Every time I’m out searching for a job, I’m bombarded by job titles that I’ve never heard of before. Some of them are great matches for my skills and my goals even though the titles are completely different from what I was searching for.
This leaves me wondering how many job opportunities I’m missing just because my search is too narrow. That’s why I’ve been compiling this list of job titles in technology.
This is not intended to be an exhaustive list. I won’t include such titles as Data ninja or Social media rockstar, not because I don’t think those are awesome names. Rather, I’ve left them out simply because they aren’t common enough to matter.
While reading this list, you may find that some sound like they overlap with one another. That’s because they do. But that’s okay because these titles don’t all simultaneously exist at even the largest of organizations.
Here’s the list.
Computer Programmer
They write the code that makes all your favorite software work.
Average salary — $76,526
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, but plenty of options exist for those with no degree.
Software Engineer
Think of this as “Computer Programmer +”. They still write code but also do software design, analysis, and more.
Many of the jobs below fall under the broad category of Software Engineer.
Average salary — $92,046
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree (or master’s degree) in computer science or a related field, but some options exist for those with no degree.
Web Developer
These are software developers that focus on web pages and web apps, including creating web content and planning layouts and navigation. Also called a front-end developer
Average salary — $68,524
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, but plenty of options exist for those with no degree.
Web Designer
Similar to a web developer, but typically with more focus on the visual aspects of a site. Also called a front-end designer
Average salary — $52,691
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, but plenty of options exist for those with no degree.
Hardware Engineer
Unlike all the previous entries, this one is all about the hardware. They design the physical computer parts.
Average salary — $89,641
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree (or master’s degree) in computer science or a related field
Information Technology Manager
If you aren’t in technology, the IT team is probably the group you are most used to on this list. This is the person that manages that team.
Average salary — $85,252
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree (or master’s degree) in computer science or a related field. Business administration or similar tech-focused business degrees may also work.
Database Administrator
The database is where all the information that drives the company is stored, and this is the person that keeps that database working, accurate, and organized.
Average salary — $78,779
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field. An MBA in database management or a related field might be needed for some companies.
Information Security Analyst
They develop strategies and tools to keep data secure as well as investigate breaches that do occur.
Average salary — $76,410
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field.
Computer Research Scientist
Want to be at the forefront of computer technology innovation? This is the place to be.
Average salary — $118,370
Degree required — Minimum requirement is a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field. Often will require at least a master’s degree.
Computer Systems Analyst
This one is all about finding inefficiencies in the company’s computer systems, and it requires both business and technical expertise.
Average salary — $64,394
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, and an MBA may be preferred for some positions.
Computer Network Architect
The company’s computer systems are connected by a network, and these are the people that build that network.
Average salary — $84,428
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field. For some positions, an MBA or technical master’s degree may help as well.
Computer Technical Support Specialist
Want to troubleshoot computer issues? Take this job and have at it.
Average salary — $63,208
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, but plenty of options exist for those with no degree.
Marketing Technologist
Do you like marketing but still want to work with technology? You’ll have a chance to do marketing strategy and find the best technologies to carry out that strategy in this role.
Average salary — $54,237
Degree required — No single answer here, but a bachelor’s degree in computer science or data analytics will usually help.
Machine Learning Engineer
Seems like everyone is hiring this position. Interested in AI, automation, or big data. This position works with those trending topics without requiring the domain knowledge that is needed for data science.
Average salary — $114,121
Degree required — Usually requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a STEM field. May require a master’s degree.
SEO Specialist
You’ve probably heard about SEO by now. It’s all about making sure that people can find your company’s content on the web by rising to the top of the search engine rankings.
Average salary — $49,589
Degree required — Often no requirements. Experience is the bigger deal on this one.
Web Analytics Developer
This one is all about how analyzing how people interact with the web, focused on improving acquisition and conversions for websites.
Average salary — $70,989
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, but plenty of options exist for those with no degree.
