Occupation
Reliability engineer
Reliability engineers work out why equipment fails and change the design, maintenance strategy, or operating practice so it fails less. The role depends on patient data work: failure histories, condition monitoring, and honest investigation of what actually went wrong.
Also known as: Maintenance and reliability engineer · Asset reliability engineer
Occupation content
Part of Engineering and technical design
What the work involves
- Analyse failure history and downtime records to find bad actors and recurring modes.
- Lead root-cause investigations after significant equipment failures.
- Develop maintenance strategies and criticality rankings for plant and assets.
- Interpret vibration, thermography, oil analysis, and other condition-monitoring data.
- Specify design or spares changes that remove a known failure mode.
- Track reliability measures over time and report on whether interventions worked.
How people commonly enter
- A bachelor's degree in mechanical, electrical, or industrial engineering.
- An engineering technology diploma plus significant maintenance experience.
- Progression from a maintenance technician or planner role into reliability engineering.
- Recognised maintenance and reliability certification taken alongside technical experience.
Typical training: Bachelor's degree
Licensing: Certification common, not usually required
Typical work context
Team based · Lab or workshop · Desk based · Client sites · Varied work
Related interests
Investigative (analytical) · Realistic (hands-on) · Conventional (organizing)
Related aptitude preparation
These are preparation links only. They do not measure eligibility for this occupation and no score here qualifies or disqualifies anyone.
Skills to practise
- Data interpretation
- Mechanical comprehension
- Inductive reasoning
- Critical thinking
- Planning and scheduling exercises
Practice suites
Related learning
Family-level learning links for Engineering and technical design.
Official sources
Labour-market facts such as pay and employment projections are not reproduced here. Open an official source below for figures, with its own geography and reference period.
- US BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Architecture and engineering occupations · United States
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- O*NET OnLine — occupation search: reliability engineer · United States
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- Employment and Social Development Canada — National Occupational Classification (NOC) · Canada
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Labour-market context (not part of exploration match)
This is broad family-level context for Engineering and technical design in Canada, not a figure for Reliability engineer. It does not affect matching scores and is not an eligibility determination.
This is a broad Engineering and technical design family. Explore the official profile for the chosen occupation; entry education and training can differ within the family.
Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period
Engineering and technical design: education pathways
Some roles in Engineering and technical design may be regulated. Confirm whether the specific role requires registration, certification, or a jurisdiction-specific licence.
Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period
Engineering and technical design: licensing
Find jobs
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- Search Canada Job Bank · Canada
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