Best Remote Jobs: 15 Positions Ideal for the Virtual Office (and You)

Want to work from wherever and whenever? Scout the best remote jobs in your industry with this list of the most popular now.

What are the best remote jobs?

Now that remote work is trending, opportunities for people to bust out of their cubicles and work wherever and whenever they’re most productive are more in-demand than ever.

Get a feel for what's out there with this list of the most popular remote jobs for:

Travelers and digital nomads
Genius in tech
Social media savvy
Parents and bosses

One of the biggest reasons people quit their desk jobs for a remote position is the chance to see the world.

Best Remote Jobs for Travelers

Aspiring digital nomads rejoice: almost every virtual job will let you travel. So trade your commute for adventure with these popular remote jobs:

Translator
Speak a few languages well?

In this age of greater connectivity, the need for translators is at an all-time high. Remote work jobs as a translator include:

Transcription for international films and TV shows
Work in ebooks
Customer and product support specialist
Website writing and editing
Article translation for local news channels to use on social media and other international outlets

Boast-worthy prose in any language qualifies you for this next remote job.

Writer or Editor
Finding paying, legitimate work is the hardest part about being a solo writer so you may want to look for a steady gig from an established company. This will help you build a portfolio and earn a decent income.

The best remote jobs for writers include:

Copywriter
Blog content writer
Content marketer
Social media coordinator
Knowledgebase specialist
Researcher

Find inspiration at your local coffee shop or pack up your laptop to soak in the unique words you'll find abroad working remotely.

If your inspiration happens behind the camera, you're also in luck.

Videographer
Content may be king, but video content rules all.
Ad spending on social video in the US was estimated to grow by 38% and reach $7.85 billion during 2018.

So with a background in filmmaking, you could find a remote job creating:

Promotional product videos
Social media shorts
Instructional videos and demos

Since campaigns like these may require traveling to picturesque shooting locations (poor you), you'll have loads of opportunities to work abroad in cities all over the world.

Designers are also free to take their work outside the cubicle.

Designer
Creative jobs in digital design are estimated to be worth $50,000 to $70,000 a year.

Since the tools needed for this job can fit on a laptop or tablet, this job has no restrictions, just like your imagination.

Designers may work for one company or land contract gigs with several to create websites, company graphics, marketing materials, and more as a:

Web designer
Graphic designer
Product designer
Visual designer

You may be surprised to find this next job high on the list of most popular.

Lawyer
There are so many ways to use a law degree besides showing up for court or stressing to make partner at a big firm. You can take the law online with a remote job since many of your work duties happen on a computer.

Estate attorneys, research lawyers, virtual patent lawyers, writers on law, and many other paths translate well to remote work life. Companies are even starting to move their corporate lawyers to the virtual workspace.

Remote lawyers have flexible hours, the ability to travel, and an estimated average salary of $115,000.

Snag one of the next remote jobs and you'll also be banking the big bucks.

Best Remote Jobs in Tech

Computer and IT jobs birthed the remote work movement. If you're in this field and well-qualified, you'll have no shortage of the best remote jobs in tech to choose from.

Check out the most popular jobs you'll be competing for:

Software Developer or Programmer

The more we live on our devices, the more we'll need software developers to create sleek programs and responsive apps.

All you typically need to get the ball rolling as a programmer or developer is the right platform, a reliable computer, and a stable internet connection.

And you'll be earning a cool $130,000 to $160,000 if you make it to senior level.

This next job also ranks high for telecommuting.

Engineer
An engineer doesn't stray far from their computer during the workday, making this job a favorite for global telecommuters.

The best remote jobs for engineers include:

Software engineer
Data engineer
Back-end engineer / Front-end engineer
Full-stack engineer

And remote engineers earn an average of $100k each year, which definitely doesn't hurt either.

You can even find remote management positions in tech.

IT Manager

IT managers can watch over everything that's happening with their company's network and computer information remotely these days. And this high-paying virtual role comes with an annual salary around the $100k+ mark.

