Let’s get beyond the hype. You know “edge computing” is huge, potentially even the next huge thing in technology. You’re intrigued, perhaps even thrilled, but also realistic. You want to know: What kind of jobs exist? What does a typical day look like for them? And more importantly, how much can I realistically make?

This isn’t a matter of making vague statements. We’ve excavated actual job listings (LinkedIn, Indeed, niche tech websites), cracked open actual salary information from places such as Payscale and Glassdoor, and spoken with industry pros to provide you with an honest, no-holds-barred view of the top 10 edge computing jobs currently hiring, their actual duties, and the salary scales you can expect worldwide.

Why Edge Computing? 

Edge computing enhances the cloud, so forget about replacing it. Think about how your smartwatch can determine your heart rate in real time, how a factory robot can make adjustments in an instant, or how a security camera can identify a face locally without sending the full video stream to a data center located miles away. The edge is that.

The Top 10 Edge Computing Jobs: Skills, Responsibilities & Salary Reality

This is a useful summary of the main functions propelling the edge revolution. Mid-level professional pay ranges (around three to seven years of experience) can vary widely based on your industry, location, firm size, and degree of expertise. Because the US and UK markets have different trends, we will focus on them.

Edge Solutions Architect: The Master Planner

Your job: You architect the whole edge system. Grasp the business issue (e.g., minimizing factory downtime), select appropriate hardware (servers, sensors), pick software (OS, security products), architect the network, and have them all communicate nicely to the cloud. You’re the conduit between business objectives and sophisticated tech.

Skills Required: Advanced systems architecture, significant cloud platforms (AWS Outposts, Azure Stack Edge), IoT protocols, networking (particularly 5G), cybersecurity, Kubernetes (K3s), and excellent communication/presentation skills.

US Salary: $140,000 – $220,000+

UK Salary: £90,000 – £140,000+

Example: The development of an edge node network for a shipping business to track temperature-sensitive cargo in real-time on trucks and warehouses worldwide is an actual example.

Edge Infrastructure Engineer:

Your job: You manage the physical and virtual guts of the edge. Installing, setting up, running, and debugging edge servers and gateways—usually in hard-to-reach locations like factories or remote facilities. Making it work reliably and continuously is essential.

Skills Required: Linux/Windows Server skills, networking (routing, firewalls), virtualization (VMware, KVM), hardware troubleshooting, scripting (Python/Bash), and familiarity with rugged hardware.

US Salary: $110,000 – $170,00

UK Salary: £65,000 – £95,000

Example: Managing hundreds of edge devices throughout retail stores for real-time inventory tracking and easy checkout systems.

Edge Software Developer: Code for the Edge

Your job: Develop the lean, mean software that runs natively on the edge. You’ll be processing sensor data, running analytics locally, handling device communication, and often doing this all under constrained computing.

Skill Requirements: Proficient in programming (Python, Go, C++, Rust), containerization with Docker, edge frameworks (Azure IoT Edge, AWS Greengrass), knowledge of embedded systems, data management

US Salary: $120,000 – $185,000

UK Salary: £70,000 – £110,000

Example: Developing software to detect vibrations in a factory edge device to predict machine failure before it results in a shutdown.

Edge Network Engineer: Bridging the Distributed World

Your job: You ensure safe and reliable communication among edge devices and the cloud. Your expertise lies in designing and operating high-speed, perfect networks for such special environments with technologies such as 5G, MEC (Multi-access Edge Computing), and SD-WAN.

Skills Required: strong latency and bandwidth understanding; higher networking (TCP/IP, BGP, SD-WAN, 5G/MEC); network security (firewalls, IDS); and cloud networking (AWS VPC, Azure VNet).

US Salary: $125,000 – $190,000

UK Salary: £75,000 – £115,000

Example:  Establishing a very low-latency network for real-time decision-making between autonomous vehicles and roadside edge computing devices.

Edge Security Specialist: Protector of the Edge

Your job: Edge devices are typically physical and often resource-constrained, making them vulnerable to exposure. You architect and implement security: shielding hardware, software, data, and networks. Secure boot, encryption, access control, and edge-focused threat detection come to mind.

Skills Required: Foundation cybersecurity, network/app security, IoT security frameworks, cryptography, secure boot/TPM, edge threat modeling, and awareness of regulations.

US Salary: $130,000 – $200,000+ (High Demand)

UK Salary: £80,000 – £125,000+ (High Demand)

Example: Securing edge devices on remote wind farms against both physical and cyberattacks.

Edge Data Engineer: Mastering the Flood of Data

Your job: Manage the colossal data streams being generated at the edge. Build pipelines to ingest, process, filter, and aggregate data locally with performance before pushing meaningful insights up to the cloud. It’s all about managing gargantuan volume and velocity within limited resources.

