · Sensors & Instrumentation (24.7%) · Maintenance & Reliability (23.4%)
Senior Level (1183 jobs)	Python (35.5%) · C++ (31.8%) · Technical Leadership (31.4%) · Mentorship (29.8%) · Software Engineering (24.5%)
Lead+ Level (555 jobs)	Technical Leadership (46.8%) · Mentorship (35.9%) · Python (30.6%) · C++ (25.4%) · Project Management (24.7%)

By Role

Automation & Robotics Technician (1238 jobs)	PLC Programming (60.3%) · Maintenance & Reliability (58.2%) · Electrical Design (47.0%) · HMI / SCADA (42.0%) · Sensors & Instrumentation (33.4%)
Controls Engineer (679 jobs)	PLC Programming (72.5%) · HMI / SCADA (65.5%) · Commissioning (41.8%) · Electrical Design (34.8%) · Allen-Bradley / Rockwell (30.9%)
Field Service Engineer (576 jobs)	Field Service (61.8%) · Commissioning (51.7%) · PLC Programming (44.4%) · Maintenance & Reliability (42.2%) · HMI / SCADA (40.8%)
Robotics Engineer (560 jobs)	Python (62.9%) · C++ (60.4%) · Simulation & Digital Twins (34.8%) · Software Engineering (31.8%) · Computer Vision (31.6%)
Robotics Product & Project Management (525 jobs)	Project Management (66.1%) · Stakeholder Management (54.1%) · Technical Leadership (33.3%) · Autonomous Systems (22.9%) · Software Engineering (19.8%)
Machine Learning Engineer (522 jobs)	Python (80.1%) · Machine Learning (79.9%) · C++ (58.2%) · PyTorch (52.7%) · Computer Vision (51.7%)
Robotics Leadership & Management (465 jobs)	Technical Leadership (68.8%) · Mentorship (53.3%) · Project Management (31.8%) · Stakeholder Management (28.8%) · Software Engineering (24.9%)
Systems & Integration Engineer (460 jobs)	Python (40.0%) · Simulation & Digital Twins (28.3%) · C++ (27.0%) · Sensors & Instrumentation (25.7%) · Technical Leadership (25.2%)
Robotics Software Engineer (438 jobs)	C++ (81.3%) · Python (75.3%) · Software Engineering (47.7%) · Linux (34.7%) · Path Planning (32.2%)
Research Scientist (433 jobs)	Python (69.1%) · Machine Learning (67.4%) · C++ (43.4%) · Simulation & Digital Twins (42.5%) · PyTorch (38.1%)

By Industry

Industrial Manufacturing (1207 jobs)	PLC Programming (51.4%) · Electrical Design (35.3%) · Maintenance & Reliability (33.9%) · HMI / SCADA (30.5%) · Industrial Robotics (25.7%)
Robotics Software & AI (888 jobs)	Python (65.8%) · C++ (55.3%) · Machine Learning (49.4%) · Software Engineering (35.7%) · Computer Vision (34.7%)
Transportation & Autonomous Vehicles (749 jobs)	Python (48.3%) · Autonomous Systems (44.1%) · C++ (43.9%) · Machine Learning (37.1%) · Software Engineering (32.3%)
Aerospace & Defense (738 jobs)	Python (36.3%) · C++ (33.1%) · Autonomous Systems (25.1%) · Embedded Systems (23.3%) · Technical Leadership (22.6%)
Energy & Mining (537 jobs)	HMI / SCADA (59.0%) · Commissioning (37.6%) · PLC Programming (36.9%) · Field Service (25.1%) · Maintenance & Reliability (25.0%)
System Integration (523 jobs)	PLC Programming (49.7%) · HMI / SCADA (47.0%) · Commissioning (43.8%) · Electrical Design (33.3%) · Project Management (24.7%)
Logistics & Warehousing (472 jobs)	PLC Programming (34.3%) · Electrical Design (33.3%) · Maintenance & Reliability (32.6%) · Industrial Robotics (29.2%) · Sensors & Instrumentation (24.8%)
Healthcare & Life Sciences (338 jobs)	HMI / SCADA (26.9%) · PLC Programming (26.9%) · Regulatory Compliance (25.7%) · Python (24.9%) · FDA Regulations (GMP) (21.3%)
Automotive Manufacturing (333 jobs)	PLC Programming (37.5%) · Industrial Robotics (31.2%) · Electrical Design (29.7%) · Maintenance & Reliability (27.6%) · Functional Safety (22.2%)
Research & Academia (333 jobs)	Python (46.2%) · Machine Learning (39.3%) · C++ (33.0%) · Simulation & Digital Twins (27.6%) · Computer Vision (24.0%)
Food & Beverage (248 jobs)	PLC Programming (77.8%) · HMI / SCADA (66.1%) · Maintenance & Reliability (50.8%) · Electrical Design (48.0%) · Allen-Bradley / Rockwell (41.9%)
Robotics Hardware & Components (194 jobs)	Embedded Systems (36.6%) · Python (35.6%) · Sensors & Instrumentation (26.3%) · C++ (25.3%) · C (24.7%)
Construction & Agriculture (133 jobs)	Python (40.6%) · C++ (31.6%) · Mentorship (28.6%) · LiDAR (27.1%) · Technical Leadership (24.8%)
Consumer & Home Robotics (45 jobs)	Embedded Systems (40.0%) · Python (35.6%) · Sensors & Instrumentation (31.1%) · C++ (26.7%) · CAD & Mechanical Design (26.7%)

Based on 5,878 job postings on CareersInRobotics.com (Nov 2025 – Feb 2026) · Last updated Feb 4, 2026 · English-language postings only · Spoken Languages excludes English

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