Industrial automation engineer: salary, day rates & demand.
An automation engineer’s budget is understood through the installation and the project phases assigned. Programming a sequence on new equipment is nothing like diagnosing a running production line, where testing windows are scarce. Familiarity with the technology matters as much as the ability to prepare tests with production teams and hand over usable backups. Specify on-site presence, travel, working hours and interfaces with electrical engineering or maintenance. A salary or daily rate comparison only holds if it separates design work, commissioning and operational support.
Key figures
Apec · Ingénieur informatique industrielle F/H · See source and scope
down 10,7 points year on year · national average 43.8 %
Industrial research and development engineers and managers
France Travail, BMO survey 2026
In short
- What they do
- Defines and implements how automated equipment operates: analysis, programming, testing and on-site diagnostics.
- When you call on them
- New equipment to program, a production line to modify, a fault to diagnose, a commissioning to run.
- What moves the price
- The phase being entrusted, the technologies and versions to take over, the testing windows, the travel and the working hours.
- Related roles
- Energy engineer, robotics engineer, maintenance technician, methods engineer, systems integrator.
The role
Role
An industrial automation engineer defines and implements how automated equipment operates. They connect sensor signals, actuator commands and the information shown to operators, working from an understanding of what the machine must do, in what order and with which information. Activities range from functional analysis and programming through to testing and commissioning on site, and the work may cover a new system from design through testing or the modification of equipment already in operation. The actual scope depends on the organisation, the complexity of the system and the degree of autonomy expected: taking a machine from specification to first run and modifying a line that is already producing are two different commitments, and that distinction describes the job better than the job title does.
Responsibilities
Prepare functional specifications, develop the programs and check communication with the equipment, then track changes and test results. Before equipment returns to service, the automation engineer works with site owners on outstanding faults and planned checks. The role is not automatically responsible for electrical design, mechanical integration or every aspect of machinery safety: when a modification affects those areas, the engineer identifies the interfaces and involves the appropriate specialists, and validating a safety function requires tasks and responsibilities to be clearly assigned within the project organisation. A fault shown on screen may originate in a sequence, a signal or a piece of equipment, so observations are compared before a correction is proposed, and faults recorded during testing are shared with the specialists who need to investigate them.
Skills
Technical
- PLC programming
- Reading electrical drawings
- Industrial networks
- On-site diagnostics
- Supervisory control and alarm management
- Process control and instrumentation
- Machine safety and interfaces
Tools
- PLC programming environments
- Supervisory control software
- Backup and version control tools
Ways of working
- Preparing tests with the production team
- Explaining a deviation to operators
- Quality of documentation
Typical paths
Technical and engineering backgrounds combine automation, electrical engineering and industrial computing: two-year technical diplomas followed by a vocational degree, engineering schools, or routes that come from maintenance and electrical work. Automation engineer and automation technician do not cover the same scope, and a title says nothing about someone's autonomy on a given installation. For electrical work, technical training and work authorisation are separate matters: supporting documents must match the tasks planned, not the qualification held. Completed projects then show which activities the person actually knows. Progression leads towards running automation projects, systems integration, expertise in a particular process, or responsibility for a fleet of equipment.
What moves the budget
Project phase
Design, programming, testing, commissioning and on-site diagnostics require distinct experience.
Installation and technology
Describe controllers, industrial networks, operator interfaces and versions to maintain.
Site conditions
Define travel, working hours, testing windows and coordination with production and maintenance.
Apec · Ingénieur informatique industrielle F/H · Automation · engineer/manager scope · Salary scope: industrial IT and automation engineering. Fixed and variable pay; all experience levels. Checked September 2026; period and sample unspecified. This salary is not a day rate.
A typical assignment
Functional analysis
Expected behaviour, variants and process constraints agreed.
Development
Programs, exchanges with the equipment and operator interfaces.
Testing and commissioning
Test cases prepared with production, faults recorded.
Handover
Backups, versions, settings and open points passed to maintenance.
Illustrative example, no client reference.
For companies: three situations to discuss at interview
| Situation | What to discuss |
|---|---|
| Diagnose an intermittent fault | Describe a stoppage that does not occur on every cycle. Ask which logs and states they would compare, then how they would rule out a hypothesis before changing the program. |
| Prepare a production recipe change | Use a new product variant as an example. Ask about the parameters involved, dependencies between sequences and test cases to discuss with production. |
| Make an alarm useful to operators | Ask how they would improve a confusing message: its trigger, displayed information, initial checks and contact for further help. Look for an example of working with users. |
To prepare before the conversation
- Product variants and the conditions in which the fault occurs.
- Available timestamped logs, screen captures and observations of the behaviour.
- Program versions, libraries and backups available for investigation.
- Intervention windows, test facilities and production and maintenance contacts.
Your questions about the industrial automation engineer role
Does the rate include travel and unusual working hours?
These conditions must be specified in the proposal and contract. Compare the fee for the work separately from expenses and any terms linked to working hours or travel.
Should we look for a specialist in our controller brand?
Knowledge of the equipment and versions helps assess suitability, but is not sufficient. Ask about diagnosis, testing and handover on comparable installations too.
What salary range is useful for an industrial automation engineer?
The range of €33,000–€50,000 gross per year, including fixed and variable pay, covers 80% of advertised salaries within industrial IT and automation engineering. Automation engineer is an included title, but this reference does not cover every technician role. Testing, commissioning and on-site requirements still need to be defined.
Are automation engineers and robotics engineers the same?
They may work on connected systems, but robotics is a specific field. PLC programming experience does not automatically demonstrate the ability to program or integrate robots.
Do automation engineers only work in factories?
They work on automated installations in different environments. Assess their experience by the process and the equipment they have handled, and by the phases: design, development, testing or maintenance.
Must they know every manufacturer’s products?
No. Establish which technologies they have actually worked with and how closely these match the installed equipment. Versions, tools and test resources matter as much as the manufacturer’s name.
How can you describe experience usefully?
Describe the installation, your own role, the tools and the work you delivered. Separate what you carried out yourself from what you coordinated or someone else approved.
Who does an automation engineer work with?
Production describes the behaviour expected of the machine; maintenance shares what it observes and prepares to take the installation back. Electrical, mechanical and process specialists, industrial IT and equipment suppliers join as needed. A fault shown on screen may come from a sequence, a signal or a device: it is by comparing those observations that the engineer traces the fault to its cause before proposing a correction.
Related roles and pages
Sources
- Apec · Ingénieur informatique industrielle F/H · checked on 18 September 2026