Digital Marketing Manager
Marketing has moved online. These are the people that manage the marketing effort on social, email, blogs, and more.
Average salary — $69,755
Degree required — Often no requirements, but a bachelor’s degree in marketing will help.
Social Media Manager
This one is pretty self-explanatory. Somebody has to keep the tweets and Facebook posts flowing.
Average salary — $50,473
Degree required — Often no requirements. Experience is the bigger deal on this one.
Growth Hacker
This is probably the most atypical job title on the list, but it has become just common enough for me to include it. Think of these as the analytical cousins of digital marketing managers, focusing on ways to drive business growth.
Average salary — $49,589
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in data analysis or marketing will be preferred, but may not be required.
Content Manager
Like writing? Want to write blogs and website content for a living? Here you go.
Average salary — $56,779
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in marketing, but experience will work just as well.
Content Strategist
Think of this one as a content manager with a broader scope. You’ll spend more time looking at engagement and other metrics, but you’ll still be writing content as well.
Average salary — $70,175
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in marketing, but experience will work just as well.
Information Architect
This one is all about product strategy with respect to content. Excited about user journeys and usability? This might be for you. (I actually don’t see this title very often anymore.)
Average salary — $108,278
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree.
Applications Architect
These are the people that keep individual software projects in line with the organization’s standards. Probably not something you’ll see at smaller companies.
Average salary — $113,757
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field. Might require a master’s degree.
UX Designer
UX is the user experience. These positions are related to information architects, but with more focus on visual mockups and working with developers. Also unlike information architects, this position seems to be becoming more common.
Average salary — $85,277
Degree required — Often no requirements. Sometimes requires a bachelor’s degree or UX certification.
UI Designer
They often work hand-in-hand with UX designers, but with more focus on the look and feel of an app instead of the user experience flow.
Average salary — $92,000
Degree required — Often no requirements. Sometimes requires a bachelor’s degree.
Accessibility Specialist
If you want to make apps more accessible to those with auditory, visual, or other needs, this is for you.
Average salary — $64,000
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, but plenty of options exist for those with no degree.
Interaction Designer
This one overlaps quite a bit with UX designers. Honestly not sure I understand the difference.
Average salary — $84,000
Degree required — Often no requirements. Sometimes requires a bachelor’s degree or UX certification.
Mobile Developer
A software developer specifically focused on mobile (Android, iOS) applications.
Average salary — $96,016
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, but plenty of options exist for those with no degree.
Full-stack Developer
If you want to do both web development and back-end development, this gives you that chance.
Average salary — $91,289
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, but plenty of options exist for those with no degree.
WordPress Developer
WordPress is the platform that a huge number of websites and blogs run on, so knowing how to develop with it makes you a hot commodity.
Average salary — $76,526
Degree required — Often bachelor’s degree in CS, but plenty of jobs for those with no degree.
Ruby on Rails Developer
Ruby is a programming language, and Ruby on Rails is the web application framework that made it mainstream. Plenty of companies need Ruby on Rails developers.
Average salary — $93,137
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, but plenty of options exist for those with no degree.
Python Developer
Python is a programming language popular with all sorts of programmers, from the machine learning community to the web development community. It’s also one of my favorites, not that that matters.
Average salary — $76,526
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, but plenty of options exist for those with no degree.
Java Developer
A bit older and used mostly for larger software projects, Java is still a language with plenty of job opportunities hanging around.
Average salary — $79,137
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, but plenty of options exist for those with no degree.
Javascript Developer
Most web developers use javascript. You’ll probably want to pick up one of the big frameworks like angular.js or react.js to make this field work for you.
Average salary — $79,137
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, but plenty of options exist for those with no degree.
PHP Developer
PHP is a popular scripting language, especially given its heavy use in platforms like WordPress.
Average salary — $79,921
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, but plenty of options exist for those with no degree.
Tech Sales Engineer
Selling technology can be fun too, and doesn’t require coding knowledge.
