Career guides.
What a job is like week to week, what it pays, how long it takes to qualify, and which occupations already cover most of what it asks for. Every figure is computed from live postings and moves with the nightly scrape. 165 guides, over 26,087 open roles.
Technology
- Software EngineerSoftware engineers design, build and maintain the systems behind digital products. Writing code is central, but the role also includes deciding how a feature should work, testing it, reviewing changes and keeping it reliable after release. Backend, frontend and infrastructure roles narrow that responsibility to a particular part of the system.$190k600 open
- DevOps EngineerDevOps engineers make software delivery and infrastructure more repeatable, observable and recoverable. The role sits between software engineering and systems administration, but its responsibility is the delivery system rather than one application or one fleet of machines.$141k570 open
- Solutions ArchitectA solutions architect takes a customer's or a business unit's problem and turns it into a system design that other engineers can build, then stays close enough to the build to catch it when reality disagrees with the diagram. The confusion is usually with software architect: that role optimizes one codebase, this one sits between sales, engineering, and a client who has opinions about budget and timeline. You spend as much time defending a design in a room as you spent drawing it.$161k565 open
- IT Support SpecialistIT support specialists are the people who pick up when a login fails or a laptop won't image, and they either fix it in the first call or route it to someone who can. The role sits closer to customer service than people expect: 47% of postings name it directly, more than any technical skill listed. What separates this from systems administration is scope. A sysadmin owns the servers; support owns the ticket queue and the person on the other end of it.$100k553 open
- Data EngineerData engineers build the pipelines, models and platforms that move data into reliable use. They make raw events and upstream systems available to analysts, products and machine-learning teams. The role is closer to software and infrastructure than to interpreting a dashboard.$147k464 open
- Data ScientistData scientists use data, statistics and models to answer decisions that simple reporting cannot settle. They frame the question, test evidence and explain what a result supports or fails to support. The role is broader than machine learning because many useful answers do not require a production model.$152k382 open
- Backend DeveloperBackend developers build the services, data access and rules that sit behind an application interface. They own behavior that users may never see directly but notice immediately when it is slow, inconsistent or unavailable. The role overlaps with software engineering, while staying more focused on server-side systems.$131k379 open
- QA EngineerQA engineers build confidence that software or systems behave as intended before and after release. They design tests, automate checks and investigate failures across requirements, code and operating conditions. The role is broader than manual clicking and narrower than general software engineering.$109k370 open
- Security EngineerSecurity engineers design and operate controls that reduce how systems can be compromised. They work across cloud, networks, applications, identity and detection. The role is more preventive and engineering-heavy than monitoring alerts alone.$152k336 open
- Data AnalystA data analyst pulls numbers out of somewhere unhelpful (a warehouse, a spreadsheet someone abandoned in 2022, a Salesforce export) and turns them into a chart someone else will act on. The line people confuse this with is data scientist: an analyst answers 'what happened and why,' usually in SQL and a BI tool, where a data scientist builds the model that predicts what happens next. If you like a clean dashboard more than a clever model, this is the job.$102k278 open
- Systems AdministratorA systems administrator keeps the servers, storage, identity systems, and network gear that everyone else's work depends on running. Where an IT support specialist fixes the laptop in front of them, the sysadmin is patching the domain controller at 2am so three hundred laptops never notice anything happened. The job is closer to maintenance engineering than to helpdesk work: you are responsible for uptime, not for being liked.$105k274 open
- AI EngineerAI engineers turn models into software that people and other systems can use reliably. The work combines model behavior, application code, data flow and evaluation. It is closer to software engineering with uncertain components than to open-ended AI research.$140k248 open
- Machine Learning EngineerMachine learning engineers build software systems that use trained models in real products. Current titles include applied machine learning, computer vision, speech, security and generative AI work. Data scientists share modeling and analysis skills, while MLOps engineers concentrate more on deployment and platform reliability.$170k222 open
- Frontend DeveloperFrontend developers build the part of software that people see and interact with in a browser. The role differs from visual design because it owns implemented behavior, accessibility, performance and integration with the rest of the application.$115k147 open
- Mobile DeveloperMobile developers build applications for phones and tablets while working within platform, device and release constraints. They connect interface behavior, APIs, local state and operating-system rules. The role is narrower than general software engineering and more device-specific than frontend web development.$125k76 open
- Network EngineerNetwork engineers design, change and troubleshoot the systems that move traffic between users, services, clouds and physical sites. They balance capacity, resilience and security across equipment and software. The role is broader than desktop support and more network-focused than systems administration.$127k72 open
- Developer AdvocateDeveloper advocates help technical users understand, adopt and challenge a product while carrying their feedback back to the company. They combine software credibility with teaching, content, events and product judgment. The role is not conventional marketing with code samples attached.$170k47 open
- Product AnalystProduct analysts use behavioral and business data to explain how a product is working and which change deserves attention. They connect SQL, experiments and product context. The role is more decision-focused than general reporting and less responsible for delivery than product management.$100k47 open
- Data AnnotatorA data annotator labels and judges the examples that machine learning systems train and test on: marking whether a model's answer was right, ranking two responses against each other, flagging where a translation drifted or a chatbot got weird. The job people confuse it with is QA testing, but QA checks whether software works and this checks whether a model's output is good, which is a judgment call more than a bug report.$97k36 open
- Database AdministratorDatabase administrators keep databases available, secure, recoverable and fast enough for the systems that depend on them. They manage the operational state of data rather than defining business dashboards. The role overlaps with database engineering, cloud infrastructure and systems administration.$105k35 open
- BI DeveloperBI developers turn operational data into governed models, reports and dashboards that people can use for decisions. The work sits between data engineering and analysis. It is not simply choosing colors for a chart.$104k34 open
- Data ArchitectA data architect decides how an organization's data is going to be structured, stored, and moved long before an engineer writes a pipeline to move it. The confusion with data engineer is fair, since 92% of the skill set overlaps, but the architect is accountable for the shape of the system (schemas, governance rules, which warehouse, what talks to what) while the engineer builds and runs the pipes that shape implies. You spend more time in design review and less time debugging a failed job at 2am.$137k29 open
