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What is a senior infrastructure engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Quoted expert
Dr. Ariful Azad Ph.D.
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Contrary to what you might believe, infrastructure engineers, work more with IT systems than they do with buildings. They develop, design, and maintain the infrastructure and systems that support communities. These professionals may work for public facilities like hospitals and schools or governmental agencies.

An infrastructure engineer runs diagnostics on infrastructure networks, understands how various devices on the network communicate, and identifies current or potential problems. Once that's done, they develop strategies to repair the issues and then test the repairs. Infrastructure engineers may also train technical support staff to use new software and diagnose and fix problems with individual devices on the network.

Some organizations may hire many infrastructure engineers. In this case, the senior infrastructure engineer will maintain a managerial role to coordinate and supervise the other engineers. To become a senior infrastructure engineer, you'll need a bachelor's and advanced degrees in computer engineering or other related fields.

What general advice would you give to a senior infrastructure engineer?

Dr. Ariful Azad Ph.D.

Director of Graduate Studies for the Dept. of Intelligent Systems Engineering, Assistant Professor of Intelligent Systems Engineering, Indiana University Bloomington

Look for a job that you would enjoy doing, even if it takes some time to find such a position. Internships are great to explore various options.
ScoreSenior Infrastructure EngineerUS Average
Salary
8.1

Avg. Salary $117,765

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level
5.7

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity
3.7
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 10.74%

Black or African American 8.63%

Hispanic or Latino 12.32%

Unknown 5.06%

White 62.94%

Gender

female 24.75%

male 75.25%

Age - 42
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 - 42
Stress level
5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level
7.2

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance
7.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Senior infrastructure engineer career paths

Key steps to become a senior infrastructure engineer

  1. Explore senior infrastructure engineer education requirements

    Most common senior infrastructure engineer degrees

    Bachelor's

    63.1 %

    Associate

    15.6 %

    Master's

    10.4 %
  2. Start to develop specific senior infrastructure engineer skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Cloud9.40%
    AWS6.77%
    Linux6.44%
    Customer Service5.57%
    Azure5.10%
  3. Complete relevant senior infrastructure engineer training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior infrastructure 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 senior infrastructure engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior infrastructure engineer resumes.
  4. Research senior infrastructure engineer duties and responsibilities

    • Install, configure, and administering multiple VMWare environments and managing multiple virtual server instances.
    • Manage all DNS and DHCP servers and scopes as well as domain controllers and member servers.
    • Correct Java relate problems that lead to overall better productivity of the server, storage and network teams.
    • Establish and manage VLAN and IP addressing standards (components, design) supporting IPT and other technologies.
  5. Get senior infrastructure engineer experience

    Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a senior infrastructure engineer. The most common roles before becoming a senior infrastructure engineer include systems administrator, systems engineer team lead and senior systems engineer.
  6. Prepare your senior infrastructure engineer resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior infrastructure 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 senior infrastructure 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 senior infrastructure engineer resume templates

    Build a professional senior infrastructure 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 senior infrastructure engineer resume.
    Senior Infrastructure Engineer Resume
    Senior Infrastructure Engineer Resume
    Senior Infrastructure Engineer Resume
    Senior Infrastructure Engineer Resume
    Senior Infrastructure Engineer Resume
    Senior Infrastructure Engineer Resume
    Senior Infrastructure Engineer Resume
    Senior Infrastructure Engineer Resume
    Senior Infrastructure Engineer Resume
  7. Apply for senior infrastructure engineer jobs

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

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

How did you land your first senior infrastructure engineer job

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Average senior infrastructure engineer salary

The average senior infrastructure engineer salary in the United States is $117,765 per year or $57 per hour. Senior infrastructure engineer salaries range between $87,000 and $158,000 per year.

Average senior infrastructure engineer salary
$117,765 Yearly
$56.62 hourly

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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