DevOps Engineer
Automating software development and delivery processes, managing infrastructure
DevOps Engineer is a role in the DevOps & SRE family. It has 63 skills across 5 levels (from Junior to Principal). 139 skills are mandatory. Key domains: Programming Fundamentals, Backend Development, Database Management.
Technology Stack
Focus by Level
Setting up CI/CD pipelines. Writing Dockerfiles. Server monitoring. Managing secrets. Basic cloud work.
Designing CI/CD. Setting up Kubernetes clusters. IaC (Terraform). Monitoring and alerting. Optimizing build processes.
Infrastructure architecture. Multi-environment strategy. GitOps (ArgoCD). Disaster recovery. Security hardening. Cost optimization.
Infrastructure strategy. DevOps practice standards. IDP (Internal Developer Platform). Coordination with development. Vendor management.
Enterprise DevOps strategy. Multi-cloud architecture. Platform engineering vision. Industry influence.
Skill Matrix
63 skills × 5 levels. Click on a cell for details.
AI-Assisted Development
4 skills| Skills | Jun | Mid | Sen | Lead | Princ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Copilot | A | W | A | E | E |
| Cursor IDE | A | W | A | A | — |
| ChatGPT / Claude | A | W | A | E | E |
| Prompt Engineering for Code | A | W | A | E | — |
API & Integration
4 skills| Skills | Jun | Mid | Sen | Lead | Princ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| REST API Design | A | W | A | E | E |
| GraphQL Design | A | W | A | E | E |
| WebSocket API Design | A | W | A | E | E |
| API Documentation | A | W | A | E | E |
Architecture & System Design
2 skills| Skills | Jun | Mid | Sen | Lead | Princ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| System Design Fundamentals | A | W | A | E | E |
| Disaster Recovery Design | A | W | A | E | E |
Backend Development
3 skills| Skills | Jun | Mid | Sen | Lead | Princ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Python Web Frameworks | A | W | A | E | E |
| Apache Kafka | A | W | A | E | E |
| Redis | A | W | A | E | E |
Cloud & Infrastructure
12 skills| Skills | Jun | Mid | Sen | Lead | Princ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Docker | A | W | A | E | E |
| Container Security Scanning | A | W | A | E | E |
| Kubernetes Core | A | W | A | E | E |
| Kubernetes Advanced | A | W | A | E | E |
| Helm | A | W | A | E | E |
| Terraform | A | W | A | E | E |
| Ansible | A | W | A | E | E |
| AWS | A | W | A | E | E |
| Network Fundamentals | A | W | A | E | E |
| Load Balancing | A | W | A | E | E |
| CDN & Edge Computing | A | W | A | E | E |
| VPN & Network Isolation | A | W | A | E | E |
Database Management
3 skills| Skills | Jun | Mid | Sen | Lead | Princ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PostgreSQL | A | W | A | E | E |
| Database Indexing | A | W | A | E | E |
| Query Optimization | A | W | A | E | E |
DevOps & CI/CD
8 skills| Skills | Jun | Mid | Sen | Lead | Princ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Actions / GitLab CI | A | W | A | E | E |
| Jenkins | A | W | A | E | E |
| GitLab CI/CD Advanced | A | W | A | E | E |
| GitOps Practices | A | W | A | E | E |
| ArgoCD | A | W | A | E | E |
| Feature Flags | A | W | A | E | E |
| Blue/Green Deployment | A | W | A | E | E |
| Canary Deployment | A | W | A | E | E |
Observability & Monitoring
7 skills| Skills | Jun | Mid | Sen | Lead | Princ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Structured Logging | A | W | A | E | E |
| ELK Stack | A | W | A | E | E |
| Prometheus & Grafana | A | W | A | E | E |
| Custom Business Metrics | A | W | A | E | E |
| OpenTelemetry | A | W | A | E | E |
| SLI / SLO / SLA | A | W | A | E | E |
| On-Call Management | A | W | A | E | E |
Programming Fundamentals
9 skills| Skills | Jun | Mid | Sen | Lead | Princ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algorithms & Complexity | A | W | A | E | E |
| Data Structures | A | W | A | E | E |
| OOP & SOLID Principles | A | W | A | E | E |
| Design Patterns | A | W | A | E | E |
| Multithreading | A | W | A | E | E |
| Async Programming | A | W | A | E | E |
| Code Quality & Refactoring | A | W | A | E | E |
| Type Safety & Type Systems | A | W | A | E | E |
| Memory Management | A | W | A | E | E |
Security
4 skills| Skills | Jun | Mid | Sen | Lead | Princ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OWASP & Application Security | A | W | A | E | E |
| Secure Coding Practices | A | W | A | E | E |
| Secrets Management | A | W | A | E | E |
| JWT / OAuth2 / OIDC | A | W | A | E | E |
Testing & QA
4 skills| Skills | Jun | Mid | Sen | Lead | Princ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit Testing | A | W | A | E | E |
| Integration Testing | A | W | A | E | E |
| E2E Testing | A | W | A | E | E |
| Chaos Engineering | A | W | A | E | E |
Version Control & Collaboration
3 skills| Skills | Jun | Mid | Sen | Lead | Princ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Git Advanced | A | W | A | E | E |
| Code Review | A | W | A | E | E |
| Documentation as Code | A | W | A | E | E |
FAQ
What skills are needed for the DevOps Engineer role?
The DevOps Engineer role requires 63 skills, of which 139 are mandatory. Skills are distributed across 5 levels: from Junior to Principal. See full matrix.
How to advance to the next level in the DevOps Engineer role?
Use the Grade Calculator to assess your current level and get personalized recommendations. The system will show which skills need to be developed for the next level.
What tech stack is used in the DevOps Engineer role?
The stack includes 5 technologies at different levels. Docker, GitHub Actions/GitLab CI, Linux basics, Bash, Terraform basics, AWS/GCP/Yandex Cloud basics, Prometheus/Grafana basics, Docker/Podman, Kubernetes, Terraform/Pulumi, Ansible, GitHub Actions/GitLab CI, Helm, Prometheus/Grafana/Alertmanager, AWS/GCP/Yandex Cloud, Kubernetes advanced, ArgoCD/FluxCD, Terraform modules, Vault, Istio/Linkerd, EFK/Loki stack, AWS/GCP/Yandex Cloud advanced, Crossplane...
How does the community define requirements for the DevOps Engineer role?
Role requirements are shaped by the community through a proposal system. Any member can suggest changes that go through voting and expert review.