DevOps Engineer Job Description: Role, Skills, and Salary
Want to know about the DevOps Engineer job description? Let’s see what skills you need and how much you can earn!
If you are working in the Information Technology sector – you must have heard your colleagues talking about DevOps Engineers and how much they earn.
With the charm of getting paid the highest salary, IT professionals want to try their luck in DevOps but do you know the skills required to become a DevOps Engineer? If not, let’s discuss the perks of becoming a DevOps Engineer and the ground realities, including the required qualification and needed skill sets.
DevOps Engineer is the bridge between three main fields on Information Technology (IT) including development, quality assurance, and operations. A DevOps Engineer is mainly responsible for ensuring the proper functioning of software platforms.
As a DevOps engineer, you have a lot of responsibilities. You need to be able to wear many hats, as the saying goes. You need to be able to work with developers and system administrators, and you also need to have strong technical skills.
But what are some of the specific responsibilities of a DevOps engineer? In this blog post, we will discuss some of the key duties of a DevOps engineer. Stay tuned!
DevOps Engineer Job Description
What does a DevOps Engineer do?
This question is on the mind of many job seekers who are interested in transitioning into this field. If you want to know what it takes to become a DevOps Engineer, keep reading. We will cover the basic skills and qualities needed for this role, as well as outline some typical job duties.
So, if you’re curious about what it takes to break into this in-demand career, read on!
- Building new development tools
- Automating development and release processes
- Testing and examining written codes
- Ascertaining security against cybersecurity threats
- Developing software updates
Building new development tools
The primary job of a DevOps Engineer is to build new development tools as required by the organization. DevOps engineer roles and responsibilities mainly include understanding the project brief and building a new tool according to the briefs.
Automating development and release processes
Automation is the future of the workforce, and DevOps engineers are playing their part in this advancement. The role of DevOps includes automating the development and release process after thorough testing.
Testing and examining written codes
Though DevOps engineers can write new program codes, the DevOp job description also includes examining and fixing the codes written by others.
Ascertaining security against cybersecurity threats
Ascertaining that there are no security breaches also comes under DevOps responsibilities. There is a constant need for upgrading the security system and ensuring that there is no security breach by hackers or phishing attacks.
Developing software updates
Updating the software also comes under the responsibilities of the DevOps Engineer. They need to develop the updates periodically and ensure they are appropriately implemented.
Key Skills Required to become a DevOps Engineer
When it comes to the valuable skills for becoming a successful DevOps Engineer, remember that combining occupation and personal skill is the key to success. You need to be open to change and take problems as a new challenge.
DevOps is relevant to any kind of software project, but it is particularly important for web-based applications that are delivered to customers through an automated process.
Here is the list of skills for DevOps engineers to master to succeed in the DevOps field.
- Communication and collaboration
- Understanding of relevant development tools
- Relevant web security skills
- Automation skills
- Skills related to coding and scripting
- Skills related to Cloud computing
- Testing skills
- A strong understanding of both development and operations
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills
- A willingness to learn new technologies and tools
- Experience with automation and configuration management tools
- Experience with monitoring and logging tools
Salary of a DevOps Engineer
The salary of a DevOps Engineer depends on various factors such as location, education, skills, and experience. For instance, DevOps Engineers working for US companies earn more than they could make in South Africa.
There is no need to worry, though, as the post-covid world is all about promoting work-from-home and utilizing the best resources regardless of their location, you can invest in improving your skill and apply them anywhere remotely.
Here is a clear reflection of the monthly salary of a DevOps Engineer in South Africa compared to the United States of America.
| Location | Salary (Monthly) | ||||
| USA | USD $9992 to ZAR: 170471 | ||||
| Pretoria | ZAR: 75980 | ||||
| Cape Town | ZAR: 38160 | ||||
| Stellenbosch | ZAR: 42851 | ||||
| Somerset West | ZAR: 38795 |
In South Africa, the expected total pay for a DevOps Engineer is ZAR 93,158 per year, with an average salary of ZAR 54,021 per year. Do keep in mind that the salary range may vary depending on your job experience.
For example, while entry-level DevOps Engineers can earn roughly around ZAR 93,158 /mo, Senior DevOps Engineers can earn up to ZAR 158,701 /mo. If you’re a Lead DevOps Engineer, you can expect to earn ZAR 2M /yr.
Job Outlook for DevOps Engineer
When it comes to the job outlook for DevOps Engineer – the future is pretty bright! According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, The IT industry is expected to grow by 22% by 2030, and DevOps will also reap the benefit of this growth.
With the chances of accelerated growth, now is the right time to step into the DevOps field and secure the chances of getting one of the highest-paying IT jobs.
You can find yourself working in finance, healthcare, technology, manufacturing, and other fields to utilize your DevOps skills to provide new development tools.
There are various job titles depending on the job’s nature and required skillsets. Some of them are listed below.
- DevOps Engineer
- DevOps Software Developer
- DevOps Evangelist
- Release Manager
- Security Engineer
- Build Engineer
- Automation Architect
- Data Analyst
FAQs
What does a DevOps engineer do daily?
Here is the list of activities a DevOps Engineer needs to perform daily.
- Introducing new processes and methodologies to balance the software development lifecycle.
- Track record of every activity from coding till deployment.
- Updating and maintaining the software.
- Examining the potential of software and expanding it.
- Modification and testing of software.
Do DevOps engineers do coding?
A DevOps Engineer’s primary responsibility includes releasing new codes and managing updates – they can understand and write code in multiple programming languages, including Ruby, Python, JavaScript, Go, and C.
Is the DevOps job stressful?
The DevOps Engineer job can be stressful as it requires strong technical, management, and decision-making skills. In addition, the DevOps field is ever-changing, and a DevOps Engineer needs to keep up with the ever-changing technologies and work in a team setting.
Is DevOps high paying?
According to Glassdoor, a DevOps Engineer earns around $90K to $167K per year, so we can say that it is a high-paying job.
Who is paid more DevOps or developer?
The yearly average salary of a software developer is $108,866 per year while DevOps Engineer earns around 119,904 per year on average. This recent data is indicative that DevOps Engineer makes 9-10 % more than software developers.
Wrapping Up!
DevOps Engineer plays a vital role in bridging the gap among IT professionals. They collaborate with other professionals and present the best solution to a problem.
Considering the predicted IT sector growth, it is high time to invest in your DevOps skills. Whether you are looking for a brand new career or want to enhance your skills as DevOps Engineer, you can opt for free courses and scholarships offered by Udacity.
Even though the DevOps Engineer job description seems daunting, you can learn the ins and outs in no time. So, keep learning till you succeed!
