Cloud Engineer

Overview

Cloud engineers build and manage the cloud infrastructure that powers modern applications. The role sits between DevOps and traditional sysadmin: provisioning AWS / Azure / GCP resources, automating with Terraform and CloudFormation, securing workloads, and optimising costs. Distinct from solutions architects, cloud engineers focus on hands-on implementation and day-to-day operations. Demand is Very High at Indian product companies, GCCs, and IT services firms running large cloud migrations.

Day-to-day responsibilities

Provision and maintain AWS / Azure / GCP infrastructure; write infrastructure-as-code in Terraform, CloudFormation, or Bicep; configure VPCs, security groups, IAM policies; automate deployments via CI/CD pipelines; monitor cloud spend and implement cost optimisation; respond to security alerts and patch vulnerabilities; design backup and disaster recovery; collaborate with developers on architecture decisions; support compliance audits (SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS).

Skills required

• AWS / Azure / GCP services (compute, storage, network, security)
• Infrastructure as code (Terraform, CloudFormation, Bicep, Pulumi)
• Linux administration
• Networking fundamentals (VPC, subnets, routing, DNS)
• Cloud security and IAM
• Containers (Docker, Kubernetes)
• CI/CD (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI)
• Cost optimisation tooling (CUR, Cost Explorer, Azure Cost Management)

Education path

Career progression

1. 1
   Cloud Engineer 1 (0-2 yrs)
2. 2
   Cloud Engineer 2 (2-5 yrs)
3. 3
   Senior Cloud Engineer (5-9 yrs)
4. 4
   Lead Cloud Engineer (9-13 yrs)
5. 5
   Cloud Architect / Principal Engineer (13+ yrs)

Top employers in India

Useful certifications

• AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate / Professional
• Azure Administrator Associate / Solutions Architect Expert
• Google Associate Cloud Engineer / Professional Cloud Architect
• HashiCorp Certified Terraform Associate
• CKA / CKAD (Certified Kubernetes)

Adjacent careers

Courses that lead to this career