- Penetration TesterPenetration testers simulate attacks against systems with explicit authorization, then explain which weaknesses create real risk and how to fix them. The role differs from a security engineer because the tester is primarily proving exploitable failure, while the engineer builds and operates controls.$130k22 open
- MLOps EngineerMLOps engineers build the delivery and operating systems that move machine-learning work from experiment to dependable use. The role differs from machine-learning engineering because it is centered on repeatable pipelines, deployment, observability and shared infrastructure rather than model development alone.$110k19 open
- Game DeveloperGame developers implement the software behind gameplay, tools, rendering and platform behavior. The role differs from game design because developers are accountable for making systems run reliably, not primarily for deciding the player's rules and goals.$77k12 open
- Technical ArtistTechnical artists build tools and workflows that let artists produce complex interactive content within engine and performance limits. They sit between art and engineering. The role is not a junior artist position with occasional scripting.$114k11 open
- Computer Vision EngineerComputer vision engineers build systems that extract useful information from images or video. They connect model development with cameras, data, software and the conditions where the system will operate. The role is narrower than general machine learning and more deployment-focused than image research alone.$163k10 open
- Design TechnologistA design technologist sits between the person who draws the interface and the person who builds it, and spends the day making the drawing work: wiring a prototype so it clicks and animates like the real product, writing the rule in the design system so nobody has to guess again. People confuse it with product design, but a product designer can hand off a static screen and move on; a design technologist is the one who has to make it survive contact with real data, real code, and a screen reader.$141k9 open
- Creative TechnologistA creative technologist sits between the deck and the build: you're the one who can sketch the interaction in Figma in the morning and get it clicking in After Effects or a prototype by afternoon, then explain to a client why it works. The role gets confused with design technologist and with straight-up creative director work, but the tell is the writing load: two-thirds of postings want you drafting scripts, briefs, and pitch decks, not just producing assets.$113k6 open
- GIS AnalystA GIS analyst turns raw spatial data, points, parcels, elevation scans, into maps and layers that other people make decisions from. The role sits closer to data work than to cartography: you spend more time in attribute tables and coordinate systems than laying out a finished map for print. That distinction is what separates it from Cartographer, a role people confuse it with constantly, but which leans harder into the visual output rather than the data pipeline behind it.$85k4 open
- Computational DesignerComputational designers use code and parametric systems to generate, test or coordinate design options. In the current evidence, the role sits mainly around architecture, urban design and BIM. It is not simply a designer who knows a scripting language.$120k3 open
- Prompt EngineerA prompt engineer builds and hardens the instructions, retrieval pipelines, and evaluation loops that make a large language model behave the same way twice. It sits next to conversation design but the center of gravity is different: a conversation designer writes for how the dialogue feels, a prompt engineer writes for how the system fails, and spends real time in Python and RAG pipelines making sure it doesn't. Most of the job is diagnosis, not authorship.$113k3 open
- Digital Twin LeadA digital twin lead coordinates a living digital representation of a physical asset, process or system. The role differs from a general product analyst because the model must stay connected to engineering reality, operational data and decisions about the physical system.·0 open
- NLP EngineerNLP engineers build systems that classify, retrieve, generate or evaluate human language. They connect language data, machine learning and software delivery. The role is narrower than general AI engineering and more production-oriented than language research alone.·0 open
- XR PrototyperXR prototypers build quick virtual, augmented or mixed-reality experiences to test interaction and technical feasibility. They combine real-time engines, three-dimensional content and experimental design. PivotHop does not currently have a job sample for this title.·0 open
Business
- Account ExecutiveAn account executive owns the number: a patch of accounts or a territory, a quota attached to it, and the decision about which deals get your hours this week. People mix it up with account management, but the split is real: AEs are paid to open and close revenue, account managers are paid to keep it and grow it after the ink dries. Most postings want someone who has already carried a bag for a few years, because the job assumes you know how to run a deal without a script.$150k600 open
- Project ManagerProject managers turn a defined outcome into coordinated work, decisions and an honest view of risk. They manage scope, schedule, dependencies and communication across people who do the actual specialist work. The role does not mean owning every task, and it is distinct from product management.$126k600 open
- RecruiterA recruiter fills open roles: sourcing candidates, running screens, chasing hiring managers for feedback, and closing offers before someone else does. In practice a lot of postings under this title in Switzerland and Germany are procurement or vendor-facing recruiting roles rather than pure HR, which is why skills like SAP and procurement show up as often as they do. The confusion people have is with HR generalist work: a recruiter owns the pipeline until someone signs, an HR manager owns them after.$86k600 open
- Sales RepresentativeA sales representative gets a defined patch, a quota, and a CRM that tracks whether you hit it. What separates it from account executive work is the stage of the relationship: reps spend more time finding and qualifying accounts, AEs spend more time closing and expanding ones already in the door, and postings for this role lean B2B rather than consumer.$74k600 open
- Marketing ManagerMarketing managers decide how a product, service or brand reaches a market and how the response is measured. Current titles split across product marketing, brand, lifecycle, field, performance and regional work. Growth marketers share measurement and channel skills, while marketing managers often carry broader positioning, coordination and budget responsibility.$139k589 open
- Product ManagerA product manager decides what a team builds next and defends why, using data, customer conversations, and a backlog that never empties. The role people confuse it with is project manager: a PM sets direction and says no to good ideas that aren't the right idea, where a project manager keeps the agreed plan on schedule. Both sit in meetings all day, but only one of them owns the outcome if the shipped thing doesn't sell.$172k587 open
- Operations ManagerOperations managers keep a recurring business or service process working across people, systems and changing demand. They own execution, capacity, exceptions and improvement rather than one temporary project. The title is broad, so the operating domain matters more than the label.$122k578 open
- Sales EngineerA sales engineer sits in the deal, not next to it: you're the one who gets the API working live on a prospect's laptop while the account executive watches the clock. The line people confuse it with is product management, but a PM owns the roadmap and you own the room, you're measured on whether the demo closed, not whether the feature was right.$153k570 open
- Customer Support SpecialistCustomer support means taking the ticket, the call, or the chat that a self-service page already failed, and closing it in a way that does not boomerang back. What separates it from a call-center script job is the amount of judgment involved: knowing when to bend a policy, when to escalate, and when to just fix the thing yourself in the CRM before anyone above you notices there was a problem.$58k505 open
