What Is a Lab Engineer and How to Become One

By ZipRecruiter Marketplace Research Team

A lab engineer is responsible for the IT infrastructure of a laboratory. As a lab engineer, your job duties include conducting technical evaluations of hardware equipment and software, deploying code, troubleshooting and fixing issues, maintaining the server and network systems, and coordinating with scientists, lab technicians, system engineers, and operations staff. You need a bachelor’s degree in a technical field and experience with networking principles, middleware platform, and database connectivity. You can find lab engineer jobs in the science and medical research industry.

The primary qualifications for getting a job as a lab engineer are a bachelor's degree in a related field and some experience working in a laboratory. This is a relatively broad job description because there are so many different types of labs. Consider narrowing your search based on what sort of labs you want to work in over the course of your career. Technology, math, chemistry, and electrical engineering are all useful skills for lab engineers and can help you maximize your opportunities to work in different labs. Internships are also relatively easy to get and can help you obtain job experience.