The Infrastructure Opportunity
While much of the “women in tech” conversation focuses on software development, there’s an adjacent field with even more acute talent shortages and potentially greater opportunity: DevOps and infrastructure engineering.
DevOps, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), Platform Engineering—whatever the title, these roles focus on the systems, pipelines, and infrastructure that make software actually run. And they’re experiencing explosive demand.
Women represent only 16% of infrastructure and DevOps roles—well below the already-low tech industry average. This underrepresentation creates opportunity for women willing to build infrastructure skills. Here’s how to break in.
What DevOps Actually Is
DevOps isn’t a single job—it’s a set of practices, and the roles that implement them:
The Core Idea
Traditionally, “Development” (building software) and “Operations” (running software) were separate teams with competing priorities. Developers wanted to ship features fast. Operations wanted stability. Conflict ensued.
DevOps bridges this gap by:
- Automating the path from code to production
- Building systems that are reliable, scalable, and observable
- Creating feedback loops that improve both development and operations
- Making infrastructure as code, version-controlled and reproducible
Common Role Titles
- DevOps Engineer: Broad role covering CI/CD, infrastructure, and automation
- Site Reliability Engineer (SRE): Focus on reliability, observability, and incident management
- Platform Engineer: Building internal platforms that other developers use
- Infrastructure Engineer: Managing cloud resources and systems
- Cloud Engineer: Specializing in cloud platform services (AWS, GCP, Azure)
- Systems Administrator: Traditional role that’s evolved toward DevOps practices
Why DevOps Matters
Infrastructure roles are increasingly strategic:
Business Impact
DevOps directly affects business outcomes:
- Faster time to market for new features
- Reduced downtime and customer impact
- Lower infrastructure costs through optimization
- Security posture and compliance
Organizations with mature DevOps practices deploy code 208x more frequently with 106x faster lead times. That’s competitive advantage.
Job Security
Every company running software needs infrastructure expertise. DevOps skills are portable across industries—healthcare, finance, e-commerce, entertainment all need the same fundamental capabilities.
Compensation
Talent shortage means strong compensation:
- Entry-level DevOps: $80,000-$110,000
- Mid-level DevOps/SRE: $120,000-$160,000
- Senior SRE/Platform Engineer: $160,000-$220,000
- Staff/Principal: $200,000-$300,000+
The DevOps Skill Stack
DevOps encompasses many technologies. Here’s how to think about building skills:
Foundation Layer
Core skills everyone needs:
- Linux fundamentals: Command line, file systems, processes, networking
- Networking basics: TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP, load balancing
- Scripting: Bash, Python, or both
- Version control: Git workflows and collaboration
Cloud Platforms
Pick one to start, learn others as needed:
- AWS: Market leader, most job opportunities
- Google Cloud (GCP): Strong in data and Kubernetes
- Azure: Dominant in enterprise environments
Understand core services: compute (EC2/VMs), storage, networking, identity management.
Infrastructure as Code
Modern infrastructure is code:
- Terraform: Multi-cloud infrastructure provisioning
- CloudFormation/ARM/Deployment Manager: Cloud-native IaC
- Ansible/Chef/Puppet: Configuration management
Containerization and Orchestration
Containers have transformed deployment:
- Docker: Container fundamentals
- Kubernetes: Container orchestration (essential for most DevOps roles)
- Helm: Kubernetes package management
CI/CD Pipelines
Automating the path from code to production:
- Jenkins: Traditional, still widely used
- GitHub Actions: Integrated with GitHub repositories
- GitLab CI: Integrated with GitLab
- CircleCI, Travis CI: Cloud CI services
Observability
Understanding what’s happening in production:
- Monitoring: Prometheus, Datadog, CloudWatch
- Logging: ELK Stack, Splunk, CloudWatch Logs
- Tracing: Jaeger, Zipkin, OpenTelemetry
- Alerting: PagerDuty, OpsGenie
Pathways Into DevOps
Multiple routes lead to DevOps careers:
From Software Development
Developers often transition to DevOps by:
- Taking ownership of deployment pipelines for their team
- Getting interested in reliability and performance
- Building internal tools and automation
- Moving to teams focused on infrastructure
Advantage: You understand what developers need.
From System Administration
Traditional sysadmins transition by:
- Learning automation and infrastructure-as-code
- Adopting cloud platforms
- Embracing software engineering practices
Advantage: You understand systems deeply.
From Help Desk/IT Support
Support roles provide stepping stones:
- Build Linux and networking fundamentals
- Learn scripting to automate common tasks
- Pursue certifications to demonstrate knowledge
- Look for junior DevOps or cloud roles
Career Changers
Entering from outside tech:
- Bootcamps increasingly offer DevOps tracks
- Self-study with cloud certifications
- Home labs and personal projects for hands-on experience
- Entry-level cloud or support roles as stepping stones
Building Your DevOps Portfolio
Demonstrate skills through practical work:
Home Lab Projects
- Deploy a Kubernetes cluster (locally or in the cloud)
- Build a CI/CD pipeline for a personal project
- Create infrastructure using Terraform
- Set up monitoring and alerting
Certifications
Cloud certifications validate knowledge:
- AWS: Solutions Architect Associate, DevOps Engineer Professional
- GCP: Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer
- Azure: Azure Administrator, DevOps Engineer Expert
- Kubernetes: CKA (Certified Kubernetes Administrator), CKAD
Open Source Contributions
Contributing to infrastructure projects demonstrates real skills:
- Documentation improvements are valuable and accessible
- Bug fixes and small features build portfolio
- Maintaining your own projects shows initiative
The Women in DevOps Experience
Women in infrastructure roles face familiar challenges in amplified form:
Extreme Underrepresentation
At 16% representation, you may often be the only woman on your team or in the room. This creates challenges—but also visibility and opportunity.
“Prove It Again” Bias
Research shows women in male-dominated fields must prove competence repeatedly. Documentation, metrics, and visible results become especially important.
On-Call Culture
Many DevOps roles involve on-call rotations—being available to respond to production issues outside business hours. This can conflict with caregiving responsibilities if not managed carefully. Advocate for fair rotation policies and backup coverage.
The Bro Culture Challenge
Some infrastructure teams have strong “bro culture.” Look for teams with existing diversity, strong leadership commitment to inclusion, and cultures that value collaboration over hero worship.
Finding the Right Opportunity
Not all DevOps environments are equal. Look for:
Green Flags
- Women already on the team (especially in senior roles)
- Structured on-call with reasonable expectations
- Investment in automation (not just firefighting)
- Learning culture with time for skill development
- Clear career progression paths
Red Flags
- “Hero culture” celebrating those who work extreme hours
- No women in technical roles
- High turnover on the team
- Infrastructure treated as cost center rather than investment
Getting Started
Begin your DevOps journey today:
- This week: Set up a Linux VM (or WSL on Windows) and practice command line basics
- This month: Create a free-tier cloud account and explore core services
- Next 3 months: Build a project using Terraform and Docker; pursue your first certification
- 6 months: Start applying for DevOps roles or seeking internal transitions
The infrastructure world needs more diverse perspectives. Systems that serve everyone should be built by teams that represent everyone. Your unique background and viewpoint have value—bring them to DevOps.
Connect with infrastructure teams seeking diverse talent at WomenHack events.