- Business AnalystBusiness analysts turn an unclear operational problem into requirements, process changes and decisions a delivery team can act on. They sit between business users, data and technical teams. The role is broader than data analysis because the output often changes a workflow, system or policy.$122k494 open
- Executive AssistantAn executive assistant runs the operating system around one or two executives: the calendar, the inbox triage, the travel, the pre-reads for board meetings. What separates it from an office administrator role is scope, you are managing someone's judgment about where their time goes, not just their logistics, and increasingly you are running small projects and vendor relationships on their behalf.$74k469 open
- Customer Success ManagerA Customer Success Manager owns the outcome after the contract is signed: getting an account to use the product, renew, and ideally spend more. The job gets confused with support (reactive, ticket-driven) but a CSM works proactively on a fixed book of accounts, and increasingly carries a number for retention or expansion, which is what pulls it closer to sales than most people expect.$105k373 open
- Management ConsultantManagement consultants analyze an organization problem, structure the work and present a recommendation or implementation plan. Current titles span strategy, customer experience, analytics, transaction monitoring and engagement work. Business analysts share the analysis core, while consultants usually carry more responsibility for framing and communicating the answer.$119k268 open
- HR ManagerAn HR manager runs the operational machinery of a workforce: policy, performance, employee relations, headcount planning. The role that gets confused with it is recruiter, but recruiting fills seats while HR management owns what happens to the person after the offer is signed, sometimes for years.$110k232 open
- Supply Chain AnalystA supply chain analyst spends the week tracking how goods move from a purchase order to a warehouse shelf, and flags the points where that flow is about to break: a supplier running late, a freight lane costing more than it should, a forecast that no longer matches actual sell-through. The job gets confused with procurement, but procurement negotiates the contract and picks the vendor; the analyst is the one watching what happens after the ink dries, in SAP and in spreadsheets, to see if the plan is holding.$84k131 open
- Growth MarketerGrowth marketers find and improve the channels and product moments that acquire, activate or retain customers. The role differs from broad marketing management because it is organized around measurable growth loops, experiments and the economics of specific actions.$147k119 open
- Social Media ManagerSocial media managers plan, publish and evaluate a brand's work across social platforms and communities. They connect writing, content production, audience response and business goals. The role is not continuous casual posting and not identical to community management.$85k108 open
- Real Estate DeveloperA real estate developer puts together deals: you find a site or building, figure out what it can legally and financially become, assemble the money and the people who will build it, and stay on the project until it leases up or sells. The role people confuse it with is the real estate agent, but an agent represents a transaction and moves to the next one, while a developer owns the risk on a single project for years and only gets paid if the numbers you underwrote hold.$124k104 open
- SEO SpecialistAn SEO specialist decides what a site needs to say, and how it needs to be built, so that search engines and the people using them find it on purpose rather than by accident. The job sits closer to data analysis than people expect: you spend more time in Search Console pulling apart a ranking drop than you spend writing anything. The role next to it, content strategist, decides what gets said. SEO decides whether anyone ever sees it.$78k56 open
- Market ResearcherA market researcher pulls together survey data, sales numbers, and competitor pricing to answer a specific question a business needs settled: will this product sell, at what price, to whom. People confuse it with market research 'analysis' as a passive report-writing job, but the actual work is closer to detective work with a spreadsheet: you design the study, chase the data, and then have to defend the number you land on in a room full of people who'd rather you'd found a different one. The line that separates it from a marketing manager role is that a market researcher doesn't run the campaign, they tell you whether the campaign is aimed at the right people.$96k51 open
- Facilities ManagerA facilities manager keeps a building or a portfolio of buildings running: HVAC, security, cleaning contracts, the loading dock schedule, the fire panel that needs testing. People confuse this with property management, but property managers chase leases and tenant relationships while facilities managers keep the physical plant and the vendors who service it under control. The overlap with maintenance technician work is real (many postings ask for both), but the manager is the one who signs the contract and answers when the chiller fails at 2am.$92k47 open
- Event PlannerEvent planners turn a brief into a coordinated event that works for guests, vendors, speakers and the budget. The role differs from general project management because the deadline is fixed, the experience is live and many failures cannot be corrected after the event ends.$66k35 open
- Real Estate AgentA real estate agent gets a property in front of the right buyer and gets that buyer to a signed contract, which sounds like sales but spends most of its hours on things sales reps never touch: pricing a listing against six recent comps, scheduling inspections, walking a nervous first-time buyer through what earnest money means. The role people confuse it with is property management, which is about keeping buildings running; an agent's job ends when the deed transfers.$83k24 open
- AI Product ManagerAI product managers decide which model behavior is useful enough to build, how it will be evaluated and where it can fail safely. The role combines product management with model literacy, data judgment and unusually close work with engineering. It is not an AI engineer role with fewer coding tasks.·17 open
- Scrum MasterA scrum master runs the mechanics that let a development team ship on a rhythm: the standups, the sprint planning, the retro where someone finally admits the last release broke because of a shortcut nobody flagged. People confuse the role with project manager, but a PM owns the plan and the deadline, while a scrum master owns whether the team can work without getting blocked, talked over, or buried in scope nobody agreed to. The job disappears the moment a team runs itself well, which is either the best sign of success or the reason the role gets questioned every reorg.$104k16 open
Design
- Product DesignerProduct designers shape how a digital product works, not only how it looks. They connect user research, interaction design, prototypes and design systems to product decisions. The role overlaps heavily with UX design but often carries broader ownership from problem through shipped interface.$151k331 open
- Creative DirectorCreative directors set the standard and direction for how a brand or campaign communicates, then lead other people toward it. They connect writing, visual design, motion, presentation and commercial goals. The role is broader than art direction because it owns the idea and its consistency across disciplines.$133k134 open
- Graphic DesignerGraphic designers organize type, image and layout so a message works across brand and communication channels. The role differs from illustration because the designer solves a communication system, while an illustrator is usually hired for original image-making.$71k126 open
- UX DesignerUX designers make digital products understandable and usable through research, interaction design and testing. They shape flows, states and information rather than only surface appearance. The role overlaps with product design, while often keeping a tighter focus on user experience.$115k91 open
