DevOps Engineer Job Description in 2025: Duties, Salaries, and Future Job Outlook

DevOps Engineers Job Description Summary: DevOps Engineers are the driving force behind faster, more reliable software delivery. They blend software development with IT operations to streamline code releases, ensure system stability, and shorten deployment cycles. 

You can build the skills to advance in DevOps by enrolling in software development courses. Such courses will open multiple career pathways for you, including cloud engineers and DevOps engineers.

Did You Know? DevOps adoption has skyrocketed. It is predicted that by the end of 2025, the total value of the DevOps Market will climb past USD 15.06 billion. No wonder DevOps Engineers are highly sought after today!

In this comprehensive guide, you’ll explore what DevOps engineers do, their job descriptions (roles and responsibilities), the skills and tools they use, and how you can become one. 

If you have 2-3 years of IT experience and are ready to move into DevOps, this 8-month Professional Certificate Program in Cloud Computing and DevOps is just the right program for you. You’ll work with 100‑plus cloud services and complete more than 50 industry‑focused projects, giving you the practical expertise employers truly look for.

Who is a DevOps Engineer? What Does a DevOps Engineer Do?

Definition – DevOps Engineer: A DevOps Engineer is an IT professional who works at the intersection of software development and system operations. In simple terms, they are the bridge between developers and IT operations teams. 

• Why did the role of DevOps engineer emerge? This role primarily emerged to break down the silos between coding, testing, and IT infrastructure, enabling smoother collaboration and continuous delivery of software. 
• Why are DevOps engineers important? A DevOps engineer understands the entire software lifecycle – from writing and testing code to deploying and maintaining applications in production.

Because they wear both "Dev" and "Ops" hats, DevOps engineers have a deep understanding of programming and system administration. 

Did You Know? Kubernetes was the most popular DevOps skill in the tech stack in 2024. It beat even Amazon Web Services, which ranked third. 

What Do DevOps Engineers Do?

DevOps Engineers handle a wide array of tasks, listed below, on a daily basis.

DevOps Engineers Day-to-day Duties:

• Building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines
• Automating processes by writing scripts or using automation tools 
• Managing infrastructure and cloud services 
• Continuously observing the performance and security of applications and infrastructure

Summary of the DevOps Engineer’s Role: DevOps Engineers ensure that software moves swiftly from development to production without hiccups. By automating workflows and enabling collaboration, they help organizations deliver features to customers faster while maintaining reliability. 

Also Read: Different Phases of DevOps Lifecycle Explained

DevOps Engineer Job description – Roles and Responsibilities

Because DevOps touches many aspects of the software lifecycle, a DevOps Engineer often wears multiple hats. They might act as software builders, testers, release managers, automation experts, and operations gurus all at once. Let’s break down the core roles and responsibilities that typically appear in the job description of DevOps Engineer.

DevOps Engineer’s Roles and Responsibilities:

