DevOps Engineer
Also advertised as: autonomy engineer, Cloud DevOps Engineer, DevOps Engineer, Infrastructure Engineer, instrument engineer, instrumentation engineer technology engineer
Automates how software is built, tested and deployed.
What the job involves
DevOps engineers build the pipelines and infrastructure that let development teams release software safely and often. You write automation scripts, manage cloud environments and work closely with developers to remove friction from deployment. It sits between development and operations.
Typical responsibilities
- Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines
- Manage infrastructure as code
- Automate deployment and monitoring
- Troubleshoot production incidents
- Improve reliability and release speed
Common employers
- Software companies
- Banks
- Government digital services
- Consultancies
- Telecoms providers
Pay, hours and working environment
Typical pay
£32,000 – £40,000 a year
With experience
£55,000 – £80,000 a year
Typical hours
37.5 hours, with occasional on-call rotas
Working environment
Fully remote or hybrid, cloud-based tooling
Remote working
remote
Demand for this work
high
Pay ranges are indicative guidance drawn from advertised UK vacancies and published careers information. They are not an offer, and actual pay varies by employer, location and experience.
Skills and qualifications
Core skills
- CI/CD tools
- Cloud platforms
- Infrastructure as code
- Scripting
- Containerisation
- Monitoring and alerting
Transferable skills you may already have
- Process improvement thinking
- Scripting or automation experience
- Collaborative problem solving
Requirements employers ask for
- CI/CD tools
- Cloud platforms
- Infrastructure as code
- Scripting
- Containerisation
- Monitoring and alerting
- No formal qualification required; hands-on infrastructure or coding experience expected
- mathematics
- electricity
- develop instrumentation systems
- design control systems
- environmental legislation
- abide by regulations on banned materials
- engineering principles
- environmental threats
- adjust engineering designs
- electronics
- instrumentation engineering
- design drawings
Useful but not essential
- Process improvement thinking
- Scripting or automation experience
- Collaborative problem solving
- AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
- Certified Kubernetes Administrator
- Level 4 DevOps Engineer apprenticeship
- analyse production processes for improvement
- create software design
- ensure compliance with safety legislation
- use CAD software
- manufacturing processes
- use technical drawing software
- engineering control theory
- ensure equipment availability
Helpful qualifications
- AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
- Certified Kubernetes Administrator
- Level 4 DevOps Engineer apprenticeship
Ways into this career
A degree is only one route. Where an apprenticeship, work-experience or qualification route exists, it is listed here alongside the academic option.
Apprenticeships and work-based routes
- DevOps Engineer (Level 4)
Degree and college routes
- Related subject: Computer science
- Related subject: Software engineering
- Related subject: IT
Where this career can lead
next
Senior DevOps Engineer
next
Platform Architect
next
Engineering Manager
The good parts and the hard parts
What people enjoy
- High demand and strong salaries
- Broad exposure to modern cloud tooling
- Often remote-first roles
What people find hard
- On-call responsibilities during incidents
- Tooling changes quickly and needs constant learning
Common questions
- Do you need a degree to become a devops engineer?
- No. As well as degree routes, this career can be entered through an apprenticeship or by building experience and qualifications on the job. preferred
- How much does a devops engineer earn in the UK?
- Typical advertised pay runs from £32,000 to £40,000 a year, rising towards £80,000 with experience. Figures are indicative guidance rather than an offer.
- What skills transfer into this career?
- Skills that transfer well include Process improvement thinking, Scripting or automation experience, Collaborative problem solving.
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Where this information comes from
- National Careers Service
- Institute for Apprenticeships
Last reviewed 15 September 2026.
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