- Video EditorA video editor takes footage, motion graphics, and sometimes a script, and turns them into something that holds attention for the length of a scroll or the length of a campaign. The role gets confused with motion designer, but the split is real: editing is about assembling and pacing what already exists, motion design is about building elements from nothing in After Effects. Most postings want both, which is why the two skills sit at 69 and 61 percent of listings without either one owning the job title.$75k53 open
- Motion DesignerMotion designers use timing, movement, type, image and sound to make visual communication unfold over time. The role differs from graphic design because it owns transitions, pacing and editing rather than a static composition alone.$109k49 open
- Brand DesignerA brand designer builds the visual system a company lives inside: the logo, but also the type scale, the color rules, the tone of voice, and the deck that explains why all of it works. The job people confuse it with is graphic designer, who usually executes inside a system someone else set; the brand designer is the one who decides what the system is, then defends it in front of a VP who wants the logo bigger. It's closer to identity architecture than to production art, even though the software overlaps.$121k40 open
- Interior DesignerAn interior designer takes a floor plate someone else may have shaped and decides what happens inside it: where walls move, what finishes go where, how a hundred small material decisions read as one coherent space when the lights come up. The line people blur is architect, but the split shows in the postings themselves, construction administration and FF&E sit alongside Revit as core work here, while the architect owns the building envelope and the stamp. This job lives in the interior, in the drawings that get someone from concept board to a punch list walk.$76k39 open
- Game DesignerGame designers define rules, systems and player experiences, then test whether those choices produce the intended behavior. The role differs from game development because the designer owns how the game works and feels, while developers implement the software that makes it run.$109k29 open
- UX ResearcherA UX researcher runs the studies that tell a product team whether the thing they built works for the person using it: usability tests, interviews, surveys, sometimes a diary study that runs for weeks. The line that confuses people is the one between this and product design: designers decide what to build, researchers find out if the decision was right, and in most postings the two sit next to each other but report differently.$124k25 open
- Design Systems LeadA Design Systems Lead owns the shared component library, the design tokens, and the documentation that every product team pulls from instead of redrawing a button for the hundredth time. The job sits at the seam between design and engineering: you draw the component in Figma, but you also decide how it ships in React and what happens when a product team wants to override it. People confuse this with Product Designer, but a Product Designer ships one flow well; this role ships the pieces every flow is made of.·13 open
- IllustratorIllustrators create original imagery that communicates a story, concept or product need. The role differs from graphic design because the core deliverable is image-making, while graphic designers organize type, image and layout into a broader communication system.·13 open
- Industrial DesignerIndustrial designers shape physical products around use, form, materials and manufacturing constraints. The role differs from mechanical engineering because the designer leads the product's human and visual experience, while engineers usually own deeper technical performance and verification.$96k10 open
- Conversation DesignerA conversation designer builds the actual dialogue an AI system has with a user: the prompts, the fallback paths, the tone rules for when it apologizes versus when it just answers. The role gets confused with prompt engineering, but a prompt engineer is optimizing a single call to a model, while a conversation designer is responsible for the whole exchange over time, including what happens when the user gets annoyed and types 'talk to a human' three times in a row. Most postings now expect fluency in LangChain and product management on top of the writing, which tells you the job has drifted from pure UX writing toward something closer to owning a product surface.·6 open
- PhotographerA photographer shoots, but the job listings collapsed into this title are about turnaround: you shoot on Tuesday and deliver graded, cropped, captioned files by Thursday, which is why photo-editing and video-editing sit next to the camera skill in almost every posting. That distinguishes it from a pure photo-editor role or a videographer role: you're expected to run the whole chain from set to export, often solo.$44k5 open
- Sound DesignerSound designers create and shape audio that supports an experience, story or interaction. They select, record, edit and organize sound so it works with timing and context. PivotHop's current sample is unusually narrow and reflects remote audio-expert contracts more than the full occupation.·5 open
- Service DesignerService designers map how people, staff, policies and systems combine to deliver an experience across channels. They redesign the service around the full journey rather than one screen. The role differs from UX design by covering backstage operations and organizational handoffs as well as user-facing touchpoints.$88k4 open
- Visualization ArtistVisualization artists turn design information into rendered images, animation or immersive scenes that help others understand a proposed space or product. PivotHop's current sample is centered on architectural visualization. The role is more image-production focused than technical art.·4 open
- 3D ModelerA 3D modeler builds the geometry, materials, and lighting that other people then animate, render, or drop into a game engine. The role gets confused with motion designer constantly, but the split is real: the modeler makes the object exist in three dimensions and hold up from every angle, while the motion side makes it move on a timeline. Most postings for this role want both, which is why Photoshop and motion design show up on nearly seven in ten listings.$60k3 open
Healthcare
- PhysicianA physician diagnoses and treats patients directly, carrying the license and the legal responsibility that a nurse practitioner or physician assistant works under someone else's supervision for. The distinction that confuses people from outside medicine: NPs and PAs can do a large share of the same visits, but the physician is the one whose name is on the chart when something goes wrong. That gap in accountability, not the coat or the title, is what the years of training buy.$268k600 open
- Registered NurseRegistered nurses assess patients, administer treatment and coordinate the care that happens between medical decisions. The role carries a licensed clinical scope and direct responsibility for recognizing changes in a patient’s condition. That is the main difference from a medical assistant, whose work is narrower and performed under closer supervision.$112k600 open
- Nurse PractitionerA nurse practitioner runs the visit start to finish: takes the history, does the exam, orders the labs, writes the prescription, decides whether this is something to watch or something to treat now. That last part is what separates the role from an RN, who carries out a plan of care someone else authored. The NP is the one authoring it, which is why the schooling on top of nursing exists at all.$135k489 open
- Medical AssistantA medical assistant runs the front and back office of a clinic day: rooming patients, taking vitals, prepping charts, and keeping the physician on schedule. The role people confuse it with is nursing, but a medical assistant doesn't hold a nursing license and generally can't administer certain medications or make independent clinical judgments the way an RN does. Think of it as the person who makes sure the visit happens on time and the paperwork behind it is correct.$51k461 open