• Implement Continuous Integration (CI) Pipelines: Set up and maintain automated workflows that build, test, and integrate code at every commit.
• Manage Configuration: Use Ansible, Chef, or Puppet to keep environments uniform and quickly roll out changes.
• Containerize and Orchestrate Applications: Package software into Docker containers and deploy them at scale with Kubernetes or similar platforms.
• Execute Monitoring Strategies: Install and configure solutions like Prometheus or ELK to track system health and create relevant alerts.
• Coordinate with Teams to Troubleshoot: Work side by side with development and operations to investigate incidents and deliver speedy fixes.
• Encourage Collaboration Between Dev and Ops: Promote transparent communication, shared goals, and smooth handoffs throughout the software life cycle.
• Apply Collaborative Management Skills: Organize cross-functional discussions, maintain task clarity, and align diverse stakeholders on release goals.
• Design and Maintain Automated Deployment Systems: Build pipelines with tools like Jenkins or GitLab CI to reduce manual effort and accelerate releases.
• Ensure System Reliability: Employ failover strategies, load balancing, and performance optimizations to keep downtime minimal.
• Set Up and Maintain Monitoring Stacks: Keep observability current by configuring logging, metrics, and tracing tools for real-time insights.
• Improve CI/CD Tooling: Refine build, test, and deployment processes to boost speed and reduce bottlenecks.
• Implement Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Script environment setups via Terraform or AWS CloudFormation for scalable, repeatable provisioning.
• Automate Infrastructure Tasks: Write scripts or adopt tools that handle server creation, updates, and maintenance with minimal human input.
• Optimize Resource Utilization: Calibrate compute, storage, and network resources to balance performance with cost efficiency.
• Adopt Containerization: Run services consistently across dev, staging, and production by packaging code and dependencies in portable containers.
• Advance Continuous Integration and Delivery: Champion best practices that streamline the flow from code commit to production release.
• Handle Code Deployments: Coordinate version rollouts with minimal impact on end users, often using strategies like rolling updates or blue-green deployments.
• Use Public Cloud Knowledge (AWS, GCP, Azure): Design secure, cost-aware solutions across these platforms based on project and team needs.
• Mentor Team Members: Guide junior engineers in scripting, tool usage, and DevOps principles to build an empowered team.
• Employ Scripting Languages (Ruby, Python, etc.): Create automation scripts to support CI/CD, analyze logs, and integrate external services.
• Perform System Administration Duties: Oversee patching, OS-level debugging, and user management to sustain healthy environments.
• Apply Linux Fundamentals: Diagnose issues in logs, manage processes, and handle core configurations on Linux servers for smooth operations.

In many DevOps engineer job descriptions, you'll see that these geniuses are expected to work closely with cross-functional teams — that's exactly what they do.

Did You Know? Almost 35.5% of recruiters nowadays expect candidates in tech to be proficient in DevOps. DevOps skills are slowly becoming the new hiring norm!

What Are the Skills Needed to Become a Successful DevOps Engineer?

To excel as a DevOps Engineer, you need a blend of technical expertise and cross-functional (soft) skills. It’s not just about knowing the right tools – it’s also about mindset and communication. 

Let’s break down the key skills necessary to excel in the role of a DevOps engineer.

Technical Skills for DevOps Engineers

These are the hard skills and knowledge areas a DevOps Engineer should master:

• Operating Systems & Scripting: A strong foundation in operating systems (especially Linux) and scripting languages is a must. Many DevOps tasks involve writing Bash, Python, or PowerShell scripts to automate jobs. Being comfortable in the command line and understanding OS concepts (processes, networking, file systems) is crucial.
• Programming & Version Control: While a DevOps Engineer might not write product code every day, they should be adept at programming basics (Python, Go, Ruby, or even Java) and version control systems like Git​. This enables them to build integration scripts, contribute to build tools, and review code changes. Familiarity with branching and merging in Git workflows is particularly important for CI/CD.
• Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment: Knowledge of CI/CD practices and tools is core to DevOps. Employers often seek experience with tools such as Jenkins, Travis CI, CircleCI, or GitLab CI for automating builds and deployments. A DevOps Engineer should know how to set up pipelines that compile code, run tests, and deploy applications automatically.
• Containers and Orchestration: Containerization has become a staple of DevOps. Skills in using Docker to containerize applications and orchestration platforms like Kubernetes to manage container clusters are highly valued. 
• Infrastructure as Code & Configuration Management: DevOps Engineers should be comfortable treating infrastructure like code. This means using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools such as Terraform or CloudFormation to provision resources, and config management tools like Ansible, Puppet, or Chef to configure servers and environments.
• Cloud Platforms: Since most organizations deploy on cloud services, expertise in at least one major cloud platform is essential. AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud are the big three. For example, knowing AWS services (EC2, S3, Lambda, CloudWatch, etc.) or their Azure/GCP equivalents allows a DevOps Engineer to architect and manage cloud infrastructure efficiently.
• Monitoring and Logging: Proficiency with monitoring tools (like Nagios, Prometheus) and logging systems (ELK stack – Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana, or Splunk) helps in proactively spotting issues and analyzing system behavior. A successful DevOps engineer sets up dashboards and alerts so that nothing in the system flies under the radar.
• Security Fundamentals: With the rise of DevSecOps, a good DevOps engineer needs a grounding in security best practices. This includes understanding how to secure pipelines (credentials management, secure config), knowledge of network security (firewalls, SSL, etc.), and maybe even familiarity with tools that scan code or container images for vulnerabilities.