If you'd rather deal with users instead of coders, this next job may be better for you.

User Experience Researcher
All successful businesses cater to their users, whether online visitors, product consumers, or app downloaders.

A UX researcher helps businesses understand why their users aren't making more sales. They read both quantitative and qualitative research data to put together insights for both buyers and sellers to better connect.

This remote position pays between $90,000 and $120,000/year. But you have to be highly organized, accurate, and have experience in UX to qualify for one.

You'll also need better-than-average social media skills.

Best Remote Jobs for the Social Media Savvy

If you live on social and know what gets the virtual conversation started, you can use your social media to land a job connecting businesses with their target audience online.

Roles you'll be ideal for include those in:

Marketing
With a background in marketing, public relations, communication, or business, you'll develop campaigns and analyze their reach for businesses all over the world.

You'll find remote marketing jobs such as:

Email marketer
Marketing coordinator
Marketing manager
Marketing director

Work full-time or part-time as a virtual marketer and you'll get to test drive remote work before you commit.

If you want to focus your work goals solely on social media, there are virtual jobs for that too.

Social Media
Social media still rules as a solid advertising channel for 50% of Gen Z and 42% of millennials. And even 37% of consumers say they find purchase inspiration via social networks.

So, apply for a remote role in social media and you'll be responsible for creating or managing the content to do this.

The best remote jobs in social media include:

Social media manager
Social media coordinator
Social media evaluator

You should know how to develop an editorial calendar, schedule a team, measure your outreach efforts with target KPIs, and be familiar with social ads and evaluation metrics.

The same goes for this next remote job in social media.

Affiliate Recruiter

An affiliate recruiter is a new role combining both marketing and social media.

You'll develop a network of trusted social influencers for a brand or company. These social influencers will then organically talk up your products or services to their audiences.

If you're not shy about reaching out to the right partners and have affiliate marketing or online marketing experience, you can build authentic relationships totally remotely in this role.

It's also an ideal job for stay at home parents, just like this final roundup.

Best Remote Jobs for Parents

Working remotely is smart move for parents; not only will they save money on childcare while at home, but they'll also have the flexibility to be there for the moments that really matter.

Since work at home parents have a lot to juggle at once, they're forced to become highly-organized self-starters who work best under pressure from time constraints.

That's why they'll make excellent candidates for remote jobs as a:

Project Manager

Parents used to keeping their kids in line will have no trouble keeping projects on track and within budget and holding all team members accountable for reaching their goals.

And thanks to the plethora of intuitive online project management tools out there, the annual salary of $60,000 to over $100,000 may feel too easy to come by.

From approving workflows in Asana to managing day-to-day tasks in Basecamp and checking in on Slack, project managers can stay on the ball even if they're half a world away.

This next new position is quickly gaining traction in the virtual workspace.

Crowdsourcing Manager
A crowdsourcing manager helps raise funds on sites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo so business ventures, charity projects, and other opportunities get off the ground.

With the right people and marketing skills, you'll interact with investors and collect all the cash you need from behind your computer screen remotely.

This final remote job is best for people with patience.

Customer Support
As customer service shifts to real-time online chats and instant email responses, more employees are working remotely to have these conversations and help customers outside of the giant call center setting.

If you have a background in retail, customer service, and generally like making people happy, you could work on a team or manage one remotely.

Sign in using your company's proprietary software to answer visitor questions, troubleshoot issues, and be there either full-time or part-time.

To score one of these remote jobs, look for keywords in job ads like:

Customer support
Customer success
Product support specialist
Customer care

Keep in mind, knowing the most popular remote jobs is only the first step.

How to Find the Best Remote Jobs

If it's the first time you're searching for remote work, don't be intimidated.

Check out these guides next and you'll be ready to get started:

What is Remote Work Really Like and Is It the Right Move For You?
How to Find Remote Jobs
What to Do Before Applying for Remote Work

You should also sign up for daily remote job listings in your industry from itjobsfromhome.com. Then the best remote jobs will head straight to your inbox first.