Learn About AWS Certification And AWS Jobs (With Salaries)

Updated 30 May 2023

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has provided job opportunities for those working in cloud computing. You typically require AWS training and certification to develop and validate your skills in a particular cloud computing subdomain. Learning about AWS certification and AWS jobs can help you understand their benefits and determine which career path to pursue. In this article, we define what AWS certification is and what AWS jobs are and list several AWS jobs.

What is AWS certification and what are AWS jobs?

AWS certification confirms that you've completed AWS training and passed the certification exam in a particular domain, and AWS jobs involve AWS services. AWS is a platform that offers cloud solutions. Many companies find it reliable, cost-effective, easy to use and scalable. AWS combines Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service and Software as a Service.

AWS certification may enable you to deploy robust and secure applications on AWS. The certification may also enable you to identify an AWS service depending on security, computing and data requirements, recognise cost control mechanisms and estimate AWS pricing. These skills can allow you to secure an AWS job.

10 types of AWS Jobs

The following are various AWS jobs you can pursue with an AWS certification:

1. AWS consultant

National average salary: $4,303 per month

Primary duties: An AWS consultant is an IT professional who may provide technical advice to guide clients when designing, developing and testing application deployments and infrastructure. Their duties may include helping a company move its network and data to the AWS cloud. Consultants also write and maintain technical documentation or specifications to describe programme coding, logic, development, testing, corrections and changes.

AWS consultants typically respond to enquiries regarding enterprise resource planning and integrated systems. They also attend internal and external meetings and training to develop the company and their own technical expertise. They also train technical support staff and end-users to use programs.

2. AWS systems operations administrator

National average salary: $4,919 per month

Primary duties: An AWS systems operations administrator is a professional who provides expertise on cloud computing concepts. They participate in the entire life cycle of a cloud project as they maintain and manage the organisation's cloud infrastructure. They also deploy, manage and operate different systems on AWS platforms.

AWS systems operations administrators create backups, manage disaster recovery, monitor performance and maintain access control and data integrity throughout the platform. They may also perform router patching, software upgrades and kernel patching and administer and establish the architecture of multi-tier systems. This role typically requires proficiency in cloud metrics and dashboards to aid with reporting.

3. AWS cloud network engineer

National average salary: $5,156 per month

Primary duties: AWS cloud network engineers contribute to project initiation, evaluation, design and deployment and may help to provide ongoing support for AWS networking and automation services. They apply their understanding of network concepts and technologies, such as firewalls, switching, routing and network management, to develop, test and upgrade network architecture. AWS network engineers may also work with cloud architects, other engineers and IT support teams to sustain the cloud network by establishing guides, procedures and documentation for compliance and audit purposes.

AWS cloud network engineers often promote cloud network security by supporting the design architecture's implementation and compliance. They may also troubleshoot to identify and resolve network problems, execute disaster recovery operations and provide continuous networking support. They also support multi-cloud or hybrid models by performing network-integration work.

4. AWS cloud developer

National average salary: $5,558 per month

Primary duties: An AWS cloud developer possesses the knowledge and expertise to create, maintain and upgrade the cloud infrastructure of web applications. They understand AWS services and apply the best practices to promote scalability and security. A cloud developer may also work with IT teams and other departments to migrate the infrastructure to a scalable one with zero downtime on the application.

They often use the AWS continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) stack to implement the application's CI/CD pipeline and identify and monitor technical issues to develop solutions. They may also require a knowledge of multiple programming languages to execute various responsibilities on cloud applications.

5. AWS cloud big data specialist

National average salary: $6,972 per month

Primary duties: An AWS cloud big data specialist is an IT professional who creates and manages an organisation's big data infrastructure and tools. They may also collect and integrate big data tools and frameworks to provide various capabilities. AWS cloud big data specialists similarly define data retention policy, monitor performance and recommend infrastructure changes.

They often design data stores to support scalable storage and process high-frequency data. These specialists also oversee web scraping, script writing and calling application programming interfaces (API). They may also identify data problems and provide solutions that align with the company's data strategy.

6. AWS cloud engineer

National average salary: $7,164 per month

Primary duties: An AWS cloud engineer is an IT professional who creates, maintains and upgrades AWS cloud infrastructures to run applications. Some of their duties include building, releasing and managing the configuration of production systems and using cloud security solutions to ensure system security. AWS cloud engineers may also troubleshoot and solve problems on all application domains and platforms.

Cloud engineers may recommend architecture and process improvements after troubleshooting and collaborate with engineering and architecture teams to design and implement software services. They also implement CI/CD, oversee production and testing to ensure the quality of products and keep themselves up to date on new technology and products.

7. AWS development operations engineer

National average salary: $7,376 per month

Primary duties: An AWS development operations engineer is an IT professional who understands development strategy and cycle. They help manage and maintain systems on the AWS cloud and ensure smooth performance, availability, scalability and security. A development operations engineer may also manage the creation, configuration and release of systems on the cloud.

They often evaluate new alternatives and vendor products for their clients and troubleshoot platforms and application domains to identify and resolve problems. They may also recommend improvements to a systems process or architecture. Some employers may require their development operations engineers to contribute to pre-production testing for quality assurance.

8. AWS cloud practitioner

National average salary: $7,678 per month

Primary duties: An AWS cloud practitioner is a solutions specialist who designs and implements cloud-based solutions for companies to allow them to realise various benefits. The duties of an AWS cloud practitioner may vary by company. Some general responsibilities include defining best practices, reviewing AWS usage and making recommendations to suit a business' needs.

They may also integrate any additional services that a business requires. For example, a cloud practitioner may add third-party tools to improve the functionality of an application. Cloud practitioners typically fulfil the responsibilities of a cloud architect or engineer.

9. AWS cloud security specialist

National average salary: $7,769 per month

Primary duties: An AWS cloud security specialist helps a company to identify, assess and implement security measures for cloud services. Their duties may include drafting, reviewing and interpreting information security procedures, processes and policies. They determine information security controls and requirements to protect information resources.

AWS cloud security specialists may participate in operational tasks to oversee and support security functions including security event log analysis, malware prevention and remediation, intrusion detection and prevention, management reporting, remote access, network segmentation, cloud security, encryption and authentication. They may also raise security awareness by developing various educational materials. They typically analyse data from security functions, write reports and recommend actions to security management.

10. AWS architect

National average salary: $9,479 per month

Primary duties: An AWS cloud architect is a professional who designs cloud computing infrastructure and strategies. Their duties may include reviewing the architecture of workloads, addressing high-risk issues and aiding cloud-migration efforts. AWS cloud architects may also interact with business clients to understand their requirements, analyse alternatives and recommend products that are suitable for the platform and software. They also collaborate with the IT development team to ensure that they translate and interpret architectural solutions effectively. They often prepare and present test plans, technical presentations, lab reports and analyst briefings for different solutions areas.

Please note that none of the companies, institutions or organisations mentioned in this article are affiliated with Indeed. Salary figures reflect data listed on Indeed Salaries at time of writing. Salaries may vary depending on the hiring organisation and a candidate's experience, academic background and location.