How To Become A Build-Release Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a build-release engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Brian Glas

Build and Release Engineers are in charge of their company's software design, development, and release phases. As you work in this capacity, you will construct and manage software application infrastructure, as well as test and examine code before it is released.

You will also be in charge of executing and managing software integration, overseeing testing methods to uncover compatibility or performance concerns, and automating processes with complex engineering tools. You may also work with professionals such as developers and testers to resolve software issues and give training to information technology personnel.

To work as a build and release engineer, you need a bachelor's degree in computer science or a related course. It will be advantageous if you have a good history in IT project management and software development. The most important skill that builds and releases engineers need is excellent technical abilities. Meanwhile, you can earn an average annual pay of $91,967.

What general advice would you give to a build-release engineer?

Brian Glas

Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Union University

Build relationships: Different technologies will interest and challenge you, but throughout your career, you'll find that it's the relationships that are the most important. This is harder to grasp earlier in your career, but much easier to understand after 15-20 years.
Gain different perspectives: Spend time with people in other roles that your job interacts with, and gain a solid understanding of how they view things; this is most valuable for career progression and understanding of how your work fits into the big picture.

ScoreBuild-Release EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.7

Avg. Salary $102,403

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.0

Growth rate 21%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 29.92%

Black or African American 4.46%

Hispanic or Latino 8.20%

Unknown 4.81%

White 52.45%

Gender

female 20.21%

male 79.79%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

4.0

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a build-release engineer

Explore build-release engineer education requirements

Most common build-release engineer degrees

Bachelor's

82.2 %

Master's

13.9 %

Associate

1.8 %

Start to develop specific build-release engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Python	6.64%
GIT	6.63%
Jenkins	6.07%
Java	5.36%
Linux	3.98%

Complete relevant build-release engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New build-release engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a build-release engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real build-release engineer resumes.

Research build-release engineer duties and responsibilities

Create scripts in bash to automate the build release processes and debug build failures.
Work on creation of puppet manifest files to install tomcat instances and to manage configuration files for multiple applications.
Develop python scripts to automate applications migration and monitor application health during migration.
Used SharePoint application and implementing tools that help organizations manage processes and data.

Prepare your build-release engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your build-release engineer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a build-release engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable build-release engineer resume templates

Build a professional build-release engineer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your build-release engineer resume.

Apply for build-release engineer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a build-release engineer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do build-release engineers rate their job?

-/5

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Build-release engineer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2020

Pros

I have always been a very organized person and have worked in customer service my entire life, first as a mechanical engineer and then in the fitness industry. As a build engineer/release engineer/DevOps engineer, I get to work between the people writing the code and the people using the code, which is the perfect balance for me. :-)

Cons

It's difficult to explain to my friends what I actually do. Even my wife isn't completely clear on where my responsibility begins and ends...