DevOps Engineer Salary

Top tech companies, including FAANG+ companies such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google (Alphabet), and Microsoft, offer lucrative salaries, perks, and benefits to attract the best DevOps engineering talent. If you would like to kickstart your DevOps engineering career at a top tech company, ensure you’re well prepared to clear the challenging tech interviews that determine DevOps Engineer salaries. 

Check out our technical interview checklist, interview questions page, and salary negotiation e-book to get interview-ready! Also, read The Most Popular Back-end Development Languages to Get a Job at FAANG and The Latest Trending Software Development Technologies in FAANG for specific insights and guidance on DevOps tech interviews.

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In this article, we cover:

• Role of DevOps Engineers
• DevOps Engineer Levels at FAANG Companies
• DevOps Engineer Salary
• Benefits of Working as a DevOps Engineer
• DevOps Engineer Salaries — Comparison by Location
• DevOps Engineer Salary FAQs

Role of DevOps Engineers

DevOps engineers are expected to have technical depth and hands-on implementation experience of tools and practices in the DevOps toolchain. A DevOps Engineer should be able to design and code modules for applications, infrastructure, and processes. 

DevOps is where software development meets IT operations. DevOps engineers ensure the delivery of high-quality software and shorter systems development cycles. DevOps goes hand-in-hand with Agile development. 

Here are some key responsibilities of a DevOps Engineer in a FAANG company:

• Working with partners, customer technical leads, and client executives to manage and deliver implementations of DevOps solutions.
• Working with product and engineering teams to package best practices and lessons learned as thought methodologies, thought leadership, and published assets.
• Interacting with partners and technical stakeholders to manage project scope, deliverables, priorities, risks/issues, and timelines.
• Advocating for customers needs to overcome adoption blockers and drive the development of new features based on field experience.
• Proposing solution architectures and managing deployment of distributed virtualized infrastructure solutions per customer requirements and implementation best practices.

If you want to prepare for the role of DevOps engineer but don’t know where to start, talk to our tech interview experts at Interview Kickstart today! Register for our FREE Webinar.

DevOps Engineer Levels at FAANG Companies

Every company has a different system of levels but, broadly, have the three following levels: 

• Entry-level DevOps engineers: DevOps engineers with no experience
• Junior DevOps engineers: Engineers with some DevOps experience
• Senior DevOps engineers: Engineers with considerable DevOps experience

DevOps salary bands vary based on levels. Below are the DevOps Engineer levels at top tech companies:

• DevOps Engineer levels at Facebook: E3, E4, E5, E6, E7, E8
• DevOps Engineer levels at Amazon: SDE I (L4), SDE II (L5), SDE III (Senior SDE), Principal SDE (L7), Senior Principal SDE (L8), Distinguished Engineer (L10)
• DevOps Engineer levels at Apple: ICT2, ICT3, ICT4, ICT5, ICT6
• DevOps Engineer levels at Google: Software Engineer II (L3), Software Engineer III (L4), Senior Software Engineer (L5), Staff Software Engineer (L6), Senior Staff Software Engineer (L7), Principal Engineer (L8), Distinguished Engineer (L9), Google Fellow (L10), Senior Google Fellow (L11)
• DevOps Engineer levels at Microsoft: SDE (59), 60, SDE II (61), 62, Senior SDE (63), 64, Principal SDE (65), 66, 67, Partner (68), 69, 70 (Distinguished Engineer), 80 (Technical Fellow)

DevOps Software Engineer Salary

According to Levels.fyi, the compensation package of a DevOps Engineer is quite attractive. The total average annual compensation of a DevOps engineer in the US is $148,000. 

• Average annual base salary: $110,000
  This is a fixed component paid out irrespective of the engineer’s or the company’s performance.
• Average annual bonus: $17,000
  This is a performance-based component and varies for engineers within the same salary band.

• Average stock grant/profit-sharing: $21,000
  These are Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) issued to employees, which can be freely traded once vested.

Learn how to negotiate a higher salary package from tech leads and hiring managers of FAANG+ companies. Our team at Interview Kickstart will teach you how to improve your negotiation skills to land higher offers. Sign up for Interview Kickstart’s FREE webinar to learn more!

Benefits of Working as a DevOps Engineer

In addition to salary, bonus, and stock options, DevOps engineers in top tech companies also receive a host of perks and benefits. Here are some benefits offered to DevOps Software Engineers in addition to their compensation package: 

Insurance, Health, and Wellness

• Health Insurance: UHC or Aetna, with or without HSA
• Life Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Pet Insurance
• Health Savings Account
• Maternity Leave
• Paternity Leave
• PTO: Vacation/Personal Days
• Sick Time
• Onsite Clinic
• Employee Assistance Program
• Gym Membership
• Transport allowance

Home

• Relocation Bonus
• Remote Work
• Immigration Assistance
• Adoption Assistance
• Fertility Assistance
• Company Phones
• Military Leave
• Onsite Laundry

Financial and Retirement

• 401k Plan
• Employee Stock Purchase Program
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Mega Backdoor Roth IRA

Perks and Discounts

• Employee Credit
• Employee Discount
• Tuition Reimbursement

DevOps Engineer Salary — Comparison by Location

Here are the top 9 DevOps Engineer salaries in the United States based on location:

‍Tips to Negotiate DevOps Engineer Salary

Here are some points that will help you negotiate a higher compensation package as a DevOps Engineer: 

• Develop a good relationship with the hiring manager
• Leverage your strengths, skills, and potential value 
• Consider all perks and benefits
• Ask for a relocation package
• Don’t share your current or expected compensation figures unless necessary
• Familiarize yourself with the company’s and industry’s salary trends
• Compare your offer with prevalent market data before accepting/rejecting it
• Don’t insist on written offers

Read The Ultimate Guide to Salary Negotiation at FAANG for Software Engineers to hone your negotiation skills and get an offer that matches your value. 

DevOps Engineer Salary FAQs

1. What are the minimum qualifications required to become a DevOps engineer?
The minimum qualifications required to become a DevOps engineer at a top tech company are:

• A bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Mathematics or a related technical field, or the equivalent practical experience.
• Experience designing, constructing and deploying scalable solution architectures.
• Experience writing software in Java, Python, JavaScript, Go, C++, etc.
• Experience communicating technical concepts.

2. What is the difference between the average salary of a DevOps engineer in California and New York City?
The average annual salary of a DevOps Engineer in California is $113,567 per year. The average annual salary of a DevOps Engineer in New York is $95,947 per year 

3. What is the average Senior DevOps Engineer salary in the US?
The average Senior DevOps Engineer salary in the U.S. is $119,010 per year.

4. What is the average Junior DevOps Engineer salary in the U.S.?
The average Junior DevOps Engineer salary in the U.S. is $77,307 per year.

How to Prepare for Your DevOps Engineer Interview

FAANG+ companies are top employers of choice, globally, for a large number of DevOps engineers, software engineers, coding engineers, software developers, and engineering managers. However, only the best are able to land a FAANG offer. 

Register for Interview Kickstart’s FREE webinar to understand the best way to prepare for DevOps Engineer interviews at FAANG and other Tier 1 tech companies. 

Also, learn more about our DevOps Interview Course — the first-of-its-kind interview prep course tailored to help DevOps engineers nail the toughest tech interviews.