How to become an Industrial Robot Development Engineer
Also called: Machine Tool Design Engineer, Industrial Robot Design Engineer, Automation Engineer, Semiconductor Equipment Design Engineer
Researches and develops industrial robots at companies, research institutes and elsewhere.
Main tasks
- Studying economic and industry trends to identify new technologies and needs
- Drawing ideas for research from how humans, animals, insects and other living things work and move
- Looking at existing robots to find what could be improved
- Preparing materials on future potential and usefulness to raise research funding from inside or outside the organisation
- Working out the robot's concept and basic design
- Designing the robot's shape and look
- Choosing sensors and actuators from existing parts or designing new ones
- Asking partner companies to develop and make new sensors and actuators
- Assembling robots from parts for prototypes, tests and verification
- Developing programs to control robots
- Training robots with machine learning and deep learning
- Testing prototype robots to check they perform as designed and have no problems
- Improving and adjusting robots, machines and programs to make them more accurate and reliable
- Discussing mass production of robots with teams in the company or other companies
- Applying for patents on new technology developed during research
- Writing reports on robots and related technology developed, and writing papers for academic journals
- Giving lectures and talks at universities, symposiums and elsewhere on technology trends and related social and economic trends
- Exchanging views on research with outside scientists and engineers
- Exchanging views on research with team members and colleagues
- Gathering information on related technology trends in Japan and overseas
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
Researching and developing industrial robots needs broad engineering knowledge. Many people in the field studied mechanical, electrical and electronic or control engineering at university, graduate school or a kosen (college of technology). In recent years people who studied information processing, including AI (artificial intelligence), are also in demand. After joining, it is said to take at least three to four years, and five to six on average, before you can do research that meets clients' requirements and earns the trust of those involved. Industrial robots work at high speed and with high precision, and reliability and safety are vital, so you need a patient, steady approach to research to improve performance. Research is done in teams, so teamwork is needed. Earning the trust of clients and partner companies is also important. You also need English or other language skills to deal with overseas clients and exchange and gather information. Industrial robot development engineers usually move up within their company to team leader, section manager and so on. Few go independent or start their own company.
Ways in
- University: Engineering degrees, Offered by 95 universities in Japan
Pay · Job openings · AI and this job
- Average annual income: ¥6,590,400 Private sector only: employers with 10 or more staff. Public servants, such as public school teachers and police officers, are not in these figures.
- Monthly base pay (before overtime and bonus): median ¥343,100, and the middle half earn ¥276,700 to ¥440,500 a month.
- Pay measured for the wage survey group: Machinery engineers
- 1.93 job openings per applicant at Hello Work (2025). A current demand signal, not a projection. It counts only the jobs and job seekers registered at Hello Work, Japan's public employment offices, and many graduate and professional hires never pass through it.
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
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Questions people ask
How do I become an Industrial Robot Development Engineer?
Researching and developing industrial robots needs broad engineering knowledge. Many people in the field studied mechanical, electrical and electronic or control engineering at university, graduate school or a kosen (college of technology). In recent years people who studied information processing, including AI (artificial intelligence), are also in demand. After joining, it is said to take at least three to four years, and five to six on average, before you can do research that meets clients' requirements and earns the trust of those involved. Industrial robots work at high speed and with high precision, and reliability and safety are vital, so you need a patient, steady approach to research to improve performance. Research is done in teams, so teamwork is needed. Earning the trust of clients and partner companies is also important. You also need English or other language skills to deal with overseas clients and exchange and gather information. Industrial robot development engineers usually move up within their company to team leader, section manager and so on. Few go independent or start their own company.
How much does an Industrial Robot Development Engineer earn in Japan?
Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥6,590,400 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Machinery engineers, which covers several jobs.
Do you need a degree to become an Industrial Robot Development Engineer?
Usually. In this job's census occupation group, 66% of workers are university graduates.
Will AI change the work of an Industrial Robot Development Engineer?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Basic Survey on Wage Structure (賃金構造基本統計調査) 2025: earnings by occupation (2025 survey (June 2025 pay, 2024 bonus), published 2026-03-24), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Employment Referrals for General Workers (一般職業紹介状況): Hello Work job-openings-to-applicants ratio by occupation (2025 annual (release of 2026-10-02)), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- Statistics Bureau of Japan (MIC): 2020 Population Census (令和2年国勢調査) detailed sample tabulation: employed by occupation, sex, age and education (2020 Census (tables 9-1 and 15-1, published 2022-12-27)), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- JILPT (職業情報データベース) via MHLW job tag: job tag download data: 解説系 (descriptions, how to become, related qualifications) and 簡易版数値系 (interests, tasks, education) (解説系 ver.7.01 (2026-06-04); 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00 (2026-03-17)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
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