Occupation
Site reliability engineer
Site reliability engineers keep production systems running and treat reliability as an engineering problem rather than a manual chore. They set service level objectives, automate away repetitive operational work, and lead the response when something breaks. On-call rotations are a normal part of the role.
Also known as: SRE · Reliability engineer · Production engineer
Occupation content
Part of Information technology, data and cybersecurity
What the work involves
- Define and track service level objectives with the teams that own a service
- Automate repetitive operational tasks so they stop consuming engineering time
- Lead or support incident response and restore service under time pressure
- Run blameless post-incident reviews and turn findings into concrete fixes
- Load test and capacity plan ahead of expected traffic changes
How people commonly enter
- A degree in computer science, software engineering, or information systems
- Progression from a systems administration, operations, or DevOps role
- Progression from software development into an operations-focused team
- Cloud or infrastructure certifications alongside production support experience
Typical training: Bachelor's degree
Licensing: Certification common, not usually required
Typical work context
Team based · High responsibility · Fast paced · Desk based · Remote capable · Shift work
Related interests
Investigative (analytical) · Realistic (hands-on) · Conventional (organizing)
Related aptitude preparation
These are preparation links only. They do not measure eligibility for this occupation and no score here qualifies or disqualifies anyone.
Skills to practise
Practice suites
Related learning
Family-level learning links for Information technology, data and cybersecurity.
Official sources
Labour-market facts such as pay and employment projections are not reproduced here. Open an official source below for figures, with its own geography and reference period.
- O*NET OnLine — Computer Systems Engineers/Architects (15-1299.08) · International
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- US Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Outlook Handbook: Network and Computer Systems Administrators · United States
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- Canada Job Bank — Job profile search: computer systems developers and programmers · Canada
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Labour-market context (not part of exploration match)
This is broad family-level context for Information technology, data and cybersecurity in Canada, not a figure for Site reliability engineer. It does not affect matching scores and is not an eligibility determination.
This is a broad Information technology, data and cybersecurity family. Explore the official profile for the chosen occupation; entry education and training can differ within the family.
Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period
Information technology, data and cybersecurity: education pathways
Some roles in Information technology, data and cybersecurity may be regulated. Confirm whether the specific role requires registration, certification, or a jurisdiction-specific licence.
Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period
Information technology, data and cybersecurity: licensing
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- Search Canada Job Bank · Canada
- Search USAJOBS · United States federal
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