- Social WorkerA social worker carries the case, not just the session: intake, assessment, treatment plan, referrals, and the follow-through when a client doesn't show up for the appointment you fought to get them. People confuse this with therapy, but the therapist owns fifty minutes in a room; the social worker owns the whole messy system around the client, the housing voucher, the school, the insurance denial, the family member who won't return calls. Case-management shows up in 35% of postings for a reason: it's the spine of the job.$94k410 open
- Physical TherapistPhysical therapists assess movement problems and guide rehabilitation through treatment plans, exercise, education and repeated measurement. The role differs from a fitness trainer because it is licensed clinical care tied to diagnosis, functional limits and documented outcomes.$104k131 open
- PsychologistA psychologist carries a caseload: intake, assessment, treatment plan, session, note, and the slower work of tracking whether any of it is moving someone. What separates it from counseling or therapist roles next door is the assessment piece, the ability to run and interpret psychological testing, and in most states, the doctorate behind the license. The case-management skill shows up in 77% of postings for a reason: this is not just the hour in the room, it's the coordination around it.$119k98 open
- Therapist / CounselorA therapist carries a caseload: the same twenty or thirty people, week after week, and the job is noticing what changed since last time. What separates it from social work next door is the clinical frame; you're running treatment plans against a diagnosis, not coordinating benefits or housing. The confusion with psychologist runs the other way: psychologists lean more on assessment and testing, therapists on the sustained weekly conversation.$85k66 open
- PharmacistA pharmacist checks and dispenses medication, catches the interactions and dosing errors before they reach a patient, and counsels people on how to take what they've been prescribed. The role people confuse it with is pharmacy technician: the tech fills the bottles and runs the register, the pharmacist is the one whose license is on the line for every verification and every phone call to a prescriber about a dose that looks wrong.$152k59 open
- DietitianDietitians assess nutrition needs and turn clinical evidence into practical care plans, menus and education. The role is not interchangeable with the loosely regulated title nutritionist: dietitian is a protected, credentialed path in most states.$77k32 open
- Clinical Research CoordinatorA clinical research coordinator runs the day-to-day of a clinical trial at a site: recruiting and consenting patients, keeping their charts audit-ready, and making sure every visit happens on the schedule the protocol demands. People confuse this with a clinical trial manager, but the manager owns the study across many sites; the coordinator owns the patients and paperwork in front of them, on the ground, every day the trial is open at that site.$103k26 open
- Medical WriterMedical writers turn clinical and scientific evidence into documents that a defined audience can understand and use. They work across regulatory submissions, medical affairs, education and clinical reference content. The role is more evidence-constrained than general copywriting and more writing-focused than clinical research coordination.$109k9 open
- Dental HygienistA dental hygienist runs the cleaning, screening, and patient education part of a dental visit, working alongside a dentist rather than under a dental assistant's scope. The line people blur is with dental assisting: an assistant preps trays and sterilizes instruments, a hygienist scales below the gumline, takes and reads radiographs, and can administer local anesthesia in most states. That difference is the whole license, not a title bump.$84k7 open
- Health Informatics SpecialistHealth informatics specialists make clinical information usable for care, operations and reporting. The role differs from general data analysis because the systems, definitions and changes must work inside healthcare workflows where documentation affects patients and clinicians.$102k5 open
- Genetic CounselorGenetic counselors help patients and families understand inherited risk, testing choices and results. The role combines clinical genetics with counseling, and it is distinct from a laboratory scientist because the central responsibility is informed decision support for people.$88k0 open
- Medical ScribeMedical scribes support clinical documentation and information flow around patient care. The route evidence centers on EHR or EMR use, medical terminology, scheduling and clinical context. The role is adjacent to medical-assistant work, but the current evidence does not support treating it as the same clinical scope.$44k0 open
- ParamedicParamedics assess and treat patients during medical emergencies before and during transport. They combine rapid triage, clinical care, communication and responsibility in uncontrolled settings. The role carries a higher clinical scope than basic EMT work.$65k0 open
- PerfusionistPerfusionists operate extracorporeal circulation equipment that supports blood flow and oxygenation during cardiac procedures. The role is distinct from nursing or anesthesia because it carries direct responsibility for the bypass circuit and its response during the procedure.$125k0 open
Engineering
- Electrical EngineerAn electrical engineer designs the systems that move power and signal through a building, a machine, or a product, then makes sure the drawings match what gets built. The role people confuse it with is the MEP engineer, but MEP treats electrical as one of three coordinated systems alongside mechanical and plumbing, while a dedicated electrical role owns the panel schedules, load calcs, and single-line diagrams outright. Most postings here run on SAP as the backbone system of record, which tells you this is as much about tracking and documenting as it is about circuits.$117k563 open
- Civil EngineerA civil engineer takes a site from a survey and a set of constraints to something a contractor can build: grading, drainage, road or utility layout, the calculations and drawings that back all of it. People confuse this with structural engineering, but a structural engineer sizes the beams and columns of a single building; a civil engineer is more often deciding where the water goes, how the site meets the street, and whether the whole thing can get permitted at all.$94k170 open
- Mechanical EngineerA mechanical engineer takes a concept from sketch to a thing that can be built, tested, and shipped: sizing parts, running the stress and thermal checks that say whether it will survive its own use, and drawing it up precisely enough that a machinist or contractor doesn't have to guess. People confuse this with industrial design (which is closer to how a product looks and feels to hold) and with the PE-stamped structural work next door (which is about legal responsibility for buildings and infrastructure, not product function). Most mechanical engineers never touch a stamp; they touch a CAD file, a test rig, and a supplier's tolerance stack.$111k132 open
- Industrial EngineerIndustrial engineers study how work moves through a production or service system, then change the process to reduce delay, waste and defects. The current postings lean toward manufacturing, process improvement and quality work rather than product design. Mechanical engineers are the closest common comparison, but their work centers more on the product or machine itself.$100k64 open
- Environmental EngineerEnvironmental engineers design and manage technical responses to environmental risk, compliance and resource use. The role differs from a sustainability coordinator because it carries more responsibility for engineering analysis, controls and defensible technical decisions.$108k42 open
- Chemical EngineerChemical engineers design and improve processes that transform materials safely, consistently and at useful scale. They connect chemistry with equipment, quality, economics and production constraints. The role is closer to process engineering than to laboratory chemistry.$102k38 open
