How to become an Infrastructure as Code Engineer (IaC)

Ideal starting backgrounds

You're ready to start this path if you can:

• Explain what infrastructure-as-code is and why it matters
• Write a simple Python or Bash script to automate a task
• Navigate a cloud platform console (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
• Understand Git workflow: commit, push, pull request
• Explain the difference between mutable and immutable infrastructure

Not ready yet? Start with cloud fundamentals and a scripting language first.

Study hours required: ~400–500 hours total (Stage 1–2). Assumes 25–30 hours/week = 13–20 weeks.

All figures: median base salary, not including bonuses/equity. ZAR = USD × 18 baseline (verified May 2026). Sources: Robert Half 2026, Glassdoor, LinkedIn Salary.

South Africa note: Entry-level IaC engineers at Johannesburg-based companies earn R51,000–R75,000/month. Mid-level (3–5 years) command R80,000–R130,000/month. Remote work for international tech yields R110,000–R190,000/month. Startups pay lower (R45k–R70k) but offer growth.

Salary accelerators: Terraform Associate + Professional certifications command 15–20% premium. Published Terraform modules (open-source contributions) boost credibility and pay. AWS solutions architect expertise adds 10–15%.

Month 0–3: Build the Foundation

1. Set up your IaC lab — AWS Free Tier account (cost: $0 for first year). Explore Terraform with simple examples. Cost: $0.
2. Learn Terraform basics — Use official documentation. Build 5–6 simple modules (VPC, EC2, RDS). 30+ hours hands-on.
3. Learn Git workflow — Commit infrastructure changes, use branches, create PRs. Treat infrastructure like code.
4. Join IaC community — Reddit: r/devops, r/terraform. Discord: HashiCorp Terraform. GitHub: follow Terraform projects.

Month 3–11: Build Your Portfolio

1. Project 1: Reusable Module Library (14–16 hours) — Create 5–6 production-quality Terraform modules: VPC networking, RDS database, ALB load balancer, S3 bucket storage, Lambda function. Each module should have: variables, outputs, README, and example usage. Push to GitHub.

2. Project 2: Multi-Environment Infrastructure (12–14 hours) — Design Terraform code for multiple environments (dev, staging, production). Use workspaces or separate directories. Show how to manage environment-specific values. Document the pattern.

3. Project 3: Infrastructure Testing (10–12 hours) — Write Terratest tests for your modules. Test: resource creation, naming conventions, security group rules. This demonstrates infrastructure quality thinking.

4. Project 4: Complete Application Infrastructure (10–12 hours) — Design and provision a complete application infrastructure: VPC, databases, application servers, load balancer, CDN, monitoring, backups—all with Terraform. Document the architecture and deployment procedure.

Month 11–18: Apply and Iterate

• CV positioning: List yourself as "Infrastructure as Code Engineer" once you have certs + portfolio. Before then, list as "DevOps Engineer (IaC Focus)" or "Cloud Automation Engineer".
• Target companies: Start with startups and tech companies (they use Terraform extensively). Then enterprises modernising infrastructure. Avoid companies still using ClickOps (manual console clicks).
• Interview prep: Be ready to discuss: 1) Your module library and design decisions; 2) State management best practices; 3) Module reusability and testing; 4) Infrastructure as documentation; 5) Environment management (dev/staging/prod); 6) Deployment strategies; 7) Cost optimisation through IaC.
• Salary negotiation: IaC roles in SA advertise at R51k–R70k/month entry-level. With Terraform + AWS SAA, negotiate for R75k–R105k/month. International remote roles are R110k–R180k/month—actively target those.

IaC Engineer at a Fintech (Johannesburg) — Junior Level

09:00 — Standup with engineering and platform teams. A new microservice is ready for infrastructure. You'll design and provision it with Terraform.

09:30 — Review the service requirements with the engineering team: needs a VPC, RDS database, load balancer, auto-scaling for 5–100 instances. Design the architecture. You'll use existing modules from your library for reusability.

10:30 — Write Terraform code for the new service: reference VPC module, RDS module, ALB module. Customize for this service. Add variables for environment-specific values (instance type, database size, etc.).

