Cloud, Networks & IT Infrastructure

The plumbing of the digital world: servers, cloud platforms, cables, data centers, and the people who keep it all running 24/7.

Top pay: highest pay, longest training

• Cloud Architect: Designs how an organization runs its software on cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. Typical pay $160k.
• Site Reliability Engineer: Keeps huge websites and apps running 24/7, and writes software to make them more reliable. Typical pay $155k.
• Computer Network Architect: Designs the data networks that connect offices, campuses, data centers, and the internet. Typical pay $134k.
• DevOps / Platform Engineer: Builds the automated systems that let developers test and deploy software quickly and safely. Typical pay $140k.
• Data Center Critical Facilities Engineer: Keeps the power, cooling, and backup generators running in the giant buildings that house the internet and AI. Typical pay $115k.
• Cloud Engineer: Sets up and runs applications and servers on cloud platforms. Typical pay $110k.
• Observability Engineer: Builds the dashboards and alarms that tell engineers exactly what is happening inside their software. Typical pay $145k.
• Data Center Operations Manager: Runs an entire data center: the staff, the equipment and the promise that it never goes down. Typical pay $145k.
• Internet Peering Coordinator: Arranges the direct connections between big networks that let your videos, games and messages cross the internet quickly and cheaply. Typical pay $125k.
• DNS Engineer: Keeps the internet's address book running, so typing a website's name finds the right server in milliseconds, even during attacks. Typical pay $120k.
• Network Timing & Synchronization Engineer: Makes sure cell towers, power grids and stock exchanges agree on the exact time down to billionths of a second, using GPS and atomic clocks. Typical pay $125k.

Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship

• Network & Computer Systems Administrator: Installs, configures, and maintains an organization's servers, networks, and computers. Typical pay $99k.
• Network Engineer: Builds and troubleshoots the routers, switches, firewalls, and links that carry data. Typical pay $105k.
• Computer Systems Analyst: Studies how an organization uses computers and designs better systems to help it work. Typical pay $106k.
• Telecommunications Network Engineer: Designs and maintains cell networks, fiber lines, and phone systems. Typical pay $100k.
• Satellite Network Engineer: Runs the networks that beam internet and data through satellites like Starlink. Typical pay $108k.
• Cloud FinOps Analyst: Tracks how much a company spends on cloud computing and finds ways to cut the bill. Typical pay $100k.
• Storage Administrator: Manages the huge disk systems and backups that hold a company's data, so nothing is ever lost. Typical pay $98k.
• Unified Communications Engineer: Runs the phone, video-meeting and chat systems a company uses to talk to itself and its customers. Typical pay $100k.
• Data Center Critical Facilities Technician: Keeps the power, backup generators and giant cooling systems running inside a data center 24/7. Typical pay $85k.
• Wireless Network Engineer: Designs the Wi-Fi and wireless networks for stadiums, hospitals, campuses and offices. Typical pay $105k.

Starter: fastest way in

• Data Center Technician: Installs, swaps, and repairs servers and cables inside large data centers. Typical pay $54k.
• Network Operations Center Technician: Watches network health screens around the clock and responds to outages. Typical pay $54k.
• Computer Operator: Runs and monitors large computer systems, starting batch jobs and responding to errors. Typical pay $52k.
• Network Cabling Technician: Runs and connects the copper and fiber cables that physically wire buildings for internet, phones, and security cameras. Typical pay $54k.
• Data Center Liquid Cooling Technician: Maintains the pipes, pumps and coolant that carry heat away from AI server racks that run too hot to be cooled by air alone. Typical pay $54k.

Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.