What does a devops engineer do?
DevOps engineers are practitioners of DevOps, a software development strategy that aims to bridge the gap between computer software development and information technology (IT) operations. They work closely with computer software developers and other IT staff to manage code deployments and releases. Their duties include overseeing the IT infrastructure supporting software code in different environments, choosing a suitable deployment model, and directing testing protocol needed to validate releases. Other tasks they may likely perform include preparing test data, analyzing results, and troubleshooting issues and problems.
Devops engineer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real devops engineer resumes:
- Develop ant scripts to manage VisualStudio project builds.
- Perform daily builds for managing the system test and UAT environments.
- Design IP plans, LAN connectivity and manage engineers during acceptance testing.
- Manage and maintain corporate own domains and corresponding DNS zones and records.
- Communicate these needs to the leads and maintain the integrity of the data in the TFS.
- Manage the application, server configurations and automate the deployments of application to the IBM WebSphere application server.
- Install VMware products on devops environments.
- Implement Gitlab for version control of puppet modules and process documentation.
- Automate various service and application deployments with Ansible on CentOS and RHEL.
- Upgrade and patch RHEL, CentOS, OpenSUSE servers to latest version.
- Implement chef provisioning for creation of instances, instance infrastructure using chef-client and bootstrapping using knife azure plugin.
- Configure MongoDb container and setup deploy scripts using bash, AWS CLI, AWS S3 facility and docker commands.
- Used Jenkins for CI and CD purposes and build failures alerts and management of various build tool plugins like maven.
- Create several store SQL procedures to handle the data from different tables in the database and for fast retrieval of data.
- Focuse on containerization and immutable infrastructure.
Devops engineer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 9% of Devops Engineers are proficient in Python, Docker, and Java. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Detail oriented, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Devops Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Python, 9%
Worked in building python Automation Frameworks for Deployment of infrastructure, configuration verification, Developed File system performance characterization and certification.
- Docker, 5%
Developed procedures to unify, streamline and automate application development and deployment procedures with Linux container technology using Docker.
- Java, 5%
Worked as Release Engineer in field of release automation for java technologies to achieve continuous integration and continuous delivery.
- Infrastructure, 5%
Extended an existing puppet for operation tools start-up to enable seamless full infrastructure provisioning for site redundancy and staging/development environments.
- Jenkins, 5%
Administered JENKINS, Proposed and implemented branching strategy suitable for agile/scrum development in a Fast Paced Engineering Environment.
- GIT, 5%
Worked in GIT implementation containing various Remote repositories for a single application.
"python," "docker," and "java" are among the most common skills that devops engineers use at work. You can find even more devops engineer responsibilities below, including:
Creativity. The most essential soft skill for a devops engineer to carry out their responsibilities is creativity. This skill is important for the role because "developers are the creative minds behind new computer software." Additionally, a devops engineer resume shows how their duties depend on creativity: "maintain and track inventory using jenkins and set alerts when the servers are full and need attention. "
Detail oriented. Another essential skill to perform devops engineer duties is detail oriented. Devops engineers responsibilities require that "developers often work on many parts of an application or system at the same time and must therefore be able to concentrate and pay attention to detail." Devops engineers also use detail oriented in their role according to a real resume snippet: "used core java and spring aspect oriented programming concepts for logging, security and error handling mechanism. "
Interpersonal skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of devops engineers is interpersonal skills. This skill is critical to many everyday devops engineer duties, as "software developers must be able to work well with others who contribute to designing, developing, and programming successful software." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "required: project management skills and interpersonal skills along with overall engineering understanding. "
Analytical skills. A big part of what devops engineers do relies on "analytical skills." You can see how essential it is to devops engineer responsibilities because "developers must analyze users’ needs and then design software to meet those needs." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical devops engineer tasks: "performed log analysis using elk stack and created monitoring charts. "
Communication skills. Another crucial skill for a devops engineer to carry out their responsibilities is "communication skills." A big part of what devops engineers relies on this skill, since "developers must be able to give clear instructions to others working on a project." How this skill relates to devops engineer duties can be seen in an example from a devops engineer resume snippet: "determined the communication latency in kubernetes cluster network and decreased the response time of the system. "
