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Cloud engineer:over 60% of Indian IT hiring demand sits here, with AI and data.
Landing zones, IAM, networking, compute, managed databases, Kubernetes, cost control — on AWS, Azure, Google Cloud or OCI. The role pays for people who also understand on-prem, because most Indian estates are hybrid.
What the job is
- Design accounts/subscriptions, identity, networking (VPC/VNet), VPN/Direct Connect to on-prem
- Deploy and operate compute, managed databases, storage, CDN, Kubernetes services
- Infrastructure as code (Terraform), CI/CD for infra, monitoring and cost optimisation
- Security baselines, backups, DR across regions; Indian-region compliance
Core skills
- Linux + networking (non-negotiable)
- One cloud deeply, second cloud conceptually
- Terraform, Git, CI/CD
- Containers/Kubernetes basics
- FinOps: pricing models, reserved capacity, tagging
AWS (EC2, VPC, IAM, S3, RDS, EKS), Azure (VM, VNet, Entra, AKS), GCP, OCITerraform, Ansible, GitHub ActionsCloudWatch/Azure Monitor, GrafanaCost Explorer, Infracost
Certifications that matter in India
| Certification | Issuer | Level | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWS Cloud Practitioner / AZ-900 | AWS/Microsoft | Entry | Fundamentals |
| AWS Solutions Architect Associate | AWS | Mid | The most-requested cloud cert in India |
| AZ-104 Azure Administrator | Microsoft | Mid | Enterprise/Microsoft shops |
| Google ACE / Professional Cloud Architect | Mid–Senior | Data/AI-heavy companies | |
| OCI Architect Associate | Oracle | Mid | Oracle estates; free training |
| Terraform Associate | HashiCorp | Mid | IaC credibility |
| AWS Solutions Architect Professional | AWS | Senior | Architect roles |
The path
- 0–6 monthsLinux + networking + one cloud fundamentals; free tier; Terraform basics
- 6–18 monthsCloud support/junior engineer: deployments, IAM, cost reports; SAA-level cert
- 18–36 monthsCloud engineer: landing zones, hybrid connectivity, Kubernetes, IaC pipelines
- 3–6 yearsCloud architect / FinOps lead: multi-account, DR, migrations from on-prem, cost governance
Typical pay (India, 2026)
| Level | Range |
|---|---|
| Cloud support | ₹3.5–6 LPA |
| Cloud engineer (2–4 yrs) | ₹7–15 LPA |
| Senior cloud engineer | ₹15–28 LPA |
| Cloud architect | ₹28–55 LPA |
Product companies and GCCs in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Delhi-NCR pay at the top of each band; service companies at the bottom. Contract/migration work pays a premium.
Labs to do this month- Terraform: VPC + 2 subnets + bastion + app server + RDS; destroy and rebuild
- Site-to-site VPN from your Proxmox lab to a cloud VPC
- Set a ₹500 budget alarm; run a workload; explain every line of the bill
Want this path with a mentor and real projects?
We hire and train engineers for client work, and we connect vetted engineers with companies. Search terms people use for this role: cloud engineer jobs india · aws solutions architect associate · azure administrator course · cloud computing course · cloud engineer salary india.