DevOps Job Descriptions: Who’s on a DevOps Team?

Although the methodology and tools often remain the same, DevOps job descriptions, qualifications, and responsibilities vary from role to role. You can use the following article to compare five DevOps job descriptions ranging from DevOps engineers to DevSecOps managers. You'll also learn how much you can earn and how to qualify for each position.

Read more: How to Write a DevOps Engineer Resume (Step-by-Step With Examples)

Who’s on a DevOps team?

Since DevOps represents a broader ethos, emphasizing a culture of collaborative IT, a DevOps team can include professionals in development, operations, quality assurance (QA), and cybersecurity. DevOps roles often include software developers, DevOps engineers, security and compliance professionals, and release managers. The sections below provide sample DevOps job descriptions for a wide range of roles.

DevOps job descriptions

What differentiates a DevOps manager from a DevSecOps engineer? Understanding the nuances of the various jobs within DevOps can help you better understand the career path you want to pursue. The following list outlines select DevOps job roles and their average salaries (according to November 2024 Glassdoor data) should you aspire to join a DevOps team.

1. DevOps engineer job description

This versatile role in DevOps engineering requires technical skills like implementing new technologies and testing and analyzing code, as well as workplace skills like overseeing workflows and sprint planning. Though parallels exist between DevOps and software engineering roles, they differ in skill set. While software engineers concentrate on writing and managing code, DevOps engineers also have knowledge of software development life cycle (SDLC) management methodologies.

Qualifications:

Seventy-five percent of DevOps engineers have a bachelor's degree, 20 percent have a master's degree, and two percent have an associate degree [1]. The most common majors for this role include computer science, electrical engineering, computer engineering, and information technology.

Experience:

• Experience building and supporting continuous integration, continuous delivery (CI/CD) workflows

• Knowledge of cloud infrastructure (Iaas, PaaS, SaaS) and DevOps tools

• Understanding of Agile software development methodology

• Proficient in automating and updating processes

Average annual US salary: $141,000

Read more: Agile Project Management: What it is and When to Use it

2. AWS DevOps engineer job description

An Amazon Web Services (AWS) DevOps engineer specializes in the AWS platform and, therefore, cloud computing technology. This is a DevOps engineering role for someone with plenty of experience implementing, migrating, and updating systems on the AWS platform.

Qualifications:

Seventy-five percent of DevOps engineers have a bachelor's degree, 20 percent have a master's degree, and two percent have an associate degree [1]. The most common majors for this role include computer science, electrical engineering, computer engineering, and information technology.

Experience:

• Ability to design and document technical systems and solutions using AWS technology

• Understanding of container technologies such as Kubernetes or Docker

• Experience with open-source web service environments such as Java

• Strong understanding of CI/CD pipelines and processes

Average annual US salary: $138,000

Read more: AWS DevOps Engineer Salary: 2024 Guide

3. DevOps manager job description

As a DevOps manager, you will supervise and lead DevOps teams. Having previously worked as a developer or technical project manager, you will use your technical expertise to design and upkeep a robust infrastructure for software service delivery. Additionally, you may use DevOps management tools to work towards streamlining collaboration among operations team members during the development and testing phases.

Qualifications:

Sixty-three percent of technical service and product managers have a bachelor's degree, 17 percent have a master's degree, and 14 percent have an associate degree [2]. The most common majors for this role include business, electrical engineering, computer science, and project management.

Experience:

• Strong knowledge of cloud technologies and DevOps automation and configuration management tools

• Ability to define and meet service level objectives (SLO) for implementation and automation initiatives

• Proficient in DevOps, Agile, and CI/CD methodologies

• Experience leading and managing collaboration between development and operational teams

Average annual US salary: $228,000

Read more: 7 DevOps Roles That Make a Team Successful

4. DevSecOps engineer job description

As a development, security, and operations (DevSecOps) engineer, you help introduce and automate cybersecurity into every stage of the software development lifecycle (SDLC). Programming, threat management, and communication are among your critical skills. Also within your purview is identifying and resolving any vulnerabilities found during development.

Qualifications:

Sixty-seven percent of information security engineers have a bachelor's degree, 15 percent have a master's degree, and 15 percent have an associate degree [3]. The most common majors for this role include computer science, computer information systems, information technology, and business.

Experience:

• Advanced knowledge of CI/CD methodology and cloud infrastructure platforms and services like AWS and Azure

• Extensive experience with DevOps and DevSecOps automation and security management tools and techniques

• Strong containerization, automation, and scripting skills

• Proficient in cross-functional communication, collaboration, and coordination

Average annual US base salary: $181,000

Read more: SRE vs. DevOps Guide: Differences, Job Descriptions, Salaries

5. Release manager job description

As a release manager, you will supervise the release of a product from start to finish. Specifically, you will handle tasks that fall outside of the scope of a traditional project manager. Your everyday work duties include tracking and analyzing DevOps key performance indicators, facilitating continuous delivery through Agile processes, and developing automation pipelines for smooth code transition.

Qualifications:

Seventy percent of information security engineers have a bachelor's degree, 19 percent have a master's degree, and 8 percent have an associate degree [4]. The most common majors for this role include computer science, business, electrical engineering, and computer information systems.

Experience:

• Strong understanding of CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code, artifact maintenance, and version management

• Experience with cloud computing platforms, software testing tools, and containerization

• Proficient in scripting and using automation tools

• Ability to develop and execute deliverables for various initiatives in development, production, and quality assurance (QA)

Average annual US salary: $179,000

Read more: 5 Popular DevOps Certifications in 2024

Strengthen your DevOps skill set with Coursera

You can get hands-on practice with industry-standard DevOps tools and practices by earning IBM's Applied DevOps Engineering Professional Certificate. You'll plan and execute tests, develop RESTful Python microservices, and exercise your management skills through ZenHub story tracking and Agile methodology.