DevSecOps Engineer
Impact: Risk Mitigation, Data Protection, Business Continuity
Integrates security practices into the DevOps pipeline, automating security controls and ensuring compliance throughout the software development lifecycle.
In their words
As a DevSecOps Engineer, you're constantly balancing speed with security. It's a dynamic role where you automate security checks, integrate tools into CI/CD, and educate developers on secure coding. You need to be proactive, anticipating threats and building resilient systems. It's challenging but incredibly rewarding to see secure software delivered efficiently.
What the day looks like
- People interaction
- Moderate
- Team vs solo
- 60% Team / 40% Solo
- Client facing
- Sometimes
- Impact visibility
- High
- Travel
- Minimal, occasional conference attendance
- Schedule flexibility
- Flexible
- Remote work
- Mostly Remote
- Typical work hours
- 40-50 hours/week
- Stress level
- High
At a glance
- Median salary
- $135,000
- Entry-level
- $85,000 - $110,000
- Senior
- $160,000+
- Growth by 2033
- 20% (much faster than average)
- Demand
- Growing Fast
- Freelance potential
- Moderate
- Salary growth potential
- High 80-100% growth from entry to senior
- Typical student debt
- $30,000 - $60,000
Skills you'll use
Hard skills
- Cloud Security
- CI/CD
- Containerization
- IaC
- Scripting
- Threat Modeling
- Vulnerability Management
Soft skills
- Problem-solving
- Communication
- Adaptability
- Critical Thinking
- Collaboration
Technical complexity: Very High
Tools you'll work with
Core tools
- Jenkins (platform): CI/CD automation
- Docker (platform): Containerization
- Kubernetes (platform): Container orchestration
- Terraform (framework): Infrastructure as Code
Common tools
- Python (language): Scripting and automation
- AWS Security Hub (service): Cloud security posture management
- GitLab CI (platform): Integrated CI/CD and security scanning
Niche tools
- OWASP ZAP (software): Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)
How to get there
- Minimum education
- Bachelor's Degree
- Licensing
- Optional
- Years to mid-career
- 3-5 years
- Years to senior
- 7-10 years
- Career switching
- Moderate
Where this career leads
How people arrive here
- Software Engineer: Transitioning from development with a strong interest in security.
- Security Engineer: Moving from traditional security operations to integrate earlier in the development cycle.
- DevOps Engineer: Expanding existing DevOps skills to include a dedicated focus on security automation and compliance.
Where you can go from here
- Security Architect: Designing and overseeing the implementation of security systems and architectures.
- Cloud Security Engineer: Specializing in securing cloud environments and cloud-native applications.
- Application Security Engineer: Focusing on securing specific applications throughout their lifecycle.
Typical progression
- Junior DevSecOps Engineer > DevSecOps Engineer > Senior DevSecOps Engineer > Lead DevSecOps Engineer > Security Architect
Future outlook
- Automation probability
- 15% very low risk
- AI disruption risk
- Low
- Demand trend
- Growing Fast
How people feel about it
- Overall satisfaction
- 8.2/10
- Meaning
- 7.9/10
- Work-life balance
- 7/10
- Prestige
- 7.8/10
- Social perception
- High
Find your community
Professional organisations
- OWASP Foundation: Worldwide not-for-profit charitable organization focused on improving software security.
- SANS Institute: Provides cybersecurity training and certification.
- Cloud Security Alliance: Leading organization dedicated to defining and raising awareness of best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment.
Reddit communities
- r/devsecops: Reddit community for discussions and news related to DevSecOps.
Online communities
- DevSecOps Community: A global community for DevSecOps professionals to share knowledge and best practices.