Problem-solving skills. Another skill commonly found on devops engineer job descriptions is "problem-solving skills." It can come up quite often in devops engineer duties, since "because developers are in charge of software from beginning to end, they must be able to solve problems that arise throughout the design process." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day devops engineer responsibilities: "initiated and implemented automated testing solution through ci/cd pipeline using jenkins, docker. "
The three companies that hire the most devops engineers are:
- Oracle607 devops engineers jobs
- Consensus
514 devops engineers jobs
- General Dynamics474 devops engineers jobs
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Compare different devops engineers
Devops engineer vs. Software developer
A software developer is responsible for designing application systems to support the user and business' needs. Duties of a software developer include testing software codes, performing diagnostic programs and troubleshooting, interpreting system data and establishing efficient parameters, and ensuring the compatibility of the systems. A software developer must have an excellent knowledge of computer programs and programming languages to understand its complexities, especially on detecting system defects and malfunctions. A software developer must have strong attention to detail, communication, and decision-making skills to coordinate with the team and also work independently under minimal supervision.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, devops engineer responsibilities require skills like "docker," "infrastructure," "ansible," and "kubernetes." Meanwhile a typical software developer has skills in areas such as "c++," "software development," "javascript," and "api." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Software developers really shine in the finance industry with an average salary of $96,138. Comparatively, devops engineers tend to make the most money in the start-up industry with an average salary of $113,283.software developers tend to reach similar levels of education than devops engineers. In fact, software developers are 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.7% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Devops engineer vs. Software engineer-consultant
A software engineer consultant develops and recommends strategies to optimize a company's software engineering operations. Their responsibilities revolve around conducting extensive research and analysis to find new opportunities, performing software evaluations and risk assessments, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of existing processes, and developing solutions against problem areas. Through the findings of their research, a software engineer consultant draws conclusions and recommendations that will help the company to reach their short and long-term goals and resolve issues or concerns.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real devops engineer resumes. While devops engineer responsibilities can utilize skills like "docker," "infrastructure," "ansible," and "kubernetes," software engineers-consultant use skills like "architecture," "software development," "scrum," and "api."
Software engineers-consultant may earn a higher salary than devops engineers, but software engineers-consultant earn the most pay in the insurance industry with an average salary of $118,185. On the other hand, devops engineers receive higher pay in the start-up industry, where they earn an average salary of $113,283.In general, software engineers-consultant achieve similar levels of education than devops engineers. They're 0.3% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for devops engineers in the next 3-5 years?
Frank McCown Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Harding University
Devops engineer vs. Principal software engineer
A Principal Software Engineer is responsible for the technical aspects of an organization's projects. They diagnose, document, and troubleshoot systems to resolve problems identified through testing, as well as implement strategies to improve integration and efficiency.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from devops engineer resumes include skills like "docker," "infrastructure," "ansible," and "kubernetes," whereas a principal software engineer is more likely to list skills in "software development," "aws," "javascript," and "scrum. "
Principal software engineers earn the best pay in the retail industry, where they command an average salary of $154,293. Devops engineers earn the highest pay from the start-up industry, with an average salary of $113,283.Most principal software engineers achieve a similar degree level compared to devops engineers. For example, they're 4.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 2.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Devops engineer vs. Contract software engineer
Even though a few skill sets overlap between devops engineers and contract software engineers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a devops engineer might have more use for skills like "docker," "infrastructure," "ansible," and "kubernetes." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of contract software engineers require skills like "software development," "javascript," "http," and "api. "
Contract software engineers reach similar levels of education compared to devops engineers, in general. The difference is that they're 2.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 2.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of devops engineer
Updated January 8, 2025