Cross-functional (Soft) Skills for DevOps Engineers

Being a DevOps Engineer isn’t only about tech. What truly distinguishes great DevOps professionals is their cross-functional or soft skills. Let’s explore the ones that DevOps folks need the most.

Did You Know? As per a study by Puppet Labs, communicating and collaborating with others is one of the top essential soft skills for DevOps engineers.  

Soft Skills for DevOps Engineers:

• Collaboration and Communication Skills: Since DevOps is about breaking silos, you must communicate effectively with multiple teams. Explaining a deployment process to developers or discussing an outage post-mortem with operations and QA requires clarity and openness. Good DevOps Engineers can translate technical jargon into actionable insights for different stakeholders. 
• Problem-Solving: Things will go wrong – a build fails or a server crashes at 3 AM. A DevOps Engineer approaches problems calmly and analytically. Troubleshooting is a daily part of the job, so being able to dig through logs, pinpoint issues, and think of creative fixes is crucial. 
• Adaptability: Like problem-solving, adaptability is key to a DevOps engineer's success. In this role, you might have to quickly switch context from debugging code to tweaking a network setting.
• Understanding of the Business & Users: It might surprise you, but great DevOps engineers have a sense of the bigger picture. They understand the business impact of downtime or slow deployments and can prioritize work that delivers value. This might mean choosing one solution over another because it aligns better with business goals or customer needs. 
• Time Management and Organization: Juggling multiple tasks comes with the territory. A DevOps Engineer might be managing an upcoming release while also responding to production incidents. Being organized — using task trackers, managing priorities, and automating what you can — prevents overwhelm. 
• Continuous Learning: DevOps culture itself is about continuous improvement, and that extends to skills. The best DevOps engineers are always learning, whether it’s a new CI tool, a programming language, or simply learning from a failed deployment to improve the process next time. They stay updated on trends and love to experiment with new techniques that might benefit the team.

Do you want to get better at communicating simply with multiple stakeholders? Or do you need assistance in managing time effectively while multitasking? upGrad’s free soft skill building courses can help you with all this, and more. Enroll for free now! 

What Tools and Technologies Do DevOps Engineers Use?

DevOps Engineers rely on a rich toolkit of modern technologies to get their job done. These tools help automate processes, collaborate effectively, and maintain reliability. 

Most Popular Tools and Technologies for DevOps Engineers:

• Version Control Systems: Tools like Git (with platforms like GitHub or GitLab) are fundamental. They allow teams to collaborate on code and track changes. DevOps engineers use Git to maintain infrastructure-as-code repositories and configuration scripts and manage application source code alongside developers.
• Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) Tools: Jenkins is a widely-used CI server that automates building, testing, and deployment​. Alternatives include GitLab CI/CD, CircleCI, and Azure DevOps Pipelines.
• Containerization & Orchestration: Docker is the go-to containerization platform, enabling applications to run in isolated containers with their dependencies​. For managing multiple containers across clusters, Kubernetes is the dominant orchestration system​. It automates deploying, scaling, and managing containerized applications.
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Tools like Terraform and AWS CloudFormation let DevOps engineers define cloud infrastructure setups (servers, databases, networks) in code form. By scripting the infrastructure, one can provision or teardown entire environments with a single command, ensuring consistency across dev/test/prod.
• Configuration Management: Ansible, Puppet, and Chef are popular for automating server setup and configuration. Instead of manually installing packages or editing config files on dozens of servers, a DevOps engineer writes playbooks/manifests that apply the desired state to every machine.
• Monitoring & Logging: Prometheus (often paired with Grafana for dashboards) is a modern monitoring solution that scrapes metrics from systems and applications​. Grafana provides visualization of those metrics through insightful graphs​. For logging, the ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana) is a common combination​ to aggregate logs and search through them easily. 
• Cloud Services: DevOps is tightly coupled with cloud platforms. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is especially popular (covering services like EC2, S3, RDS, Lambda, etc.), followed by Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform. Cloud providers also offer DevOps-oriented services like AWS CodePipeline or Azure DevOps Services that integrate with the CI/CD process.
• Collaboration and Tracking: Tools such as Jira or Trello for issue tracking and Slack or Microsoft Teams for communication aren't strictly DevOps tools but are essential for coordinating work in a DevOps culture. They help ensure everyone stays informed about deployments, incidents, and tasks.

