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How to hire an infrastructure engineer

Infrastructure engineer hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring infrastructure engineers in the United States:

  • There are currently 168,096 infrastructure engineers in the US, as well as 91,845 job openings.
  • Infrastructure engineers are in the highest demand in New York, NY, with 58 current job openings.
  • The median cost to hire an infrastructure engineer is $1,633.
  • It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
  • Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
  • On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new infrastructure engineer to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire an infrastructure engineer, step by step

To hire an infrastructure engineer, you need to identify the specific skills and experience you want in a candidate, allocate a budget for the position, and advertise the job opening to attract potential candidates. To hire an infrastructure engineer, you should follow these steps:

Here's a step-by-step infrastructure engineer hiring guide:

  • Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
  • Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
  • Step 3: Make a budget
  • Step 4: Write an infrastructure engineer job description
  • Step 5: Post your job
  • Step 6: Interview candidates
  • Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new infrastructure engineer
  • Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an infrastructure engineer do?

As an infrastructure engineer, they're responsible for designing, deploying, and maintaining the IT infrastructure using the newest technology and ensure all the systems within an organization function seamlessly. They ensure all the IT systems are updated to support the business to function effectively. It is also their job to maintain internet connections, cabling, virtualization platforms, and storage area networks. Moreover, they oversee the IT infrastructure engineer system administration middleware application servers, like Oracle Weblogic server, IBM WebSphere server, and automated workflow tools.

Learn more about the specifics of what an infrastructure engineer does
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  1. Identify your hiring needs

    Before you post your infrastructure engineer job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find an infrastructure engineer for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

    Determine employee vs contractor status
    Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

    You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them an infrastructure engineer to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire an infrastructure engineer that fits the bill.

    This list presents infrastructure engineer salaries for various positions.

    Type of Infrastructure EngineerDescriptionHourly rate
    Infrastructure EngineerComputer networks are critical parts of almost every organization. Network and computer systems administrators are responsible for the day-to-day operation of these networks.$36-71
    Network/Server AdministratorA Network Administrator ensures an organizations' network is operational and up to date. They solve problems that arise within computer networks, maintaining computer networks, interacting with clients, and consulting with them to determine their system requirements... Show more$27-51
    Systems AdministratorSystems administrators are employees who oversee information technology infrastructures in the office. They are skilled information technology professionals who are knowledgeable about the company's network systems and other technology-related infrastructures... Show more$28-48
  2. Create an ideal candidate profile

    Common skills:
    • Python
    • Cloud
    • Linux
    • AWS
    • Java
    • Azure
    • Troubleshoot
    • PowerShell
    • Virtualization
    • SAN
    • Jenkins
    • Windows Server
    • Ruby
    • Encryption
    Check all skills
    Responsibilities:
    • Manage public and private DNS records and servers.
    • Manage IIs web servers and IBM WebSphere application servers.
    • Manage Netapp FAS2240 NAS device by configuring multiple shares.
    • Work with python Boto3 SDK to automate backups to S3.
    • Lead technical team with major data migration from legacy NetApp storage systems to EMC disk.
    • Achieve VDI system high availability, eliminating single-points of failure to the VDI environment for internal and external VDI connectivity.
    More infrastructure engineer duties
  3. Make a budget

    Including a salary range in your infrastructure engineer job description helps attract top candidates to the position. An infrastructure engineer salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

    For example, the average salary for an infrastructure engineer in Alaska may be lower than in California, and an entry-level infrastructure engineer usually earns less than a senior-level infrastructure engineer. Additionally, an infrastructure engineer with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

    Average infrastructure engineer salary

    $106,438yearly

    $51.17 hourly rate

    Entry-level infrastructure engineer salary
    $76,000 yearly salary
    Updated December 5, 2025

    Average infrastructure engineer salary by state

    RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
    1California$142,033$68
    2New York$109,200$53
    3Washington$108,280$52
    4Delaware$105,415$51
    5District of Columbia$102,425$49
    6Massachusetts$101,762$49
    7New Jersey$100,790$48
    8Virginia$99,392$48
    9North Carolina$97,957$47
    10Illinois$97,014$47
    11Minnesota$96,868$47
    12Arizona$96,196$46
    13Pennsylvania$95,638$46
    14Ohio$95,553$46
    15Texas$91,267$44
    16Florida$88,854$43
    17Georgia$87,247$42
    18Missouri$86,014$41
    19Indiana$85,496$41
    20Utah$85,166$41