Average salary — $56,544 (but don’t forget commissions)
Degree required — Often no requirements.
Business Systems Analyst
Technology matchmaking anyone? Somebody needs to make sure that the company finds the systems and technology that it
Average salary — $84,000
Degree required — Often recommends a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, but experience will usually suffice.
Business Intelligence Developer
BI developers optimize data storage and flow for reporting and visualization purposes.
Average salary — $84,000
Degree required — Often recommends a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, but experience will usually suffice.
Systems Engineer
Somebody has to set up employee computers and software. This is that person.
Average salary — $77,768
Degree required — Often recommends a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, but experience or certification will usually suffice.
Systems Administrator
Keeping computer systems running smoothly is important, and that is what the sysadmin does.
Average salary — $64,892
Degree required — Often recommends a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, but experience or certification will usually suffice.
Network Administrator
The sysadmin may keep the systems working, but the network admin keeps those systems all talking to each other.
Average salary — $63,043
Degree required — Often recommends a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, but experience or certification will usually suffice.
Data Architect
This is the person that designs the systems and databases that store all the computer’s data.
Average salary — $108,278
Degree required — Usually requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field.
Solutions Architect
Solutions architects communicate across departments to evaluate needs and develop broader technological solutions
Average salary — $110,663
Degree required — Usually requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field. An MBA may help as well.
Data Modeler
The data architect creates the system, but somebody has to design the way that the data itself is organized and represented. That is the data modeler’s job.
Average salary — $78,548
Degree required — Usually requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a STEM field.
Data Analyst
Data analysts are the people that take in raw data and output reports and actionable analyses.
Average salary — $62,453
Degree required — Usually requires a bachelor’s degree in data analytics or a related field.
Data Scientist
What do you get when you combine a software engineer, a data analyst, and a domain expert? A data scientist.
Average salary — $113,309
Degree required — Requires at least a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a STEM field. Some positions require a master’s degree or Ph.D.
Cloud Architect
Don’t want to keep all your data on-site? Move it to the cloud. Want somebody to set that up for you? Hire a cloud architect.
Average salary — $107,309
Degree required — Usually requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field.
Technical Lead
The leader of a group of developers, it’s a low-level management role.
Average salary — $93,000
Degree required — Usually requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field.
DevOps Engineer
The all-around database and information system gurus, they develop the glue that holds everything together.
Average salary — $99,604
Degree required — Usually requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field.
Agile Project Manager
Project managers make sure things get done. They manage the design and build of the software and other tech products.
Average salary — $66,137
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in business or a related field.
Product Manager
Product managers bring together business requirements, set priorities, and ensure that the right products get built.
Average salary — $108,992
Degree required — Usually requires a bachelor’s degree in business or a related field.
Technical Account Manager
Like technology but also like building customer relationships? Here’s the job for you.
Average salary — $53,803
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in business, computer science, or a related field.
QA Specialist
Be nitpicky for a living. These are the people that find all the bugs in software.
Average salary — $53,309
Degree required — Usually no degree requirements, but this may vary by industry.
Game Developer
This one speaks for itself. They develop video games.
Average salary — $84,000
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field.
Computer Graphics Animator
Movies, TV, and other media need computer animation in the modern era, and these are the people that make those animations.
Average salary — $69,168
Degree required — Usually requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field.
Site Reliability Engineer
They have one task: keep the website running
Average salary — $117,530
Degree required — Often requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field.
A Few Final Notes
The works that is done by a particular title is always up to the company. They might be hiring a data scientist for work that is really that of a data analyst. You want to know what is really involved? Read the job description and reach out to the hiring manager to ask them.
Also, these salary numbers are constantly changing, and depend heavily on the company’s industry, your location, and even the size of the company.
Degree requirements are flexible, especially at smaller companies. Don’t let any of that stop you.
I would like to keep this list updated, so please let me know if anything is wrong or outdated. Know a position that I should have included? Give me the info I need to add it.
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