CIO.com
14 best tech jobs in America
By: Sharon Florentine
For the second year in a row, data scientist tops the list of Glassdoor's Best Jobs in America followed by DevOps engineer and data engineer. Though Glassdoor expanded 2017's list to 50 -- up from 25 in 2016 -- technology jobs continued to dominate the list, with fourteen roles represented on the list from the IT industry.
"In particular for tech jobs, companies across all industries are hiring workers for these needed positions, including employers in healthcare, finance, manufacturing, retail and more. Any organization today with a mobile app, web presence or digitized data are struggling to fill jobs like data scientists, software engineers and mobile developers," says Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist at Glassdoor.
This report highlights the best jobs in all industries based on each job's overall Glassdoor Job Score. The Glassdoor Job Score is determined using three key factors: earning potential based on median annual base salary, job satisfaction rating and number of job openings.
The Glassdoor Job Score is based on a 5-point scale, with 5.0 being a "best job" and 1.0 being a "bad job.". For a job title to be considered, it must receive at least 100 salary reports and at least 100 job satisfaction ratings shared by U.S.-based employees from January 2, 2016 to January 1, 2017. The number of job openings per job title represents active job listings on Glassdoor as of January 1, 2017.
Here are the top 14 best IT jobs in America, according to Glassdoor.
Glassdoor's annual Best Jobs in America report shows data scientists, DevOps engineers and data engineers rank among the best jobs overall in America's current job market.
1. Data Scientist
Data scientists are tasked with creating value out of the raw data organizations collect. They use machine-learning based tools and processes as well as perform data and statistical analysis.
Job Score: 4.8
Job Satisfaction Rating: 4.4
Number of Job Openings: 4,184
Median Base Salary: $110,000
2. DevOps Engineer
A DevOps engineer works closely with software engineers to automate and streamline systems, build and maintain deployment tools as well as troubleshoot and resolve issues in development, testing and production.
Job Score: 4.7
Job Satisfaction Rating: 4.2
Number of Job Openings: 2,725
Median Base Salary: $110,000
3. Data Engineer
With the myriad of data sources, companies need data engineers to put it all the pieces together. In their role, data engineers develop, maintain, test and evaluate big data solutions throughout an organization.
Job Score: 4.7
Job Satisfaction Rating: 4.3
Number of Job Openings: 2,599
Median Base Salary: $106,000
4. Analytics Manager
These roles are most often found in healthcare, where they are responsible for managing teams that use business data and statistical methods to improve processes.
Job Score: 4.6
Job Satisfaction Rating: 4.1
Number of Job Openings: 1,958
Median Base Salary: $112,000
5. Database Administrator
Database administrators are responsible for all aspects of performance, integrity and security of an organization's databases and data storage. They also can be involved in designing, building and deploying new data storage systems.
Job Score: 4.5
Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.8
Number of Job Openings: 2,877
Median Base Salary: $93,000
6. UX Designer
User experience (UX) designers are responsible for how a product feels to the end user. Their job is to identify users' underlying emotions, needs and challenges and then help with the design and development of products to meet those needs.
Job Score: 4.4
Job Satisfaction Rating: 4.0
Number of Job Openings: 1,691
Median Base Salary: $92,500
7. Solutions Architect
Solutions architects takes product requirements and translate those into actual products. They are responsible for describing products through architecture and design.
Job Score: 4.4
Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.7
Number of Job Openings: 2,232
Median Base Salary: $125,000
8. Software Engineer
Software engineers are responsible for the entire lifecycle of both existing and new software, from research and design to implementation, maintenance and support.
Job Score: 4.3
Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.5
Number of Job Openings: 17,085
Median Base Salary: $101,000
9. QA Manager
Although the exact duties of quality assurance (QA) managers varies depending on their industries, in general they are responsible for developing and enforcing in-house quality assurance standards and processes for an organization.
Job Score: 4.3
Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.7
Number of Job Openings: 2,531
Median Base Salary: $92,000
10. Mobile Developer
Mobile developers are responsible for the entire lifecycle of both existing and new mobile device software and applications, from research and design to implementation, maintenance and support.
Job Score: 4.3
Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.7
Number of Job Openings: 2,130
Median Base Salary: $85,000
11. Systems Administrator
Systems administrators, or sysadmins, are responsible for all aspects of provisioning, installation and configuration, operation, security and maintenance of hardware and software infrastructure.
Job Score: 4.2
Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.7
Number of Job Openings: 4,046
Median Base Salary: $68,000
12. Hardware Engineer
These professionals are often the ones making huge technological advances with computer hardware. They're responsible for the research, design, development and testing of computer systems and components including processors, circuit boards, memory, networks and routers.
Job Score: 4.2
Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.9
Number of Job Openings: 954
Median Base Salary: $108,000
13. Information Security Engineer
Information security engineers help ensure the safety of an organization's computers, networks, software and systems. They plan, develop and deploy security measures, both hardware and software-based, to protect data and systems from infiltration and cyberattacks.
Job Score: 4.1
Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.7
Number of Job Openings: 1,247
Median Base Salary: $100,000
14. UI Designer
User interface (UI) designers work closely with visual designers, UX designers and software developers to create beautiful and easy-to-use interfaces for software and systems.
Job Score: 4.1
Job Satisfaction Rating: 4.0
Number of Job Openings: 950
Median Base Salary: $80,000