Did you know? Statista surveyed in 2023 to find the most preferred cloud service amongst DevOps engineers. AWS won the race as 61% of DevOps engineers accepted that they preferred AWS over other cloud services. 

What Are the Qualifications and Educational Background of DevOps Engineers?

If you’re aiming to become a DevOps Engineer, focus on building a portfolio of skills and projects that demonstrate your capability. A degree or certification can open doors, but showing that you can actually automate deployment or manage a cloud infrastructure will prove your worth to potential employers.

That said, let’s hop to the most critical qualifications of a DevOps engineer:

Educational Background

• Typically, employers prefer candidates with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related fields. 
• Degrees in software engineering or computer engineering are also common.

Having a formal education provides a strong foundation in algorithms, systems, and networking, which can be very useful in DevOps roles. Some roles (especially in research-oriented or high-level positions) might even prefer a Master’s degree, but it’s generally not a strict requirement if you have solid experience.

Work Experience

DevOps is inherently multidisciplinary, so experience in either software development or IT operations (or both) is valuable. 

• It’s common to see DevOps positions asking for 2-5 years of experience in a software development or system administration role. 
• Employers look for hands-on experience with the tools and processes: maybe you worked on automation scripts as a sysadmin, or you managed to build pipelines as a developer.

Even if DevOps Engineer wasn’t your previous title, relevant experience in related roles counts.

Certifications

While not mandatory, certifications can strengthen your profile by validating your skills. 

Popular ones include:

• Cloud certifications: AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional, Microsoft Certified: Azure DevOps Engineer Expert, Google Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer. These demonstrate your cloud DevOps expertise on specific platforms.
• Docker and Kubernetes certifications: Docker Certified Associate, Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA), etc., show container and orchestration mastery.

Relevant Training or Courses

Given the nature of DevOps, many engineers continuously take online software development courses from upGrad to upskill on new technologies. If you’ve completed a respected DevOps bootcamp or specialization, it can be worth mentioning in your resume or interviews as evidence of up-to-date knowledge.

You can also enroll in upGrad’s Cloud Computing and DevOps Program by IIITB - (Executive). This is the only 8-month course that teaches all 3 cloud platforms as part of the curriculum. Start learning now!

Domain Knowledge

Sometimes, specific domain knowledge can be a plus. 

For instance: 

• If you’re applying to a DevOps role in a finance company, knowing regulatory compliance (like how DevOps works in a regulated environment) could help. 
• Or in a game development firm, understanding game deployment and real-time services might be useful. 

However, DevOps skills are generally transferable across domains, and any domain-specific insight you have is an added bonus.

What Are DevOps Engineer Domains?

The term DevOps has given rise to a family of related disciplines often referred to as “X-Ops” (where X changes depending on the specialization). As the practice of DevOps matures, engineers may choose to focus on particular domains or specializations within the broader DevOps scope. 