12:00 — Lunch.

13:00 — Review your Terraform code with a senior engineer. Check: is it modular? Does it follow team conventions? Are variables well-documented? Make requested improvements.

14:00 — Write Terratest tests for the code. Test: VPC created correctly, RDS database accessible, load balancer routing traffic.

15:00 — Deploy to staging with Terraform. Plan: review resources to be created. Apply: provision everything. Validate: everything created successfully, services accessible.

15:30 — Walk through the deployment with the engineering team. Show them how to update infrastructure (edit variables, run Terraform plan/apply). Empower them to self-serve for future changes.

16:30 — Document the infrastructure in Confluence. Diagram the architecture. Explain key components. This is infrastructure-as-documentation.

17:00 — Wrap up. Code is ready for production deployment tomorrow.

IaC Engineer at a Tech Company (Remote, EMEA) — Mid-Level

09:00 — Async standup. Overnight, you pushed a new set of infrastructure modules to GitHub: multi-region setup for disaster recovery. The team reviewed—looks good, merged.

10:00 — Design review: a team wants to use your modules for a new application. You walk them through the modules, answer questions, and help them customise for their use case.

11:00 — Work on cost optimisation. Analyse monthly Terraform-managed infrastructure costs. Find opportunities: unused resources, oversized instances, unused elastic IPs. Document recommendations. Expected savings: $50k/month.

12:00 — Lunch + consultation call. A team deployed infrastructure manually (not using Terraform). Help them import existing resources into Terraform state using terraform import. This brings them under IaC management.

13:00 — Work on testing infrastructure. Implement Terratest suite for your module library. Add tests for common scenarios: scaling up, database failover, traffic routing.

14:30 — Mentor a junior IaC engineer. Review their Terraform code. Teach: module design principles, state management best practices, how to avoid common mistakes (hardcoding values, not using variables).

16:00 — Work on internal platform. Evaluate Pulumi (Python-based IaC) as an alternative to Terraform for teams that prefer code over YAML. Prototype a module in Pulumi. Compare with Terraform equivalent.

17:00 — Wrap up. Update your cost optimisation report—savings now at $65k/month. Plan next week.

Market specifics

IaC demand in SA is growing as companies move to cloud. Terraform adoption is accelerating. Tech companies, fintechs, and cloud-native startups actively hire IaC specialists. Banks and large enterprises are modernising and adopting IaC.

The IaC specialist market in SA is less saturated than general DevOps, offering advantage for specialists. Companies that hire IaC engineers value deep expertise.

Remote work is excellent for IaC. Infrastructure code is purely location-agnostic. Many SA IaC engineers work fully remote for international tech companies earning 2–3x local enterprise salary.

SA-specific resources

Q: Should I learn Terraform or Pulumi?

Start with Terraform. It's the industry standard (70%+ market share). Pulumi is growing but less demanded. Learn Terraform first (get hired), then learn Pulumi while working if your company uses it. Most IaC jobs list Terraform.

Q: Can I become an IaC engineer without DevOps background?

Yes. If you're from systems administration or cloud administration, you can learn Terraform directly. However, DevOps background (understanding CI/CD, deployment, infrastructure) provides valuable context. Either way, hands-on Terraform practice is essential.

Q: Do I need AWS SAA certification?

Helps but not mandatory. Many IaC engineers skip formal cert and learn cloud architecture on the job. However, SAA covers important architecture patterns that inform infrastructure design. Recommended for career growth.

Q: Is IaC work on-call heavy?

No, much less than DevOps or infrastructure operations. Failed infrastructure changes affect future deployments, not live systems (unless infrastructure crashes). If you want to avoid on-call, IaC is a good choice compared to other DevOps roles.

Q: What languages should I know?

Python or Go recommended. Many IaC tools (Pulumi, testing frameworks) use them. However, Terraform itself is HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language), not a programming language—you can be excellent at Terraform without deep Python skills. That said, Python/Go helps with advanced automation and testing.

Career path guide for Infrastructure as Code engineers | Last updated 2026-05-02 | ZAR baseline: R18/$1 USD For updates and job leads, see IT Career Roadmap