12 everyday new and emerging jobs that use maths

From teaching to trades, there is a wide range of maths careers out there. Some may even surprise you!

Here we’ve listed 12 jobs that use maths every single day. See if you can spot one that could combine your maths skills with another passion, like sport, fashion or design. There are also new and emerging fields, such as data science and quantum computing, that have a strong foundation in maths.

1. Secondary school maths teacher

A maths teacher should have a strong knowledge of the curriculum and a huge passion for all things algebra, logarithms, geometry and beyond. Besides teaching, they also need to record and report on student progress, as well as stay up to date with the best practices in mathematics education.

2. Data scientist

This maths job is all about finding value in data, then using this information to help organisations, institutions and governments make solid decisions. A data scientist needs to have especially strong skills in statistics.

3. Graphic designer

Jobs that use maths can also be creative – just ask a graphic designer. They use scale, percentages, proportion, symmetry and pattern recognition to make sure their work is visually appealing and effective.

4. Architect

All those brilliant plans for building designs are based in maths. An architect uses geometry, algebra and trigonometry when sketching out blueprints. They also use probability to work out any potential issues builders may run into when bringing these designs to life.

5. Machine learning engineer

Maths is an excellent skill to have if you want to be a machine learning engineer – someone who builds and designs artificial intelligence systems and machines to perform tasks. They use linear algebra to represent data, plus statistics and probability to understand algorithm results.

6. Sports statistician

This career combines maths, technology and sports. A sports statistician takes real-time sporting stats on performances then uses programs and formulas to turn this into new and useful data. This data can then be used to track progress or create a strategy for future events or competitions.

7. Tradesperson

Tradies all use maths in different ways. Carpenters need arithmetic, algebra and geometry to measure and adjust materials. Electricians use fractions, percentages and decimals when figuring out room dimensions and wiring lengths. Then there are tilers, who use geometry to solve maths problems, such as how many tiles they’ll need to complete a job.

8. Fashion designer

So much maths goes into making and selling the clothes and accessories we wear. A fashion designer’s day is filled with ratios and measurements when creating garments, plus budgeting, division, fractions and percentages on the business side of things.

9. Pen tester

The cybersecurity field has a number of jobs that use maths. A pen (penetration) tester ethically hacks systems to test cybersecurity measures. To do this, they need to be great problem-solvers and have a good understanding of arithmetic and algebra.

10. Small business owner

To run a business, you need arithmetic skills to calculate earnings, expenses, interest payments and your budget.

11. Pilot

Next time you’re jet-setting off on holiday, have a think about all the maths that’s involved in flying a plane. Your pilot has to calculate angles of climb and descent, and they also need geometry to be able to plan routes.

12. Quantum computing specialist

As well as programming skills, someone working in quantum computing needs to be across linear algebra and probability. Linear algebra is needed to represent things like the functionality of circuits, and a good grasp of probability will be helpful to understand algorithm results.