    Average infrastructure engineer salary by company

    RankCompanyAverage salaryHourly rateJob openings
    1Credit Karma$176,544$84.88
    2Crunchbase$164,003$78.85
    3The Walt Disney Company$163,805$78.7541
    4Meta$162,971$78.35448
    5Mixpanel$160,428$77.13
    6Cornerstone Research$158,467$76.19
    7Davis Wright Tremaine$158,167$76.04
    8ByteDance$157,950$75.9435
    9Bill.com$157,746$75.842
    10Flexport$150,881$72.544
    11Robinhood$148,489$71.39
    12Apple$147,757$71.04135
    13Quora$147,524$70.92
    14PayPal$145,982$70.186
    15Google$143,864$69.17105
    16Cloudflare$143,587$69.0347
    17Anaplan$143,116$68.81
    18Pacific Investment Management Company LLC$143,019$68.761
    19SADA$143,003$68.75
    20eBay$142,471$68.502
  4. Writing an infrastructure engineer job description

    An infrastructure engineer job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of an infrastructure engineer job description:

    Infrastructure engineer job description example

    Essential Business Experience and Technical Skills:
    Required:
    • 3+ years of progressive work experience in enterprise servers, storage or virtualization.

    • Strong background in enterprise network attached storage, management and protection solutions. Must be able to design and implement new solutions, manage change, and add policies in a large-scale, mission critical, multi-PB storage environment.
    • Strong communication and relationship management skills- ability to collaborate effectively and transparently and work as part of a team.
    • Proven experience in designing, maintaining, and managing enterprise storage and backup systems.
    • Skills with scripting and/or automation technologies.
    • Strong consulting skills with an ability to work closely with stakeholders to go beyond “what” they require and focus on “why” such that expectations are met.

    Preferred:
    • Proven experience managing multi-site environments across a global footprint.
    • Experience working with third party resources on large projects, ideally in a matrixed environment.
    • Certification in public cloud solutions
    • Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Mathematics, Computer Engineering, Information Systems, or related field and/or relevant industry certifications

    • Ideal candidate is SAFe certified and is familiar with the NIST Cybersecurity framework

    At MetLife, we’re leading the global transformation of an industry we’ve long defined. United in purpose, diverse in perspective, we’re dedicated to making a difference in the lives of our customers.

    #LI-WRAPJOB

    MetLife:

    MetLife, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is one of the world’s leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their changing world. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 countries and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

    We are one of the largest institutional investors in the U.S. with $642.4 billion of total assets under management as of March 31, 2021. We are ranked #46 on the Fortune 500 list for 2021. In 2020, we were named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) for the fifth year in a row. DJSI is a global index to track the leading sustainability-driven companies. We are proud to have been named to Fortune magazine’s 2021 list of the “World’s Most Admired Companies.”

    MetLife is committed to building a purpose-driven and inclusive culture that energizes our people. Our employees work every day to help build a more confident future for people around the world.

    We want to make it simple for all interested and qualified candidates to apply for employment opportunities with MetLife. For further information about how to request a reasonable accommodation, please click on the Disability Accommodations link below.

    MetLife is a proud Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer dedicated to attracting, retaining, and developing a diverse and inclusive workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment at MetLife without regards to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, national origin, marital or domestic/civil partnership status, genetic information, citizenship status, uniformed service member or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

    MetLife maintains a drug-free workplace.

  5. Post your job

    There are various strategies that you can use to find the right infrastructure engineer for your business:

    • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
    • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
    • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
    • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.
    Post your job online:
    • Post your infrastructure engineer job on Zippia to find and recruit infrastructure engineer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
    • Use field-specific websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
    • Post a job on free websites.
  6. Interview candidates

    During your first interview to recruit infrastructure engineers, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

    Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

    Sometimes, it's not enough to interview infrastructure engineer candidates, so you can ask them to do a test project. If you are not a technical person and don't know what a test project should be, you can use these websites:

    • TestDome
    • CodeSignal
    • Testlify
    • BarRaiser
    • Coderbyte

    The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

  7. Send a job offer and onboard your new infrastructure engineer

    Once you've decided on a perfect infrastructure engineer candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

    It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

    After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new infrastructure engineer. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

  8. Go through the hiring process checklist

    • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
    • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
    • Define job responsibilities and requirements
    • Establish budget and timeline
    • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
    • Write job description
    • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
    • Promote the job internally
    • Process applications through applicant tracking system
    • Review resumes and cover letters
    • Shortlist candidates for screening
    • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
    • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
    • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
    • Conduct background checks on top candidates
    • Check references of top candidates
    • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
    • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
    • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
    • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
    • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
    • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)
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How much does it cost to hire an infrastructure engineer?

Recruiting infrastructure engineers involves both the one-time costs of hiring and the ongoing costs of adding a new employee to your team. Your spending during the hiring process will mostly be on things like promoting the job on job boards, reviewing and interviewing candidates, and onboarding the new hire. Ongoing costs will obviously involve the employee's salary, but also may include things like benefits.

The median annual salary for infrastructure engineers is $106,438 in the US. However, the cost of infrastructure engineer hiring can vary a lot depending on location. Additionally, hiring an infrastructure engineer for contract work or on a per-project basis typically costs between $36 and $71 an hour.

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