What Is an RPA Developer?

An RPA—or robotic process automation—developer designs and maintains software robots, or bots, to help streamline business operations and automate business practices. Organizations increasingly rely on software robots to automate repetitive, sometimes tedious tasks that human employees complete. In this case, optimized business efficiency begins with the RPA developer, who is responsible for identifying organizational challenges and determining what business processes can benefit from automation. The RPA developer plays a key role in streamlining an organization by improving its efficiency and reducing its costs. 

According to Grand View Research, the robotics process automation market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 43.9 percent between 2025 and 2030 [1]. This growing industry requires skilled professionals, including RPA developers. Moreover, a report by McKinsey Global Institute predicts that up to 30 percent of work hours across the US economy could become automated, indicating a need for RPA developers and other robotics professionals to develop the software required to automate tasks [2]. RPA developers can find work across industries, such as finance, manufacturing, health care, and insurance, as more organizations adopt software bots.

Learn more about a career as an RPA developer, including job duties, necessary skills and education, average salaries, and the path to take to begin a career in robotics.

What is robotics process automation?

Robotics process automation, or RPA, uses software robots to automate tasks that humans once completed. The bots emulate human action but don’t possess human intelligence like some artificial intelligence (AI) tools do. As a result, RPA assists employees—it doesn’t replace them. Instead, it focuses on making repetitive tasks, such as data processing or customer service, more efficient, allowing human employees to focus on critical tasks requiring creativity and insight.

For example, human resources (HR) teams can benefit significantly from RPA. According to Deloitte, 50 percent of HR processes, including payroll, compensation, and benefits management, can be automated [3]. RPA can automate billing, insurance claims, and patient registration in health care organizations. A customer service bot for a retailer can answer questions 24 hours a day, allowing for faster response times and providing quick answers to common questions. 

What is an RPA developer?

As an RPA developer, you’ll work on your organization’s software team to design, develop, and monitor software bots. While information technology (IT) and programming skills are essential, the position also requires strong business acumen. That’s because RPA developers work to identify problems impacting employee productivity, gather requirements from cross-departmental teams, and document the current task’s steps before developing the bot. Once you’ve created the bot, you’ll test, troubleshoot, and monitor its operation to ensure it’s replicating the once-human-run tasks as needed.

RPA developer duties and responsibilities 

Many organizations are undergoing a digital transformation—a reorganization that emphasizes using tech at scale to reduce cost and improve productivity. As an RPA developer, you serve as a key player on a software development or IT team, helping organizations embrace emerging technologies like bots. You can assist an organization in its digital transformation by completing the following duties:

• Conduct process mining to analyze data and identify effective ways to automate current business processes.

• Design and code business software to develop the bot.

• Maintain clear documentation of all processes.

• Design an RPA ecosystem consisting of a user interface, an administrative dashboard, a training interface, and a server.

• Test and troubleshoot the bot, looking for errors in code and resolving them.

• Participate in user acceptance testing (UAT) after the bot’s implementation. 

• Provide support and monitoring after bot development.

RPA developer skills

Developing your RPA skills prepares you for a role in this growing field. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Future of Jobs Report, 73 percent of employers plan to accelerate their use of process and task automation, indicating the staggering growth of this sector [4]. Focus your education, training, and experience on developing these essential skills:

• Analysis and problem-solving skills: As an RPA developer, you’ll need to analyze the current business processes and develop a way to automate them to improve productivity.

• Technical skills: You’ll need a knowledge of programming languages, including Python, C++, and Java, and experience using enterprise application software.

• Logical reasoning skills: Logical reasoning skills can help you as you develop a software robot—these skills include an understanding of if/then statements, loops, variables, and exceptions.

• Communication skills: Strong written and verbal communication skills can help you as you document processes and explain the new software bot to end users.

• Knowledge of user experience (UX) principles: Understanding how the bot will interact with users is essential as you develop and refine it, so general UX skills are necessary.

• Experience with RPA tools: Previous experience with RPA tools, including UiPath, Blue Prism, and Microsoft Power Automate, can help you excel in this role.

RPA developer salary and job outlook

Robotics is an emerging field, with RPA jobs in demand. While the US Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t have RPA developer job outlook data, it does indicate a growing need for mechanical engineers, which includes robotics engineers. The BLS projects a job growth of 11 percent for mechanical engineers between 2023 and 2033, resulting in 19,800 new jobs every year [5].

As an RPA developer, you’ll enjoy a higher-than-average salary that may vary based on your experience. An RPA developer earns an average annual salary of $91,528 [6]. Experience can also impact your salary—for example, a junior RPA developer earns an average annual salary of $79,354, compared to an average annual salary of $109,339 for a senior RPA developer [7,8]. Consider the following salaries for roles closely related to RPA development:

• Software engineer – RPA: $118,060 [9]

• RPA architect: $135,849 [10]

• RPA analyst: $89,974 [11]

• Robotics engineer: $107,184 [12]

RPA developer career path

As an RPA developer, you can work on the cutting edge of technology. The RPA industry continues to grow as intelligent automation becomes more popular. Blending RPA and AI, intelligent automation allows you to extract data, evolve business processes based on this data, and solve problems without human input. Discover how to begin your career in RPA and the emerging field of intelligent automation. 

Education and training

Earning a bachelor’s degree in computer science, data science, or a related field can put you on the path to becoming an RPA developer. You can also build your knowledge and experience through other types of training. You’ll want to focus on key topics in RPA, such as intelligent automation, machine learning, and AI. Learning a programming language can also be helpful to prepare yourself for a career as an RPA developer. Online courses can help you build the skills necessary to excel in the field. Consider these options:

• Python for Data Science, AI, and Development

• Introduction to Machine Learning

• Introduction to Data Analytics

Get an RPA certification

Because RPA is a new and evolving field, staying on top of industry trends is important to help you understand the essentials of business automation. Various RPA certifications are available, with many focusing on a specific RPA platform, such as UiPath or Automation Anywhere. 

You can diversify your RPA knowledge or focus your skills by choosing one of the following certifications:

• UiPath Automation Developer Associate

• Automation Anywhere Essentials Certification

• Microsoft Certified: Power Automate RPA Developer Associate

• Blue Prism Associate Developer

Learn about RPA development on Coursera

As an RPA developer, you can help your organization improve speed, efficiency, and productivity using automation tools. Prepare for a career in automation by developing in-demand skills on Coursera. By earning the Google UX Design Professional Certificate, you can have the opportunity to learn the basics of UX research, like planning research studies, conducting interviews and usability studies, and synthesizing research results. You can also explore the BSc Computer Science program from the University of London on Coursera.