- Structural EngineerA structural engineer decides how a building or bridge carries load, then proves it on paper before anyone pours concrete. The confusion with civil engineering is fair since both show up on the same job site, but civil handles the roads and drainage around a building while structural handles whether the building itself stands up under wind, snow, and its own weight. The line sharpens once you notice who signs the calculations: that's the license question, and it shapes almost everything else about the career.$106k38 open
- Aerospace EngineerAerospace engineers turn flight requirements into vehicles, systems and evidence that those systems behave safely. The work covers design, analysis, test, certification and maintenance rather than one long sketching exercise. It sits closer to systems and mechanical engineering than to aircraft piloting.$130k31 open
- Robotics EngineerRobotics engineers make software, controls and hardware work together in a changing physical environment. They connect perception, motion, simulation and deployment rather than optimizing one isolated component. The role is broader than automation programming and more physical than ordinary software engineering.$128k12 open
- Human Factors EngineerHuman factors engineers study how people perceive, decide and act within complex systems, then change the design to reduce error and improve use. The role differs from general UX research because it often carries engineering, safety and validation responsibility for physical or high-consequence systems.$126k7 open
- Biomedical EngineerA biomedical engineer sits between the engineering bench and the hospital floor: you spec, test, and maintain the equipment clinicians touch, from infusion pumps to imaging systems, and you sign off on whether it's safe to use on a person. People confuse this with clinical engineering or with being 'the IT person for medical devices,' but the QA and patient-care split in real postings (both at 60%) tells the truer story: you're accountable for the device and for what happens when it meets a patient.$104k5 open
- MEP EngineerMEP engineers size and coordinate the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems inside a building: the ductwork, the panels, the pipe runs, all of it drawn so it fits in the ceiling void without colliding with someone else's steel beam. People confuse it with mechanical engineering generally, but the MEP seat lives inside a specific building and a specific set of trades, coordinating with architects and contractors rather than designing a product in isolation. The clash detection meeting where three disciplines' models finally fit together is the job in miniature.$109k4 open
- Robotics TechnicianRobotics technicians install, maintain and troubleshoot automated equipment so it keeps operating safely. They work across mechanical, electrical and control systems. The role is more hands-on than robotics engineering and more specialized than general maintenance.$65k4 open
Architecture
- ArchitectArchitects do much more than draw buildings. They turn a client’s brief into a coordinated set that has to survive budgets, building codes, consultants and construction. You can work in architecture before becoming licensed, but the license is what lets you use the title independently and take legal responsibility for the drawings.$100k264 open
- Architectural DrafterArchitectural drafters turn design intent into coordinated drawings and models that other people can price, review and build. The role is narrower than an architect's responsibility but closer to the production details that keep a set usable. Accuracy and revision discipline matter more than decorative rendering.$68k120 open
- Urban PlannerAn urban planner spends most of the week deciding what can legally get built where, and then spends the rest of it convincing a room full of residents or a review board that the answer is the right one. People confuse the role with architect, but the planner rarely draws the building. They draw the rules the building has to fit inside: zoning, density, setbacks, how a parcel connects to the street grid around it.$91k19 open
- BIM ManagerBIM managers keep project models, standards and coordination workflows usable across a design or construction team. They sit between technical production, project management and quality control. The job is less about making one model and more about making many contributors work consistently.$89k18 open
- Landscape ArchitectLandscape architects plan and document outdoor spaces, coordinating design with grading, construction, planting and public requirements. Current postings combine design software with project management and construction administration. The role overlaps with architecture and urban planning, but its subject is the site and public realm rather than the building alone.$93k18 open
- Building Envelope ConsultantBuilding envelope consultants work on the roofs, walls, windows and facade interfaces that keep weather outside and conditioned space stable. They connect design details, materials, field conditions and performance testing. The role is narrower than general building design and more forensic when something leaks or fails.$119k8 open
- Mobility PlannerMobility planners organize how people, vehicles or goods move through a service area, facility or logistics network. They balance demand, capacity, schedules and access rather than designing one trip in isolation. PivotHop's current sample is small and mixes public transportation programs, logistics and strategic deployment planning.$91k4 open
- Building Performance AnalystBuilding performance analysts test how a building and its systems are likely to use energy and respond to climate, loads and design choices. They turn models into recommendations for designers, owners or sustainability teams. The role is more analytical than envelope consulting and more building-specific than general data analysis.$84k0 open
- Sustainability ConsultantSustainability consultants turn environmental goals into analyses, project requirements and decisions that clients can act on. In the available route evidence, the role sits close to building performance, energy modeling and LEED work. PivotHop does not currently have a job sample for this occupation.$66k0 open
- VDC ManagerVDC managers use digital models and coordination workflows to plan how construction will be delivered. They connect BIM, field sequencing, trade coordination and project management. The role is closer to construction execution than a BIM manager's broader model governance.$112k0 open
Finance
- AccountantAn accountant closes the books, reconciles what the ledger says against what happened, and produces numbers other people rely on without checking. The role next to it people confuse is bookkeeping: bookkeeping records transactions, accounting interprets and certifies them, which is why 24% of postings ask for reconciliation work but a much larger share still wants someone who understands the accounting behind it, not just data entry.$98k541 open
- Financial AnalystFinancial analysts turn company, market or investment information into forecasts, comparisons and recommendations. The role differs from accounting because it is more concerned with explaining performance and future choices than recording completed transactions.$112k350 open
- Compliance OfficerA compliance officer reads rules for a living and then tells the business, in plain language, what it can and cannot do. The confusion is usually with audit: an auditor checks what already happened, a compliance officer tries to stop the wrong thing from happening in the first place, which means sitting in on decisions before they're made rather than reviewing them after.$113k155 open
- AuditorAuditors test whether records, controls and claims can survive independent scrutiny. They gather evidence, trace transactions or processes and report where the organization is exposed. The role is broader than accounting because technology, operations, compliance and government programs can all be audited.$86k136 open
