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How to become an Embedded and IoT Systems Engineer

Also called: Embedded software development engineer, Control software development engineer, Firmware development engineer, Embedded engineer

Develops software for the small control computers (microcontrollers) built into products and devices, or designs and develops whole systems including the products and devices.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say university or a master's degree is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

No particular education or qualification is required to start, but many are graduates of universities, postgraduate programmes or kosen (colleges of technology). New graduates have often studied electrical, electronic or information subjects. For mid-career hires, the kind of development you have done matters more than your faculty or department. Development needs up-to-date information, but it is important to learn development methods and basic knowledge of components at university, postgraduate level, kosen or similar. For the detailed skills this engineer needs, the Embedded Technology Skill Standards of the Information-technology Promotion Agency (IPA) are a useful guide. After joining, you build experience, skills and techniques while you work. Once you have worked on several projects and can take a customer's requirements all the way through to actual development without gaps, you are seen as a fully skilled engineer. As well as going deep in one area, it is important to gain wide experience across several areas, such as mechanical parts and communications. With a record of development, people become project managers and similar. People who change jobs may move to other companies in the same industry or to companies in nearby fields where their skills are useful. However, engineers in this field move between companies fairly rarely. Some gain experience, build contacts and start their own company. For programming the small computers in products and devices, the choice of programming language is usually fairly fixed: C-family languages are used, and the operating system is often Linux or ITRON. For server-side programming, C-family languages, PHP, Java and others are used, with Linux as the operating system and databases such as MySQL. Knowledge of security is also important today. Some of the information needed for development is in Japanese, but much is in English. Parts and software from overseas makers are often used, so you need enough English to read about them easily. Development is joint work, so teamwork is important and personality is valued. You are expected not just to deliver what you are asked but to take the initiative and propose new ways of doing things.

Ways in

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Questions people ask

How do I become an Embedded and IoT Systems Engineer?

No particular education or qualification is required to start, but many are graduates of universities, postgraduate programmes or kosen (colleges of technology). New graduates have often studied electrical, electronic or information subjects. For mid-career hires, the kind of development you have done matters more than your faculty or department. Development needs up-to-date information, but it is important to learn development methods and basic knowledge of components at university, postgraduate level, kosen or similar. For the detailed skills this engineer needs, the Embedded Technology Skill Standards of the Information-technology Promotion Agency (IPA) are a useful guide. After joining, you build experience, skills and techniques while you work. Once you have worked on several projects and can take a customer's requirements all the way through to actual development without gaps, you are seen as a fully skilled engineer. As well as going deep in one area, it is important to gain wide experience across several areas, such as mechanical parts and communications. With a record of development, people become project managers and similar. People who change jobs may move to other companies in the same industry or to companies in nearby fields where their skills are useful. However, engineers in this field move between companies fairly rarely. Some gain experience, build contacts and start their own company. For programming the small computers in products and devices, the choice of programming language is usually fairly fixed: C-family languages are used, and the operating system is often Linux or ITRON. For server-side programming, C-family languages, PHP, Java and others are used, with Linux as the operating system and databases such as MySQL. Knowledge of security is also important today. Some of the information needed for development is in Japanese, but much is in English. Parts and software from overseas makers are often used, so you need enough English to read about them easily. Development is joint work, so teamwork is important and personality is valued. You are expected not just to deliver what you are asked but to take the initiative and propose new ways of doing things.

How much does an Embedded and IoT Systems Engineer earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥5,784,700 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Software creators, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become an Embedded and IoT Systems Engineer?

Usually. In this job's census occupation group, 67% of workers are university graduates.

Will AI change the work of an Embedded and IoT Systems Engineer?

Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026