8 High-Paying Tech Jobs Nobody Has Heard Of!

Summary

The video presents eight relatively obscure technology roles the speaker encountered in his recruiting work. Its central argument is that high pay can come from specializing in unfashionable, business-critical systems with a small pool of qualified candidates, rather than competing in crowded fields such as AI, Python, or cybersecurity. Pay figures are quoted from the video and vary by seniority and contract or salary arrangement.

The eight roles

1. Release Train Engineer (RTE) — About $73 per hour. RTEs coordinate multiple Agile teams to keep their work aligned. It is a project-management role, not a conventional engineering job. Project managers and Scrum Masters can pursue the SAFe RTE certification track.

2. IDaaS engineer — Around $75–$80 per hour or more, with remote work mentioned. IDaaS engineers support identity services that let users access multiple applications through tools such as single sign-on and multifactor authentication. A possible path is to start in IT support or systems administration, take on SSO/MFA work, and earn an Okta or Azure identity certification.

3. Saviynt identity management consultant — Senior consultants reportedly earn $100–$130 per hour. Saviynt’s identity-governance tools manage access to systems and help organizations demonstrate compliance to auditors. The speaker describes Saviynt as a less crowded alternative to platforms such as SailPoint and says consulting firms may train people with related identity or security experience.

4. Netcool specialist — Around $72–$90 per hour. Netcool monitors large infrastructure environments and helps distinguish real incidents from alert noise. The speaker attributes demand partly to the platform’s age and deep integration within organizations. Experience in a network operations center (NOC) or with other monitoring tools can be relevant.

5. Managed file transfer specialist — Around $90–$100 per hour. These specialists manage secure, automated, trackable transfers between systems—important when files contain bank payments, settlements, or regulatory reports. Systems administrators and network engineers can build on their experience with platforms such as Axway, Sterling, or GoAnywhere.

6. Front office systems analyst — The video quotes salaries of about $180,000 and contract rates above $100 per hour. This role connects traders with the technology they use, translating business needs into technical requirements and explaining system capabilities. One suggested path is to start in application support at an asset manager or trading-platform provider, then gain experience with trading and order-management systems. The speaker says prior technical skills are not necessarily required.

7. KDB+ developer — Senior pay is said to start around $200,000, with contract rates above $150 per hour. KDB+ is a time-series database used for timestamp-heavy financial data and uses the Q programming language. The speaker says KDB+ is available for personal use at no cost and that trading firms may train strong developers without direct KDB+ experience.

8. FPGA engineer — The highest-paying example: $500,000–$700,000 a year for a position at a global investment bank, according to the speaker. Unlike ordinary software development, FPGA work configures hardware chips to perform tasks—such as processing trades—with extremely low latency. The path often begins in electronics or computer engineering, with experience in defense or telecommunications. The video also notes that development boards cost around $100 and that Verilog and VHDL can be learned independently.

Key takeaway

These roles share three traits: relatively few people train for them, failures can have serious financial or operational consequences, and the systems are deeply embedded in company operations. The speaker’s broader advice is to seek specialized technology niches where demand is high and competition is limited.

The video briefly references related material on IAM and platforms including Okta, SailPoint, and CyberArk, as well as a separate breakdown of identity platforms. It does not provide a full step-by-step tutorial for each job.

Main speaker and source

• Chris Schwenk, a technology recruiter who says he has 18 years of industry recruiting experience.