- BookkeeperA bookkeeper keeps the books current: every invoice, payment, and payroll run gets entered, matched, and reconciled so the numbers are true on any given day, not just at year end. The line people blur is with an accountant: the bookkeeper records what happened, the accountant interprets it and decides what it means for taxes or strategy. Most of the week is spent inside one or two systems, moving real transactions rather than analyzing hypotheticals.$54k99 open
- Financial ControllerA financial controller owns the month end close: the books get shut, the numbers get reconciled, and what leadership sees on the P&L is defensible if anyone asks why. People confuse the role with a senior accountant, but the difference is scope: a controller signs off on the whole reporting process and the controls behind it, not just their piece of the ledger. If SAP throws an error at 11pm on close day, that call comes to the controller.$138k81 open
- UnderwriterAn underwriter reads a file (financial statements, appraisals, a loan or insurance application) and decides whether to take on the risk, and at what price. The job that gets confused with it is the loan officer or the broker: they build the relationship and sell the deal, the underwriter is the one who can still say no after everyone else has said yes. Most of the actual decision is made alone with a spreadsheet, even though the job title sounds like a meeting.$92k50 open
- ActuaryAn actuary prices risk for a living: what a claim will cost, how long a pension has to last, what a premium needs to be so the company doesn't lose money on the bet it just made. People confuse it with financial analysis, but an analyst reads markets that already exist; an actuary builds the model that decides what a product should cost before anyone has bought it. The exams are what separate the two, not the math.$141k17 open
- Forensic AccountantForensic accountants examine financial records when the question involves fraud, disputes, misconduct or evidence. The role differs from routine accounting because the work must reconstruct events, test competing explanations and stand up to legal or investigative scrutiny.$88k0 open
Trades
- Automotive TechnicianAutomotive technicians diagnose, repair and maintain vehicles and related equipment. The job combines mechanical work with electrical systems, inspection and customer-facing explanation. It is not simply replacing parts until a symptom disappears.$73k600 open
- ElectricianAn electrician runs power to where it needs to go and makes sure it stays there safely: panels, conduit, circuits, the stuff behind the walls that everything else in a building depends on. People confuse it with maintenance technician work, but a maintenance tech keeps existing equipment running across trades, while an electrician's scope is the electrical system itself, and the license is what draws that line. The apprenticeship is the whole story here: four to five years of paid, supervised work before you sit the journeyman exam, not a classroom credential you collect first and then go find a job with.$73k600 open
- PlumberPlumbers install, diagnose and repair piping, fixtures and water or waste systems in buildings. The role differs from general maintenance because plumbing work follows a regulated trade path and carries responsibility for systems that must remain safe, accessible and leak-free.$70k600 open
- Maintenance TechnicianA maintenance technician keeps production equipment running: you're diagnosing why a filler line stopped mid-shift, not designing the line or operating it all day. What separates this from a general facilities role is the equipment specificity. In these postings that specificity is often brewing, which means you're as likely to be reading a pump curve as a wiring diagram.$54k477 open
- HVAC TechnicianHVAC technicians install, diagnose and maintain heating, cooling and ventilation equipment. The role differs from general maintenance because it requires deeper system knowledge and regulated refrigerant handling, with an apprenticeship and licensing path in many jurisdictions.$70k443 open
- WelderWelders join and repair metal components to a specified process and acceptance standard. The job combines preparation, blueprint reading, equipment control and inspection. It is not simply making a bead that looks clean.$53k107 open
Hospitality
- CookCooks prepare food safely, consistently and on time within a kitchen's service system. The role combines station work, sanitation, prep and coordination under changing demand. It is narrower than a chef role, which usually carries more menu and kitchen-management responsibility.$41k458 open
- ChefA chef runs the kitchen's output, not just their own station: the menu, the food cost, the line, and whether ticket times hold at 8pm on a Saturday. That's the difference from a cook, who executes a station within someone else's system. The chef built the system, prices it, and answers for it when the walk-in fridge dies on a Friday.$64k114 open
- Hotel ManagerHotel managers keep guest service, staffing, rooms, food service and property operations working as one business. The role differs from an event planner because responsibility continues every day across the property rather than ending after one program is delivered.$67k22 open
- SommelierA sommelier runs the wine program for a restaurant or hotel: building the list, pricing it, training the floor staff to sell it, and standing at the table to talk a stranger into (or out of) the bottle they were about to order. People confuse it with being a wine buyer, but a buyer's job ends at the invoice; a sommelier's job is the service itself, the read on the guest, the timing of the pour. The postings behind this title lean hospitality-operations as much as palate: scheduling, budgeting, and POS systems show up almost as often as anything about wine.$54k14 open
- Flight AttendantFlight attendants are cabin-safety professionals who also deliver service during air travel. The role is not simply hospitality in the air because emergency procedures, passenger compliance and carrier-run FAA certification define the responsibility.$75k4 open
- BrewmasterA brewmaster owns the brewing process, product consistency and the operating decisions behind beer production. The role combines craft judgment with sanitation, process control and team responsibility. It is not simply developing new recipes.$54k0 open
Writing
- TranslatorTranslators carry meaning, tone and practical intent from one language into another for a defined audience. They research terminology, revise text and protect consistency across many pieces of content. The available job sample also includes interpreters and localization specialists, which are related but distinct roles.$69k59 open
- CopywriterA copywriter turns a product, a feature, or a half-formed pitch from a founder into sentences that get someone to click, buy, or read the next line. The role next to it people confuse it with is content strategist: strategists plan what gets said and where, copywriters write the words that go on the page. Most of the job lives inside a doc or a Figma comment thread, not a content calendar.$80k56 open
- Content StrategistA content strategist decides what gets written before anyone writes it: which pages exist, what argument each one makes, and how a reader moves from one to the next. That's the line that separates the role from a copywriter, who is usually handed the brief and asked to execute it. The strategist owns the map; other people, sometimes the strategist too, fill in the roads.$87k53 open
- Technical WriterA technical writer takes a system that engineers understand and a person who has never seen it, and closes the gap between them: API references, setup guides, release notes, the help docs someone hits at 11pm when something's broken. The role people confuse it with is content marketing, but the split is obvious once you're in it: a content writer is trying to get someone to care, a technical writer is trying to get someone to succeed at a task, and the postings back this up with git and REST APIs sitting right next to plain writing skill.$91k31 open
- UX WriterUX writers create the words inside product flows so users know what is happening, what choice they have and what comes next. They work with design, research and product systems rather than writing promotional copy. Many employers use the title content designer for similar work.$103k17 open
Education