Skills Required: Data engineering, stream processing (Kafka, Flink), time-series databases (InfluxDB), data modeling, SQL/NoSQL, Python/Java/Scala, and understanding of edge constraints.

US Salary: $125,000 – $185,000

UK Salary: £75,000 – £110,000

Example: Creating a pipeline based on city traffic edge nodes that grabs live camera footage and immediately detects accidents and sends out only critical alerts centrally.

Edge AI/ML Engineer: Basing Intelligence in the Device

Your job: Get machine learning models up and running directly on edge devices. This involves optimizing large models (such as compression techniques like quantization), selecting the appropriate edge-friendly frameworks (TensorFlow Lite, ONNX Runtime), and ensuring they run efficiently and robustly with minimal power consumption.

Skills Required: Good machine learning/deep learning, Python (PyTorch/TensorFlow), model optimization strategies, edge ML frameworks, and knowledge of hardware constraints.

US Salary: $145,000 – $230,000+ (Premium Skills)

UK Salary: £90,000 – £150,000+ (Premium Skills)

Example: Deploying a computer vision model on a factory camera to detect product defects in real-time on the production line.

Cloud Edge Integration Specialist: Making Cloud & Edge Work as One

Your job: Facilitate smooth communication and control between the edge that’s bridging between every location and the core cloud. You’re the person who possesses the know-how in hybrid cloud/edge platforms (like Azure Arc and AWS Outposts) and getting data and apps to move smoothly between both worlds.

Skills Required: Thorough knowledge of one of the main cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and its auxiliary technologies, including containers, Kubernetes, APIs, hybrid architecture, and Terraform infrastructure-as-code.

US Salary: $135,000 – $195,000

UK Salary: £80,000 – £120,000

Example: Orchestrating application updates on hundreds of edge sites and cloud servers in parallel with Azure Arc.

Edge DevOps Engineer

Your job: Utilize DevOps expertise to manage thousands of distant edge devices. Automate software administration, upgrades, deployment, and monitoring in those sometimes inaccessible areas. Emphasize infrastructure-as-code, CI/CD pipelines, and reliable remote operations.

Skills Required: Scripting, Linux expert, infrastructure-as-code (Ansible/Terraform), Kubernetes (lightweight flavors), monitoring (Prometheus/Grafana), and DevOps basics (CI/CD – Jenkins/GitLab).

US Salary: $130,000 – $190,000

UK Salary: £75,000 – £115,000

Example: Automating a high-priority security patch deployment to all edge devices of a chain store across an entire country in hours.

IoT Solutions Engineer (Edge Focus)

Your job: Develop end-to-end IoT solutions where edge computing is an important component. You get sensors, connectivity (such as cellular or LoRaWAN), edge processing requirements, cloud platforms, and how it addresses a business issue. You explain tech to stakeholders.

Skills Required: Wide IoT architecture, sensor technology, comms protocols (MQTT, CoAP), edge ideas, cloud-based IoT platforms (AWS IoT Core, Azure IoT Hub), data fundamentals, and business acumen.

US Salary: $120,000 – $180,000

UK Salary: £70,000 – £105,000

Example: Soil sensors feed edge gateways for local irrigation automation, managed via centralized cloud dashboards.

Learning Edge Computing Salaries: US, UK & International Trends

United States

In the United States, salaries for edge-computing specialists often rank among the highest on the planet. Senior roles such as Edge Architect or AI-focused Engineer can pull in $160,000 to beyond $250,000, especially in places like Silicon Valley, Boston, or Austin. Even newer hires, labeled simply Edge Engineer, land pay packages that stretch from $100,000 to about $160,000 in most offers. Typical perks include robust health coverage, flexible hours, and the carrot of stock options. The thirst for talent keeps rising across telecom, smart-grid projects, and the still-emerging world of driverless vehicles.

United Kingdom

UK pay boards show Edge Computing salaries shift depending on your postcode and job title. Engineers landing on the right projects usually see offers between £60,000 and £90,000, while seasoned solutions architects or embedded-AI leads often cross the six-figure mark. London, Cambridge, and Manchester claim most of the headlines, although smaller centers like Bristol and Leeds are making plenty of noise and starting to pull similar money. Analysts now peg the domestic edge market for a meteoric rise, estimating it will swell to £8.7 billion by the end of the decade, fueled in no small part by 5G rollouts, smart-city upgrades and defense contracts.

CONCLUSION:

Demand is growing especially in sectors like 5G, IoT, AI integration, and smart devices. Professionals with cross-domain skills—such as cloud infrastructure, real-time data processing, and embedded AI—are especially valued. As the edge computing market continues to expand globally, salaries are expected to rise further, particularly for roles blending engineering and AI expertise.