Role report · Infrastructure
Site Reliability Engineer: what employers ask for
Of 570 Site Reliability Engineer postings from 287 employers in the United States and Canada over the last 180 days, 81% ask for Observability, 71% for Kubernetes, 68% for Terraform, 66% for CI/CD and 66% for Python.
From 570 Site Reliability Engineer postings in the United States and Canada, April 23, 2026 to October 20, 2026. Updated October 20, 2026. How we count
- Postings read
- 570from 287 employers
- Remote
- 27%of postings
- Most common level
- Mid31% of postings
- Experience asked
- 5 yearsmedian, from 391 postings that state it
- Advertised pay
- $178,000median a year, from 238 postings in US dollars
The skills employers ask for most
The share of Site Reliability Engineer postings that name each skill, and how often a posting that names it lists it as required rather than nice to have.
| Skill | Share of postings | Required when named |
|---|---|---|
| Observability | 87% | |
| Kubernetes | 80% | |
| Terraform | 85% | |
| CI/CD | 84% | |
| Python | 86% | |
| AWS | 81% | |
| Incident Response | 96% | |
| Networking | 82% | |
| Distributed Systems | 86% | |
| Linux | 95% | |
| Go | 83% | |
| Docker | 80% | |
| Azure | 79% | |
| Git | 85% | |
| GCP | 74% | |
| Bash | 87% | |
| Automation | 98% | |
| Ansible | 78% | |
| Monitoring | 93% | |
| Site Reliability Engineering | 96% |
Taking a larger share
Month on month, comparing like with like; only moves clear of noise are named.
Seniority
| Level | Share | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| Mid | 179 | |
| Senior | 170 | |
| Lead | 60 | |
| Staff | 47 | |
| Principal | 43 | |
| Manager | 36 | |
| Director+ | 22 |
Professional skills
Asked for alongside the technical ones.
- Communication52%
- Stakeholder Management39%
- Leadership38%
- Root Cause Analysis21%
- Troubleshooting9%
Advertised pay
238 of these postings state pay in US dollars. The middle half of their ranges' midpoints runs from $150,000 to $211,000 a year, with a median of $178,000. Pay by level, and what each skill adds to it like for like, is in the app.
Employers with the most postings
- Cisco20 postings
- Palo Alto Networks15 postings
- JPMorgan Chase13 postings
- M&T Bank10 postings
- SpaceX10 postings
- UnitedHealth Group9 postings
- Okta8 postings
- F58 postings
Quick answers
What skills does a Site Reliability Engineer need?
The skills named most often in Site Reliability Engineer postings are Observability, Kubernetes, Terraform, CI/CD and Python. Observability appears in 81% of them.
Are Site Reliability Engineer jobs remote?
27% of the 570 Site Reliability Engineer postings in the last 180 days were remote.
How much experience do Site Reliability Engineer jobs ask for?
Postings that state it ask for a median of 5 years. The most common level is Mid (31% of postings).
What does a Site Reliability Engineer earn?
Postings that state pay advertise a typical $150,000 to $211,000 a year, with a median of $178,000, from 238 postings in US dollars.
Which skills are growing for Site Reliability Engineer roles?
Leadership, Azure, Stakeholder Management, GitOps and Disaster Recovery are taking a larger share of Site Reliability Engineer postings, month on month and comparing like with like.