Emoji iPad position

The relative positions of the on-screen keyboard emoji/keyboard and alternative keys (.?123) are not configurable - the layout sometimes being different between iPad models and iPadOS versions.

While the layout is not user-configurable, Apple do invite submission of comments and feature requests via its Product Feedback portal. For iPad and iPadOS:

Feedback - iPad - Apple

You’re not the first - and unlikely to be the last - to complain of these two keys switching locations. When using different devices, muscle-memory often results in frequent selection of the wrong key.