Most Notable DevOps-related Domains:

• DevSecOps: This domain integrates Security (Sec) into DevOps. In DevSecOps, every member of the team is responsible for security, and security processes are automated as much as possible. A DevSecOps-focused engineer emphasizes vulnerability scanning, security in CI/CD pipelines, compliance automation, and proactive threat modeling. 
• DataOps: DataOps applies DevOps principles to data analytics and data engineering pipelines. A DataOps Engineer focuses on ensuring that data pipelines are efficient, repeatable, and automated. The goal is to improve the speed and quality of data analytics.
• MLOps: With the rise of AI and machine learning, Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) has emerged as a domain that deals with deploying and maintaining ML models in production. MLOps engineers bridge the gap between data science and operations. They create pipelines for training models, packaging them (often in containers), deploying them as services, and monitoring their performance and drift over time. 
• AIOps: AI for IT Operations (AIOps) involves using artificial intelligence to simplify and enhance IT operations. In this domain, engineers use AI/ML techniques to analyze the massive amount of data generated by monitoring tools and automate responses. 

For example, AIOps platforms might predict incidents before they happen or automatically resolve common issues. A DevOps engineer working in AIOps focuses on integrating intelligent systems that can learn from operations data to improve uptime and performance.

• GitOps: GitOps is a practice (and emerging domain) where Git is the single source of truth for infrastructure and application configuration. In GitOps, any change to infrastructure (like deploying an application or changing a config) is done by pushing a change to a Git repository, and automation (operators) picks up that change to apply it. If you specialize in GitOps, you’re likely focusing on Kubernetes operators and deployment configurations.
• FinOps: Short for Financial Operations, FinOps is about cloud cost management within the DevOps process. As companies adopt cloud at scale, controlling and optimizing cloud spend becomes critical. A DevOps engineer with a FinOps focus will work on monitoring resource usage, budgeting, and making sure engineering teams are aware of the cost implications of their infrastructure choices.

How Much Does a DevOps Engineer Make in India? 2025 Salary Insights 

One of the most common questions aspirants have is about salary: What can you earn as a DevOps Engineer, especially in India? As of 2025, DevOps engineering is not only a fulfilling career but also a well-compensated one, thanks to the high demand for skilled professionals.

Average Annual DevOps Engineer Salary in 2025: INR 8.4L

DevOps Engineer Salary by Experience

Here’s a simplified breakdown of DevOps engineers salaries by experience:

Source: AmbitionBox

DevOps Engineer Salary by Industry 

Here’s a simplified breakdown of DevOps engineers salaries by industry:

Source: AmbitionBox

DevOps Engineer Salary by Geography

Here’s a simplified breakdown of DevOps engineers salaries in different parts of India:

Source: AmbitionBox

DevOps Engineer Salary in India vs The World 

Finally, let’s see how salaries in India compare to those in the US, UK, Germany, Canada, and Australia.

Please Note: The global salaries for DevOps engineers can vary based on fluctuations in the currency conversion charges in real time. 

Source: Glassdoor, AmbitionBox

How to Become a DevOps Engineer? Step-by-step Guide

If the DevOps career path excites you, you might be wondering how to embark on it. 

Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you become a DevOps Engineer:

Step 1: Build Your Core IT Foundation

• Learn Linux: Commands, file systems, processes, permissions.
• Understand Networking: IPs, DNS, ports, firewalls, HTTP/S.
• Pick a Language: Start with Python (widely used for scripting).
• Optional: A CS/IT degree or bootcamp helps if you're starting from scratch.

Step 2: Learn Scripting & Version Control

• Write scripts: Automate basic OS tasks using bash or PowerShell.
• Master Git: Learn cloning, branching, commits, and GitHub workflows.
• Hands-on tip: Create a repo with automation scripts and practice daily.

Step 3: Understand Build & Deployment Basics

• Create a simple app (Python/Node/Java).
• Deploy manually on your system or cloud VM.
• Then, automate it with a CI/CD tool like Jenkins or GitHub Actions.

