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Cloud and Infrastructure

Building and running the systems organisations depend on

Overview

Cloud and Infrastructure covers the roles responsible for building, running, and securing the technical foundations that organisations operate on — servers, networks, cloud platforms, and the tooling that keeps everything available and performant. Without this layer, no application, product, or service can function reliably.

Roles in this category range from hands-on administration — managing Linux servers, configuring networks, maintaining Windows environments — to cloud engineering, container orchestration, and platform design. Some roles focus on day-to-day operations and reliability; others work at the architecture and strategy level. The category spans entry-level positions accessible through certifications alone, through to senior roles requiring years of production experience across cloud platforms.

Roles in this Category

20 roles

Role	Tagline	Outlook
Cloud Integration Engineer	Connecting cloud services, SaaS platforms, and on-premise systems through APIs	Growing	View →
Containerization Specialist	Packaging and orchestrating containerised applications across the delivery lifecycle	Growing	View →
Infrastructure Engineer	Designing and maintaining the servers, networks, and platforms organisations depend on	Stable	View →
Network Administrator	Keeping an organisation's network infrastructure available, performant, and secure	Stable	View →
System Administrator	Maintaining the servers, operating systems, and core IT systems organisations rely on daily	Stable	View →
Cloud Cost Optimization Specialist	Analysing and reducing cloud infrastructure spend through FinOps disciplines and governance	Growing	View →
Cloud Architect	Designing the structure, connectivity, and standards of an organisation's cloud environment	Booming	View →
Cloud Engineer	Building and maintaining the cloud infrastructure organisations run their systems on	Booming	View →
WAN/LAN Engineer	Designing and optimising the wide area and local area networks that connect an organisation	Stable	View →
Windows Administrator	Managing Microsoft Windows Server environments and the broader Microsoft infrastructure stack	Stable	View →
Storage Engineer	Designing and managing storage infrastructure to keep data available and recoverable	Stable	View →
High-Performance Computing Specialist	Building the computational infrastructure that runs large-scale scientific workloads	Growing	View →
Virtualization Engineer	Managing the platforms that run multiple workloads on shared physical infrastructure	Stable	View →
Platform Engineer	Building the internal developer platforms that engineering teams use to ship software	Growing	View →
Cloud Operations Specialist	Monitoring and maintaining cloud infrastructure to keep services available and performant	Stable	View →
Linux Administrator	Managing and maintaining Linux server infrastructure across enterprise and cloud environments	Stable	View →
Server Administrator	Installing, maintaining, and troubleshooting the servers that run business-critical systems	Stable	View →
Cloud Migration Specialist	Planning and executing the movement of workloads and infrastructure to cloud environments	Growing	View →
Kubernetes Engineer	Deploying and managing containerised workloads on Kubernetes at production scale	Growing	View →
Cloud Support Engineer	Investigating and resolving technical issues across cloud infrastructure and networking	Stable	View →

Skills

Hard Skills

Cloud Architecture
Troubleshooting and Diagnostics
Performance Monitoring
Backup and Recovery
Infrastructure as Code
Network Configuration
Server Administration
Virtualisation

Soft Skills

Problem SolvingDiagnosing failures across cloud, network, and OS layers
CommunicationExplaining infrastructure decisions to developers and stakeholders
Methodical ApproachSystematic change control across critical systems
CollaborationWorking across development, security, and operations functions
Reliability MindsetProduction stability and uptime as the default measure
Engineering DisciplineAutomating, codifying, and standardising infrastructure

Tools & Software

AWS Microsoft Azure Terraform AnsibleNagiosZabbixGoogle Cloud PlatformVMwareGit

Core Themes

Building and maintaining cloud infrastructure on AWS, Azure, and GCP
Managing servers, networks, and operating systems across hybrid environments
Automating infrastructure provisioning and configuration using code
Containerising workloads and managing orchestration at scale
Monitoring system performance, availability, and cost
Responding to incidents and maintaining service reliability
Designing architecture that scales securely and cost-effectively

Typical Entry Points

Many entry-level roles are accessible through certifications alone — CompTIA A+, Network+, AWS Solutions Architect Associate, and Linux Foundation credentials are recognised starting points. Degrees in Computer Science or IT are common but not required. Home lab experience and cloud free-tier projects are widely cited as effective portfolio-building routes.

Who This Category Is For

People who enjoy understanding how technical systems fit together and keeping them running reliably
Those drawn to hands-on problem solving — diagnosing what broke and why
People who prefer working in the background rather than building user-facing products
Those who are comfortable with on-call responsibility and incident response
Career switchers from IT support, networking, or systems administration backgrounds
People who want clear certification pathways and well-defined technical progression
Those interested in cloud, DevOps, or security as longer-term career directions
People who want high job security — infrastructure skills are needed everywhere

Related Categories

Networking Software Development IT Support and Operations