- TeacherTeaching is running a room of 20 to 35 people through material they didn't choose to learn, five days a week, and getting most of them to learn it anyway. It gets confused with tutoring, but tutoring is one kid and a worksheet; teaching is classroom management, pacing, and forty-five separate attention spans at once. The difference shows up in the first ten minutes of any class you observe.$61k131 open
- Professor / LecturerA professor or lecturer stands in front of a room (or a camera) and teaches the same material well enough, three or four times a semester, that it lands differently each time depending on who is sitting there. What separates it from corporate trainer or instructional designer is the room itself: you are present for the confusion in real time, not building a course for someone else to run. The postings under this title range wider than people expect, from university lecture halls to flight schools teaching cabin safety, which is why curriculum and assessment sit right next to aviation-ops in the skill list.$82k112 open
- Corporate TrainerA corporate trainer at most companies posting this role right now is not standing in front of a whiteboard teaching soft skills. Two thirds of these postings pair training with sales-enablement, which means the job is building the material and the sessions that get a sales team fluent in a product fast, usually a SaaS product. That distinguishes it from the classroom-style corporate trainer of a decade ago: the artifact is a certification path or a demo script, not a lecture deck.$86k109 open
- Instructional DesignerAn instructional designer builds the thing a learner sits through: the course, the module, the onboarding flow, the simulation. The role gets confused with corporate training because the two sit next to each other on the org chart, but a trainer stands in front of the room and an instructional designer builds what the trainer, or the self-paced platform, delivers. You spend more time in an authoring tool than in front of a class.$82k16 open
- Teaching AssistantA teaching assistant runs small groups, manages the parts of a classroom the lead teacher can't be in two places for, and covers instruction when asked. The job gets confused with paraprofessional work generally, but the postings behind this title skew toward early-childhood settings and lean hard on classroom management and event-planning duties, not just one-on-one aide support. It's the seat you take when you want to be in a classroom before you're certified to run one.$42k10 open
Transport
- PilotA pilot moves an aircraft from one place to another and answers for everyone on it, which is what separates the job from flight attendant or dispatcher, roles that share the ramp and the schedule but not the yoke. Most of the job is procedure done correctly and repeatably: checklists, briefings, callouts, the same sequence whether it's your third flight of the year or your three-thousandth. The variety comes from weather, traffic, and the airplane itself, not from the plan changing.$158k29 open
- Warehouse ManagerA warehouse manager runs the floor: what comes in, where it sits, and how fast it goes back out. People confuse the role with operations manager, but ops usually owns budgets and cross-site strategy while the warehouse manager owns the building, the shift schedule, and the pallet count matching the system count at the end of the day. The job lives or dies on whether the physical inventory agrees with what the software says it should be.$83k19 open
- Drone PilotDrone pilots plan and conduct unmanned aircraft flights for inspection, mapping, imaging or other field work. The role is closer to a regulated field operator than a photographer with a flying camera because airspace, safety and the quality of the captured output all matter.$105k0 open
Science
- Research ScientistA research scientist in this market is mostly running machine learning experiments end to end: framing a question, building the model or pipeline, and defending the result in front of people who will use it. What separates it from a data scientist role is the expectation that some of the work hasn't been done before, you're not just applying a known method to a new dataset, you're deciding whether the method exists yet. The LLM and deep-learning shares in the postings tell you where the frontier currently sits.$144k248 open
- EconomistEconomists analyze how people, firms and institutions respond to incentives, then turn evidence into forecasts, policy advice or business decisions. The role overlaps with statistics and market research, but the distinguishing work is framing an economic question and interpreting the result in that context.$135k43 open
- StatisticianStatisticians design analyses that separate a defensible conclusion from noise, bias and convenient interpretation. They work on sampling, experiments, models and uncertainty across science, government and business. The role is more method-focused than general data analysis.$120k36 open
Legal
- LawyerLawyers interpret law, advise clients and take responsibility for legal work within a jurisdiction. The current titles range from commercial counsel to government attorney and legal counsel roles. Paralegal and compliance work shares research, contract and case-management skills, but it does not carry the same license or responsibility.$179k530 open
- ParalegalA paralegal builds the file the lawyer argues from: pulling contracts apart clause by clause, running the legal research that becomes a brief's footnotes, and keeping a litigation matter organized enough that nothing gets missed at deposition. The line people blur is with legal secretary or admin: this job is measured on the substance of the work product, not on managing someone's calendar, even though scheduling still shows up in a chunk of these postings.$70k103 open
- Patent AgentPatent agents turn technical inventions into patent applications and guide those applications through examination. The work sits between engineering and law, but it is narrower than an attorney's role because it centers on patent practice rather than broader legal representation.$141k0 open
Construction
- Construction ManagerA construction manager runs the job site so the schedule and the budget meet the drawings: sequencing trades, walking the work, catching the thing that's out of tolerance before it gets buried behind drywall. The role people confuse it with is project manager, but PM lives in the schedule and the contract; construction manager lives on the slab, checking that what got poured matches what got specified. You carry the site, not just the plan for it.$100k297 open
- Construction EstimatorA construction estimator takes a set of drawings and a scope of work and turns them into a number someone can bid or budget on. The job gets confused with project management, but a PM keeps a job running once it starts and an estimator is mostly gone by then, already pricing the next one. The output is a bid or a budget, not a finished building, and you live or die by how close that number turns out to be.$86k64 open
Other
- Set DesignerA set designer here is a visual designer working mostly in Photoshop and Figma, building the look of a brand or product rather than a physical stage. The confusion is the theatrical name: this role, as postings show it, sits closer to brand and graphic design than to scenic construction. What separates it from a straight graphic designer is that the job leans on typography and layout the way a brand system does, then hands off finished art to whoever builds the next thing.·5 open
- Exhibit DesignerAn exhibit designer plans how a space tells a story: where a visitor stands, what they see first, what the label says versus what the object says on its own. It sits next to interior design and set design but the brief is different, because the thing being designed has to survive a school group leaning on it and still make sense to someone who reads only the first line of every label.·4 open
Public Safety
Guides are written against the same corpus the board reads, then checked by hand. Pay is blended from posted salaries and the official OEWS anchor. Occupations without enough data to say something honestly do not get a guide.
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