EXPOSED
The modal worker in this catch-all category builds and instruments test setups, runs bench and field tests, calibrates equipment, collects data, and writes it up for the engineers who sign off. The hands-on half — wiring a test rig, mounting sensors, troubleshooting why a prototype fails on the floor — is genuinely hard to automate; the documentation, data reduction, spec-checking, and report-writing half is already being absorbed by AI and automated test software. No license stands between this role and automation, and the engineer, not the technician, owns the consequential call.
Mixed — a routine tier and a judgment tier. An 11 reflects the split shift: LabVIEW/TestStand sequences, automated DAQ, and LLM-drafted test reports have already eaten the data reduction, spec-compliance checking, and write-up portions of the day, while fabricating a fixture, routing thermocouples on a hot prototype, and diagnosing intermittent connector faults still need a person on the bench — which is why it sits at the top of the mixed band rather than in the resistant one.
Hands-on in uncontrolled environments. At 13 the work happens where the hardware is — climbing over a test stand, pulling cable in an unfinished plant, taking field readings on equipment you did not install and cannot fully control — but a real fraction of hours is still spent at a desk reducing data and updating drawings, which keeps this off the 17-plus tier occupied by field service and rigging trades.
No licence, no signature requirement. A 3 is the honest floor: nothing in this role requires a PE or state licence, employer-side credentials like ASNT NDT Level II or an ETA cert are asked for by some shops and waived by others, and the seal on the test report belongs to the supervising engineer — the technician's initials on a data sheet carry no statutory weight.
Some relationship component. A 6 recognises the value of being the person the design engineers call because you know that rig's quirks and which channel drifts, but the deliverable is a dataset and a test report that any competent tech could hand over — no customer chooses your employer because of you.
Meaningful discretion. An 8 covers the calls you actually make unsupervised — deciding a run is invalid, changing instrumentation placement when the plan does not fit the part, flagging an out-of-family reading instead of logging it — all inside a written test procedure that someone else approved and can override, so the ambiguous high-stakes decision never lands on your desk.
Avionics Technicians SAFE
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