| Role | Salary Range | London Range | Contractor Day Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior DevOps Engineer (0-2yr) | £32,000–£45,000 | £40,000–£56,000 | £300–£450/day |
| DevOps Engineer (2-5yr) | £45,000–£70,000 | £56,000–£87,000 | £450–£650/day |
| Senior DevOps Engineer | £65,000–£90,000 | £81,000–£112,000 | £650–£850/day |
| Lead DevOps / Platform Engineer | £80,000–£110,000 | £100,000–£137,000 | £750–£950/day |
| DevOps Architect | £90,000–£130,000 | £112,000–£162,000 | £850–£1,200/day |
| SRE (Site Reliability Engineer) | £55,000–£100,000 | £69,000–£125,000 | £600–£950/day |
| Platform Engineer | £55,000–£90,000 | £69,000–£112,000 | £550–£850/day |
DevOps contractors working outside IR35 can earn significantly more than permanent employees. Based on 220 working days per year, contractor annual income before expenses and tax:
DevOps engineering remains one of the most in-demand and well-compensated technical disciplines in the UK job market in 2026. The convergence of cloud-native infrastructure, platform engineering, and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) practices has created a broad and growing field with strong career prospects and excellent salaries at every level.
A DevOps engineer bridges the gap between software development and IT operations, using automation, cloud infrastructure, and continuous integration/delivery (CI/CD) practices to accelerate software delivery while maintaining system reliability and security. Modern DevOps engineers work across cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), container orchestration (Kubernetes), infrastructure as code (Terraform, Ansible), and monitoring/observability tooling.
The role has evolved significantly. Many organisations now distinguish between DevOps engineers, Platform engineers (who build internal developer platforms), SRE (who focus on reliability engineering and incident management), and DevSecOps specialists (who embed security into the delivery pipeline). All of these titles command broadly similar salaries, though SRE roles at major tech companies sometimes carry an additional premium due to on-call requirements.
Junior DevOps engineers with 0-2 years of experience typically earn £32,000-£45,000 in the UK. At this stage, engineers are often transitioning from a systems administration, software development, or cloud support background. The focus is on learning core tools and practices rather than architectural decision-making.
Mid-level DevOps engineers (2-5 years experience) command £45,000-£70,000. At this stage, engineers are expected to independently manage cloud infrastructure, implement CI/CD pipelines, and contribute to architectural decisions. Kubernetes and cloud certification significantly differentiate candidates in this salary band.
Senior DevOps engineers earn £65,000-£90,000 nationally and £81,000-£112,000 in London. They lead infrastructure design, mentor junior team members, and drive best practices across the engineering organisation. At this level, strong Kubernetes expertise, multi-cloud experience, and DevSecOps knowledge command the highest premiums.
Kubernetes remains the highest-value skill in the DevOps market, adding £5,000-£15,000 to salary depending on level. The CKA (Certified Kubernetes Administrator) certification is widely recognised by employers and provides a measurable premium. Cloud architecture certifications (AWS Solutions Architect Professional, Azure Expert) add £5,000-£9,000 at mid-to-senior levels.
Terraform and infrastructure-as-code expertise adds £4,000-£8,000. CI/CD pipeline experience (Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions) is now table-stakes for most roles but still commands a premium at specialist level. DevSecOps — integrating security tooling into delivery pipelines — is one of the fastest-growing specialisations and adds £5,000-£10,000 at senior level.
Observability tooling (Datadog, Prometheus/Grafana, Elastic) and GitOps practices (ArgoCD, Flux) are increasingly valued, adding £3,000-£6,000 at mid-to-senior levels.
DevOps is one of the most remote-friendly disciplines in the UK tech sector. An estimated 60-70% of DevOps roles in 2026 offer fully remote or hybrid working arrangements. This has a significant effect on salary optimisation: a fully remote role paying London rates while living in the North of England or Scotland provides an effective cost-of-living advantage equivalent to a 20-30% pay rise in real terms.
60-70% of DevOps roles are remote or hybrid Many pay London rates regardless of locationEnterprise employers (large corporates, banks, FTSE companies) typically offer base salaries 10-15% above startup equivalents, along with defined benefit pensions or strong employer pension contributions, comprehensive health insurance, and structured career frameworks. However, bureaucracy and slower-paced environments can limit the breadth of technical exposure.
Startups and scale-ups often pay slightly lower base salaries but offer equity compensation (EMI share options) that can represent £20,000-£100,000+ in value at exit for employees joining early. The technical scope is typically broader and career progression faster. Engineers joining a Series A or B startup as a lead DevOps engineer often become engineering manager or VP of Engineering within 3-5 years.
Experienced DevOps contractors typically earn 2-2.5x their permanent salary equivalent in gross contract income, though they must account for gaps between contracts, cost of accountancy, professional indemnity insurance, employer NI equivalent, and loss of employee benefits. A senior DevOps engineer on £85,000 permanent might earn £750-£800/day as a contractor — approximately £165,000-£176,000/year gross on a full-year basis, though actual income depends on utilisation rate.
IR35 status is critical for contractors. Inside IR35 contractors (especially those operating through umbrella companies) have significantly reduced take-home compared to outside IR35 limited company contractors. Most DevOps contract roles in the private sector can be structured as outside IR35, but this requires careful assessment with a qualified accountant.
UK income tax 2025/26: personal allowance £12,570, basic rate 20% (£12,571-£50,270), higher rate 40% (£50,271-£125,140), additional rate 45% (above £125,140). National Insurance: 8% on earnings £12,570-£50,270, 2% above. A DevOps engineer on £75,000 takes home approximately £51,500/year (£4,292/month). Use the calculator above for your specific salary and location.