Cloud & Platform Engineering · Cloud & Platform Engineering

Cloud Engineer

Build and automate the infrastructure software runs on in the cloud — provision with code, ship reliably.

Cloud Support EngineerCloud Operations EngineerJunior DevOps EngineerPlatform Engineer

~$116,580 median · ~7%+ — much faster than average

Reached via a first rung (support / sysadmin / dev), not day one. No dedicated BLS code; figure approximates Computer Occupations, All Other (15-1299). Industry cloud-role averages skew higher and are self-selected. Treat as directional.

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What you actually do

You design, provision, and automate cloud infrastructure — spinning up networks, servers, and services with code instead of by hand, wiring up deployment pipelines, and keeping production healthy. It's powerful, in-demand work, but be honest with yourself: it's usually a second rung, not a first job. Most cloud engineers arrive from a support, systems, networking, or development background, then add cloud on top. This roadmap treats it as a destination and shows the on-ramp.

•Write Terraform to provision a new environment instead of clicking through a console
•Debug why a deployment pipeline failed and fix the automation so it can't happen again
•Right-size resources to cut the monthly cloud bill without hurting performance
•Respond to an alert that a service is degraded and trace it through logs and metrics
•Review a teammate's infrastructure change before it reaches production

What the work feels like

CommunicationMedium

Technical depthVery high

TroubleshootingHigh

Customer contactLow

On-callVery high

Remote-friendlyVery high

This fits you if…

✓You love automating repetitive work so you never do it by hand again
✓You're comfortable at the command line and want deep technical work
✓You want highly remote-friendly work and don't mind on-call

Less ideal if…

−You're a complete beginner looking for a first IT job
−You want lots of face-to-face customer interaction
−You want to avoid coding and scripting

The honest downsides: It's hard as a first job — most listings expect a prior rung plus cloud certs. DevOps/SRE work carries real on-call ('you build it, you run it'), the tool surface is sprawling, and you can be blamed for outages. Route in as a destination, not a starting point.

Skills to build

Linux & command line Foundational

Networking fundamentals Foundational Cloud is still networking — VPCs, subnets, and routing don't disappear.

Cloud core services (compute, storage, IAM) Working

Scripting (Python / Bash) Working The automation force-multiplier at the heart of the role.

Infrastructure as Code (Terraform) Working

CI/CD pipelines Working

Containers & orchestration (Docker / Kubernetes) Emerging

AWS / Azure / GCPTerraformDocker / KubernetesGit + GitHub ActionsPython / BashPrometheus / Grafana

Your roadmap

An ordered path from beginner to employable. Certifications are optional checkpoints, not the point — skills and a portfolio are.

0

Earn a first rung first

Cloud is rarely a first job. Get a support, systems, networking, or dev foundation — then cloud is a promotion, not a wall.
1

Get cloud-literate

Learn Linux and cloud core concepts free on Microsoft Learn / AWS Skill Builder, then earn a fundamentals cert.
Study guide: Azure AZ-900 (Fundamentals) →
2

Learn to operate the cloud

Study for an associate cert (AZ-104 or AWS SAA) and build a public infrastructure-as-code project — the real portfolio.
Study guide: Azure AZ-104 (Administrator) →
3

Automate everything

Terraform, CI/CD, Docker, and Kubernetes. A public repo of automation is what turns a sysadmin into a cloud/platform engineer.
Study guide: AWS Solutions Architect Associate →