Cloud engineers design, build, and maintain the infrastructure that runs applications in the cloud, on platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. They handle provisioning, automation, security, and reliability, often working closely with development and operations teams. It is one of the highest-demand roles in tech.
Hard skills include a major cloud platform (AWS, Azure, or GCP), Linux, networking, infrastructure-as-code (Terraform), scripting (Python or Bash), and containers (Docker, Kubernetes). Soft skills: troubleshooting under pressure, documentation, and collaborating across dev and ops. Cloud moves fast, so continuous learning is part of the job.
Certifications commonly held by cloud engineer professionals, filtered to those with verified data. See the full Best Cloud Certifications → Easiest to start with → Highest-paying options → Compare: CKA vs CKAD →
| Certification | Level | Exam cost | Related roles |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIFAWS Certified AI Practitioner | Foundational | $100 USD | Business Analyst, IT Support Specialist |
| CLFAWS Certified Cloud Practitioner | Foundational | $100 USD (local pricing/FX may vary) | Cloud Support Associate, Cloud Practitioner |
| CDLCloud Digital Leader | Foundational | $99 standard exam | Cloud Business Analyst, Cloud Sales Engineer |
| AI-900Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals | Foundational | $99 USD commonly cited for Fundamental… | AI-aware Business Analyst, Junior Cloud Support |
| AZ-900Microsoft Azure Fundamentals | Foundational | ~$99 USD (price set by country/region) | Cloud Support Associate, Junior Cloud Administrator |
| VCTAVMware Certified Technical Associate | Foundational | $250 USD flat exam fee for VCTA/VCP/VC… | Virtualization Technician, IT Support Specialist |
| ACEAssociate Cloud Engineer | Associate | $125 standard exam | Associate Cloud Engineer, Cloud Administrator |
| DEAAWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate | Associate | $150 USD | Data Engineer, Cloud Data Engineer |
| DVAAWS Certified Developer - Associate | Associate | $150 USD | Cloud Developer, Backend Developer |
| MLAAWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer - Associate | Associate | $150 USD | MLOps Engineer, Machine Learning Engineer |
| SAAAWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate | Associate | $150 USD (local pricing/FX may vary) | Cloud Engineer, Solutions Architect |
| AZ-104Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate | Associate | $165 USD (subject to country/region) | Azure Administrator, Cloud Administrator |
| AI-102Microsoft Azure AI Engineer Associate | Associate | $165 USD commonly shown for Microsoft … | Azure AI Engineer, AI Developer |
| AZ-204Microsoft Azure Developer Associate | Associate | $165 USD commonly shown for U.S. Micro… | Azure Developer, Cloud Developer |
| AZ-500Microsoft Azure Security Engineer Associate | Associate | $165 USD commonly shown in U.S. | Azure Security Engineer, Cloud Security Engineer |
| DP-600Microsoft Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate | Associate | $165 USD | Fabric Analytics Engineer, BI Engineer |
| SC-300Microsoft Identity and Access Administrator Associate | Associate | $165 USD | Identity and Access Administrator, IAM Analyst |
| SC-400Microsoft Information Protection and Compliance Administrator Associate | Associate | — | Information Protection Administrator, Compliance Administrator |
| PL-300Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst Associate | Associate | $165 USD | Power BI Analyst, Data Analyst |
| SC-200Microsoft Security Operations Analyst Associate | Associate | $165 USD commonly shown for Microsoft … | Security Operations Analyst, SOC Analyst |
| ANSAWS Certified Advanced Networking - Specialty | Specialty | $300 USD | Cloud Network Engineer, Network Architect |
| DOPAWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional | Professional | $300 USD | DevOps Engineer, Site Reliability Engineer |
| SCSAWS Certified Security - Specialty | Specialty | $300 USD | Cloud Security Engineer, Security Engineer |
| SAPAWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional | Professional | $300 USD | Cloud Architect, Solutions Architect |
| PCAProfessional Cloud Architect | Professional | $200 standard exam generally listed fo… | Cloud Architect, Solutions Architect |
| PCSEProfessional Cloud Security Engineer | Professional | $200 standard exam generally used for … | Cloud Security Engineer, Security Engineer |
| PDEProfessional Data Engineer | Professional | $200 standard exam | Data Engineer, Cloud Data Engineer |
| PMLEProfessional Machine Learning Engineer | Professional | $200 standard exam generally used for … | Machine Learning Engineer, MLOps Engineer |
| VCP-DCVVMware Certified Professional Data Center Virtualization | Professional | $250 USD. | Virtualization Administrator, Systems Administrator |
| VCP-NVVMware Certified Professional Network Virtualization | Professional | $250 USD flat exam fee for VCTA/VCP/VC… | Network Virtualization Engineer, Network Administrator |
| AZ-305Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert | Expert | $165 USD (subject to country/region) | Cloud Architect, Azure Solutions Architect |
| AZ-400Microsoft DevOps Engineer Expert | Expert | $165 USD commonly shown for Microsoft … | DevOps Engineer, Site Reliability Engineer |
Sorted by level. Data reflects verified values where available; confirm current details on the official page.
Many cloud engineers start in systems administration, networking, or DevOps support. A foundational cloud certification (AWS Cloud Practitioner, Azure Fundamentals, or Google Cloud Digital Leader) establishes baseline credibility; an associate-level cert (Associate Cloud Engineer, AWS Solutions Architect Associate) signals hands-on readiness. Building real projects in a free-tier cloud account is invaluable.
BLS Information Security Analysts median annual wage: $124,910 (May 2024).
Reflects the role, not any one certification. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Browse employer profiles, career portals, and hiring activity for companies that recruit cloud engineers.
Browse companies →Name your cloud platform and certifications explicitly, since these are the dominant ATS filters for cloud roles. List infrastructure-as-code and container tools. Quantify scale where you can ("managed 200+ EC2 instances," "cut cloud spend 25%"). A GitHub with Terraform or deployment projects strengthens an application.
Check how your resume reads to ATS software: ATS Resume Checker →
Expect platform-specific technical questions (how does a VPC work, how would you architect for high availability), a scenario or whiteboard architecture exercise, and often a practical or take-home. Know the core services of your platform and the tradeoffs between them.
Search active cloud engineer openings and track your applications in one place.
Search jobs →A foundational cert (AWS Cloud Practitioner, Azure Fundamentals, or Google Cloud Digital Leader) is the usual starting point, followed by an associate-level engineer or architect cert.
AWS has the largest market share and job volume, but Azure is strong in enterprise and Google Cloud in data and ML. Pick based on target employers; the core concepts transfer.
Increasingly yes for senior roles. CKA and CKAD are the standard Kubernetes credentials. See our CKA vs CKAD comparison.
Yes. Certifications plus demonstrable hands-on projects carry significant weight in this field.
See the BLS-sourced salary data below for the associated infrastructure role.
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