Step 4: Learn Core DevOps Tools

Don’t try to learn all at once — go layer by layer.

• CI/CD: Jenkins, GitLab CI
• Containers: Docker (build, run, volumes, networks)
• Orchestration: Kubernetes (Minikube/kind for local practice)
• IaC: Terraform (start with provisioning an EC2 instance)
• Config Mgmt: Ansible (e.g., install NGINX via playbook)

Step 5: Work on Real Projects

Build mini-projects like:

• Auto-deploy a website using CI/CD
• Dockerize an app and deploy it on K8s
• Use Ansible + Terraform to set up infra

Don’t forget to showcase on GitHub: Include readme, architecture, and toolchain.

Step 6: Add Certifications (Optional but Strategic)

Choose based on job market demand:

• AWS DevOps Engineer / Azure DevOps
• Docker Certified Associate / CKA (Kubernetes)

Such certifications help signal credibility, especially when switching careers.

Step 7: Apply or Transition into DevOps Roles

• Look for entry-level roles: DevOps Engineer, Site Reliability Intern, Infra Engineer.
• Already in tech? Volunteer for infra work or collaborate with the DevOps team.
• Freelance projects or open-source contributions help, too.

Step 8: Keep Growing

• Stay current: Tools change fast in DevOps.
• Follow communities: DevOps Subreddit, GitHub repos, and newsletters like DevOps Weekly.

Career Paths for DevOps Engineers: What Growth Opportunities Do They Have? 

Since DevOps is at the crossroads of multiple domains, you can progress vertically in responsibility or pivot into related specialized roles. 

Common career progression routes and growth avenues for DevOps professionals:

• Junior DevOps Engineer -> DevOps Engineer -> Senior DevOps Engineer
• DevOps Team Lead / Manager
• DevOps Architect / Solutions Architect
• Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)
• Platform Engineer / Infrastructure Engineer
• Consultant or DevOps Evangelist

You can also aim for executive roles after gaining substantial experience in DevOps. It's not unheard of for people with a DevOps background to climb into executive positions like Director of Engineering, VP of Infrastructure/Operations, or CTO (Chief Technology Officer) over the long term.

Which Companies Hire DevOps Engineers in India? Top Organizations to Explore

Almost every tech-driven company in India is hiring DevOps Engineers today. From nimble startups to IT services giants and multinational tech firms – the opportunities are abundant. 

List of top organizations in India that hire DevOps Engineers:

Future Job Outlook for DevOps Engineers: Growth in India and Worldwide

Did you know? The US Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected that between 2023 and 2033, there will be 1,40,100 new job openings each year for software engineers and QAs — roles that include DevOps!

The future for DevOps Engineers is incredibly bright as lakhs of new jobs will emerge for these professionals till the year 2033.  

Trends and Tools That Will Emerge in DevOps in Future:

• Platform Engineering Trend: There’s a global buzz around platform engineering – essentially productizing DevOps for internal teams. In coming years, some DevOps engineers may transition into Platform Engineers, building internal platforms (like deployment pipelines as a service) for their companies. 
• Low-Code and No-Code DevOps Tools: Tools are getting smarter. We might see more low-code approaches to creating pipelines or managing infra. For DevOps engineers, this means less time on boilerplate work and more on designing intelligent systems. Embracing new tools (like AI-driven automation) will be part of the job.
• DevOps in Emerging Tech: As technologies like Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, and edge computing grow, DevOps practices will be adapted to those as well.

Conclusion

DevOps engineers enable organizations to deliver software faster, more reliably, and at scale. In fact, they are culture champions and automation experts who constantly seek to improve the way teams build and ship software. The role requires continuous learning and a passion for solving complex problems through collaboration and technology.

For aspiring DevOps professionals, the path may seem challenging, but it’s also highly rewarding. You can take the first steps by enrolling in the right courses – upGrad’s DevOps Courses for Best Certifications. For any further career-related queries, you can book a free consultation call with our counseling experts or visit your nearest upGrad offline center.

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