51 OPEN
SALARIES · RELIABILITY ENGINEER
Reliability Engineer [YoY +8%]
Median total compensation for reliability engineer roles in robotics, AI, and autonomy. Open roles by salary, direct from each employer.
[ SENIOR COMPENSATION · ANNUAL · BASE ]
$185,000 – $235,000USD
§ 01
Compensation by level
[ MID ]
$135K
[ SENIOR ]
$185K
[ STAFF ]
$235K
[ PRINCIPAL ]
$295K
§ 02
Top-paid open roles
- 01Sr. Staff Lead Site Reliability Engineer (R5803)Shield AI·San Mateo, California$220K–$340K
- 02
Site Reliability Engineering Manager, Vehicle SoftwareWayve·Sunnyvale, California USA$276K–$311K - 031Software Engineer - NEO Reliability1X Technologies·San Carlos, CA$200K–$300K
- 04
Staff Site Reliability EngineerSkydio·San Mateo, California, United States$200K–$285K - 05Senior Staff Lead Site Reliability Engineer (R5803)Shield AI·San Diego, California$190K–$280K
- 06Sr. Staff Platform/Data Reliability Engineer, Databricks (R5537)Shield AI·Remote$180K–$270K
- 07Staff Design Reliability Engineer – Sensor, Compute and EE SystemsZoox·Foster City, CA$195K–$269K
- 08Site Reliability Engineer, Vehicle SoftwareWayve·Sunnyvale, California USA$210K–$267K
- 09
Senior Engineer, Edge-Cloud ReliabilityAnduril Industries·Reston, Virginia, United States$191K–$253K - 10Reliability Engineering ManagerAnduril Industries·Costa Mesa, California, United States$166K–$253K
§ 03
Top employers hiring reliability engineers
| Employer | Open roles | Median comp |
|---|---|---|
| Anduril Industries | 20 | $192K |
| Shield AI | 9 | $175K |
| Skydio | 4 | $200K |
| Wayve | 3 | $266K |
| Nuro | 2 | — |
| Waabi | 2 | — |
| Diligent Robotics | 2 | — |
| Voyager Technologies | 1 | — |
§ 04
Top cities hiring reliability engineers
| Metro | Open roles | Median comp |
|---|---|---|
| Costa Mesa | 8 | $193K |
| Sydney | 5 | — |
| Dallas | 5 | $125K |
| San Mateo | 5 | $221K |
| Atlanta | 3 | $167K |
| Mountain View | 3 | $193K |
| Seattle | 3 | $150K |
| Waltham | 3 | $125K |
§ 05
FAQ
- How much do reliability engineers make in the robotics industry?
- Senior reliability engineers in the robotics industry typically earn $185K base salary at top employers. Staff-level roles run $235K and principal-level reach $295K. Numbers are median base salary across 92 data points; total compensation including equity is typically 15-30% higher at private robotics employers.
- Who is hiring the most reliability engineers right now?
- Anduril Industries (20 open roles), Shield AI (9 open roles), and Skydio (4 open roles) lead by open-role volume. Browse all 51 open reliability engineer roles sorted by recency.
- Where are most reliability engineer jobs located?
- The top robotics industry hubs for reliability engineer roles right now are Costa Mesa, Sydney, and Dallas. Defense robotics tends to concentrate in DC/Northern Virginia and Colorado Springs (clearance-required roles), while commercial launch is heaviest in LA basin and Florida's Space Coast.
- Do reliability engineer roles in robotics, AI, and autonomy require security clearance?
- Many do. Defense robotics programs at Anduril, Shield AI, Saronic, and defense primes require Secret or TS/SCI clearance. Commercial robotics roles at Boston Dynamics, Apptronik, 1X, Skydio, and Wayve generally do not. ITAR registration is more common than clearance — many sensor, autonomy, and unmanned-systems roles require it.
§ 06
Browse every reliability engineer role