Career spotlights
AWS DevOps Engineer
How much do DevOps Engineers make?
* Survey responses in the remainder of this chapter are indicative only due to a limited number of DevOps Engineers participating in the survey.
of DevOps Engineers are satisfied with their job, down from 86% in our last survey
of DevOps Engineers are satisfied with their salary, up from 64% in our previous survey
Hours
Permanent DevOps Engineers work an average of 42 hours per week
Hours
Freelance DevOps Engineers work an average of 37 hours per week
What factors impact your earning potential as a DevOps Engineer?
We asked current AWS professionals what factors were most important in upping your earning potential in that role.
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exposure to large projects | 93% | 7% | 0% |
| Years of experience in IT | 80% | 20% | 0% |
| Years of technical experience with AWS | 73% | 7% | 20% |
| Specific vertical industry experience | 53% | 40% | 7% |
| Working with AI | 47% | 20% | 33% |
| AWS certifications | 33% | 27% | 40% |
| College/University degree(s) | 20% | 33% | 47% |
What factors impact your earning potential as a DevOps Engineer?
| % | |
|---|---|
| Exposure to large projects | 93% |
| Years of experience in IT | 80% |
| Years of technical experience with AWS | 73% |
| Specific vertical industry experience | 53% |
| Working with AI | 47% |
| AWS certifications | 33% |
| College/University degree(s) | 20% |
| % | |
|---|---|
| Exposure to large projects | 7% |
| Years of experience in IT | 20% |
| Years of technical experience with AWS | 7% |
| Specific vertical industry experience | 40% |
| Working with AI | 20% |
| AWS certifications | 27% |
| College/University degree(s) | 33% |
| % | |
|---|---|
| Exposure to large projects | 0% |
| Years of experience in IT | 0% |
| Years of technical experience with AWS | 20% |
| Specific vertical industry experience | 7% |
| Working with AI | 33% |
| AWS certifications | 40% |
| College/University degree(s) | 47% |
What steps should you take to become a DevOps Engineer?
Education
In terms of what you might need, 77% of DevOps Engineers hold at least a Bachelor’s degree. However, only 35% consider a degree to be an important factor when it comes to increasing earning potential, and even less (16%) think that a degree is important to have to work with AWS.
Certification
If you’re looking to prosper in your career as a DevOps Engineer, then AWS certifications can help boost your market worth by giving you the verifiable skills and expertise you need.
Under two-thirds (59%, down from 65% in our last survey) of DevOps Engineers are certified, and 45% of those have undergone recertification to maintain their AWS Certified Status, while 82% of certified respondents believe that certifications help candidates stand out in a competitive job market.
AWS certifications are designed to help professionals enhance their skills at every stage of their careers, from entry-level badges to advanced credentials. For many aspiring DevOps Engineers, the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner is often the first step, as it validates a candidate’s grasp of fundamental AWS concepts.
From there, professionals can pursue intermediate certifications, with the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate and AWS Certified Developer – Associate being particularly sought after by DevOps Engineers. These certifications demonstrate proficiency in a variety of AWS services, covering areas such as architectural best practices, the AWS Well-Architected Framework, solution optimization, and application development.
For those aiming to deepen their expertise, Professional-level certifications like the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional and AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional are worthwhile considerations. Interestingly, our survey revealed that DevOps Engineers did not possess the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional certification, even though it is tailored for their role.
Roles that can lead on to becoming an DevOps Engineer
- Software Developer
- Performance Engineer
- Tester
- Infrastructure Engineer
- Systems Administrator
- Systems Reliability Engineer
- Automation/Integration Engineer
- Release Manager
What skills and experience should DevOps Engineers have?
- Proficient in programming skills in Python, Java, Node.JS, .NET
- Fundamental understanding of networking, security, and software reliability engineering
- Familiarity with Linux and Web Development fundamentals
- Strong grasp of Continuous Management, Continuous Integration, Continuous Testing, and Continuous Monitoring
- In-depth knowledge of CI/CD processes and practices
- Experience with CI/CD tools including Jenkins and Gitlab, as well as AWS CI/CD tools like CodeBuild, CodeDeploy, CodePipeline
- Skilled in Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and tools like CloudFormation, Terraform, and AWS CDK
- Strong expertise in containerization techniques and tools like Docker, Kubernetes, and Amazon EKS
- Confident in monitoring and logging, working with tools like Amazon CloudWatch amd AWS CloudTrail
- Capable of building and deploying a microservices architecture
- Comfortable working under Agile principles
- Subject matter expert on the AWS platform, including its tools and service infrastructure
What are the opportunities for progression?
DevOps Engineer
Senior DevOps / Site Reliability Engineer
DevOps Architect
Lead DevOps Engineer / Principal Engineer
Solutions Architect
DevSecOps: a growing sector in the cloud
With the continued rise of AWS adoption, it’s no surprise that the demand for digital security is also increasing alongside it. As more organizations embrace cloud-first strategies, they inadvertently create more opportunities for cybercriminals. DevSecOps aims to address this issue.
DevSecOps integrates security testing into every phase of the software development lifecycle by fostering collaboration among developers, security experts, and operations teams. Although not yet universally recognized as a standard DevOps practice, DevSecOps is viewed as a cultural shift that redistributes security responsibilities between everyone involved in software development.
The market for DevSecOps is projected to reach $16.20 billion by 2030, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.8% from 2024 to 2030. As a result, job seekers can anticipate an increase in DevSecOps positions in the coming years, with those possessing relevant skills likely to receive attractive offers. Typical roles will involve implementing security-first processes in CI/CD development cycles, including risk analysis, incident monitoring and management, testing, and automation.
Candidates interested in this field should have strong DevOps experience and a solid understanding of security principles and best practices—safe to say, the AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification is a solid way of showcasing that that might be you!
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Careers and Hiring Guide
AWS Edition 2025
Key Findings
Our key findings report contains highlights from this year’s Careers and Hiring Guide, plus our salary tables to allow you to compare your compensation or benchmark your teams’ salaries or rates no matter their role in the AWS ecosystem.
