You’re building a hybrid; equal parts field technician, network-savvy tinkerer, and client-facing problem solver. The industry is crying out for people with the “right stuff,” but the pathways to train and recognize the key skills are patchy, at best.
You mix applied engineering, radio comms, physical installation, and a no-BS field mindset. It wouldn’t hurt if your people can throw a spanner and debug a UART line. This “ground crew” space feels like the frontier; people with hands-on grit, tech skills plus enough diplomacy to navigate machinery and meetings.
Instead of looking initially at the tech side first, let’s examine the soft skills element. Not everything goes as planned. Trees block signals, clients forget passwords, goats chew cables. You need the ability to explain what’s happening at the job site to non-technical people. You are the front line between hardware engineering, the client, software and reality.
Talking about the software and hardware interfaces; you’re going to need networking skills (the other kind)… knowing how to set static IPs, troubleshoot poor LTE, reboot a gateway via SSH, interpret device logs, perform OTA updates, connect sensors to platforms like Ubidots, The Things Stack, Datacake, etc.
There is the obligatory real world hard skills element; climbing and working at heights; valid training and certification. You are going to need and use first aid skills. A lot of the problems happen up high, or way out there in remote locations. You have to know your electrical installation safety, because everywhere you look are wires, cables, fuses and potential for mayhem.
The core technical skillsets are last on this list, but first in terms of how the job is configured.
- Electrical Basics & Safe Wiring. Wiring power supplies, solar units, battery packs, relays, and converters. Safe handling of live systems and understanding voltages, resistors, etc.
- RF & Antenna Deployment Understanding signal propagation, LoRa, NB-IoT, LTE-M, and even mesh networks. Choosing and placing antennas for optimal reach (height, orientation, and obstruction awareness).
- Sensor & Device Configuration: Ability to flash firmware, configure gateways, calibrate sensors. Familiarity with protocols: Modbus, MQTT, CoAP, RS-232 and RS-485 for industrial nodes.
- Physical Installation & Site Assessment: Drilling, mounting, lifting, waterproofing, grounding. Use of ladders, scaffolds, climbing harnesses (with proper training).
This set of competencies is broad and deep. It is not the type of position where someone can come out of a university classroom and simply run with it. It looks like industry experience and academics as a package deal. The flip side is that once you can do all of this, you’re going to be an interesting person to a massive slew of industries; from airfield construction to Formula 1.
Maybe the internet of things is your thing?
