This article will introduce you to what a Release Engineer is, the career information of a Release Engineer and the necessary conditions to become a Release Engineer. By reading this article, you will gain an in-depth understanding of the profession of Release Engineer.

1. What is a Release Engineer？

Release Engineers are professionals responsible for the management of the entire process of software products from development to deployment. They are key roles in the software development and operation and maintenance teams. Their core responsibilities are to ensure that software versions can be efficiently, stably and reliably delivered to the production environment. At the same time, they coordinate the collaboration of multiple teams, such as development, testing, and operation and maintenance, and optimize the release process to improve delivery quality and efficiency. They focus on automating, managing and optimizing the software release process. They connect the development, testing and operation and maintenance links, and are the core executors to ensure continuous software delivery.

2. How much does a Release Engineer Make?

According to Zippia, Release Engineers in first-tier cities can earn 20K-50K per month, and an annual salary of 24W-60W yuan. Those in second-tier cities can earn about 8K-15K per month, and an annual salary of 10W-18W yuan. The salary of Release Engineers who are new to the industry is relatively low, but as their years of work increase, the salary of mid- to senior-level Release Engineers who have mastered proficient technology will increase significantly. The salary of Release Engineers will also vary to varying degrees depending on the type and size of the company. For example, a large company recruited a Release Engineer for a foreign client with a monthly salary of 16K-20K, requiring him to have oral English communication skills and relevant technical experience. In contrast, the salary level of Release Engineers in small and medium-sized enterprises may be relatively low, but it also varies depending on the specific business and financial situation. The salary of Release Engineers in some small and medium-sized enterprises may be around 8K-15K per month. In addition, the salary of a Release Engineer is also largely affected by the industry-recognized certificates held by job seekers. The more recognized certificates a job seeker has, the more likely he or she is to get a higher salary.

3. Responsibilities of a Release Engineer

The core responsibilities of Release Engineer include designing and optimizing the release process, designing a standardized software release process, including version control, building, testing, and deployment, ensuring that each step is traceable and repeatable, reducing manual operations, introducing automated tools to shorten the release cycle, and reducing human errors. Coordinate the development team to resolve code conflicts, maintain the standardization of the code base, avoid release risks caused by version confusion, build and maintain the automated build system, and use scripts or tools to automatically compile, package, and build the code. It is also their responsibility to generate deployable software packages. Release Engineer also serves as a "bridge" between the development, testing, and operation teams to synchronize release progress, coordinate and solve cross-team problems, clarify the responsibilities of each team in the release, and ensure that the release nodes are clear and controllable.

4. What Are the Qualifications to Become a Release Engineer?

(1) Obtain a Bachelor's Degree

Usually a bachelor's degree in a related field is required, preferably a degree in software management, artificial intelligence and computer-related majors. These majors can help students better understand the principles of computer hardware and software, understand the principles of programming and computer operation, and lay a solid foundation for future work. 

(2) Core Technical Skills

To become a Release Engineer, you need to master a variety of technical tools and concepts to manage the end-to-end release process. You need to be proficient in using tools such as Git, SVN, or Mercurial to track code changes, manage branches, and resolve conflicts. You also need to be able to write scripts to automate repetitive tasks and customize workflows and be familiar with containerization and orchestration tools to deploy applications in a scalable environment. It will also be your responsibility to understand the basics of testing frameworks in order to coordinate with the relevant teams and ensure that the releases meet the quality standards before deployment.

(3) Earn Industry Certifications 

CCNA is generally regarded as the starting point of the Release Engineer career and is an important tool to prove job seekers' basic abilities in the field of IT technology; CCIE helps to master network-related knowledge and is suitable for people who want to achieve higher achievements and further develop in the IT industry; and Cisco certification is of great benefit to those who plan to work in network technology-related jobs. 
If you want to master core technical certifications such as CCNA and CCNP, then SPOTO Academy is your ideal choice. They have a team of lecturers composed of senior industry experts, bringing cutting-edge technical insights and practical experience. Whether you are new to the IT field or seeking a career breakthrough, SPOTO's course system can help you achieve your goals.

5. Similar Occupations of Release Engineer

• Build Engineer
• DevOps Engineer
• Deployment Engineer
• Configuration Manager
• Release Manager