Top 10 Skills in Cloud Computing According to LinkedIn & Indeed Job Postings
Cloud computing has shifted from being a technology trend to the backbone of modern business. Across the UK, organisations in finance, healthcare, retail, and the public sector depend on cloud services to drive agility, reduce costs, and enable innovation.
With this widespread adoption comes a soaring demand for professionals who can design, deploy, and manage cloud solutions securely and efficiently. The challenge? Cloud technologies evolve rapidly, and the skills employers ask for today may look very different from those in demand even a few years ago.
By reviewing job postings on LinkedIn and Indeed, we can pinpoint the cloud computing skills most frequently requested in the UK market. This article distils those findings into the Top 10 cloud computing skills for 2025—and explains how to present them effectively on your CV, in interviews, and in your portfolio.
Quick Summary: Top 10 Cloud Computing Skills Employers Want in 2025
Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)
Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Ansible, CloudFormation)
Containerisation & orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes)
Cloud security & compliance (IAM, Zero Trust, ISO27001, GDPR)
Serverless computing & microservices
DevOps & CI/CD pipelines
Networking & hybrid cloud management
Data engineering & cloud storage (S3, BigQuery, Synapse)
Monitoring, observability & cost optimisation
Communication & stakeholder collaboration
1) Cloud Platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)
Why it’s essential:
Employers expect candidates to have hands-on expertise with at least one of the “big three” cloud providers: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Many UK job ads specify AWS or Azure, with GCP growing in data-heavy sectors.
What job ads often say:
“Experience designing and deploying solutions on AWS/Azure”, “multi-cloud awareness a plus”.
How to evidence it:
“Deployed high-availability e-commerce platform on AWS using EC2, RDS, and ELB; reduced downtime by 40%.”
“Migrated legacy workloads to Azure, saving £250k annually in infrastructure costs.”
Interview readiness:
Be prepared to describe trade-offs between providers and walk through an architecture diagram.
2) Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
Why it matters:
UK employers increasingly demand Infrastructure as Code for repeatable, automated provisioning. Tools like Terraform, Ansible, and CloudFormation dominate job descriptions.
What job ads often say:
“Proficient in Terraform”, “experience with Ansible for configuration management”, “infrastructure automation”.
How to evidence it:
“Implemented IaC with Terraform, reducing environment setup from 3 days to under 2 hours.”
“Created Ansible playbooks to standardise server configuration across 150 nodes.”
Interview readiness:
Expect scenario questions about version control, modular templates, and rollback strategies.
3) Containerisation & Orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes)
Why it’s hot:
Most modern cloud-native applications use Docker containers, orchestrated by Kubernetes. Employers need professionals who can design scalable, resilient containerised environments.
What job ads often say:
“Strong Docker and Kubernetes skills”, “EKS/AKS/GKE experience”.
How to evidence it:
“Containerised monolithic app with Docker, reducing deployment time from 30 minutes to 5.”
“Deployed Kubernetes cluster on GKE handling 200k daily requests with autoscaling.”
Interview readiness:
Be ready to discuss scaling, rolling updates, and handling failures in Kubernetes clusters.
4) Cloud Security & Compliance
Why it’s critical:
With UK regulations like GDPR and industry standards (ISO27001, PCI-DSS), cloud security is non-negotiable. Employers seek candidates skilled in Identity and Access Management (IAM), Zero Trust, encryption, and governance.
What job ads often say:
“Strong cloud security expertise”, “experience with IAM and compliance frameworks”, “ISO27001 knowledge”.
How to evidence it:
“Implemented Zero Trust access controls in Azure AD, reducing unauthorised access attempts by 60%.”
“Led ISO27001 audit preparation for cloud-hosted systems with zero non-conformities.”
Interview readiness:
Expect scenario-based questions on incident response, compliance checks, and risk assessments.
5) Serverless Computing & Microservices
Why it’s rising:
Serverless platforms such as AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, and Google Cloud Functions allow rapid, scalable application development. Employers want candidates who can design microservices architectures that balance cost and performance.
What job ads often say:
“Experience with serverless frameworks”, “microservices design”, “event-driven architecture”.
How to evidence it:
“Built serverless data pipeline with AWS Lambda and S3, reducing processing costs by 35%.”
“Migrated monolithic app to microservices on Azure Functions, cutting release cycles by 50%.”
6) DevOps & CI/CD Pipelines
Why it’s everywhere:
Employers want professionals who can build automated pipelines for faster, more reliable deployments. Skills in Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and Azure DevOps are highly sought.
What job ads often say:
“CI/CD pipeline development”, “DevOps mindset”, “experience with GitOps”.
How to evidence it:
“Implemented CI/CD pipeline with Jenkins and Kubernetes, reducing deployment errors by 70%.”
“Introduced GitOps workflow, improving release velocity by 45%.”
7) Networking & Hybrid Cloud Management
Why it matters:
Enterprises rarely operate fully in the cloud; hybrid and multi-cloud setups are common. Employers value networking skills (VPCs, VPNs, DNS, load balancers) and hybrid integration.
What job ads often say:
“Experience with hybrid cloud”, “VPC and networking design”, “interconnectivity between on-prem and cloud”.
How to evidence it:
“Designed hybrid cloud solution connecting on-prem datacentre with AWS, reducing latency by 40%.”
“Implemented Azure ExpressRoute for secure enterprise connectivity.”
8) Data Engineering & Cloud Storage
Why it’s demanded:
Big data workloads are increasingly cloud-native. Employers expect skills in data lakes, warehouses, and pipelines using S3, Redshift, BigQuery, Synapse, and Databricks.
What job ads often say:
“Strong SQL and cloud data warehouse skills”, “ETL/ELT pipelines”, “experience with Databricks or Spark”.
How to evidence it:
“Built data warehouse on BigQuery integrating 10M+ daily events.”
“Automated ETL pipeline with Databricks, cutting reporting time from 6h to 20m.”
9) Monitoring, Observability & Cost Optimisation
Why it’s valuable:
UK employers want professionals who can ensure systems are reliable and cost-efficient. Skills in CloudWatch, Azure Monitor, Stackdriver, Prometheus, and Grafana are frequently listed.
What job ads often say:
“Monitoring and alerting expertise”, “observability tools”, “cloud cost management”.
How to evidence it:
“Implemented Prometheus and Grafana dashboards to track Kubernetes health, reducing downtime by 30%.”
“Optimised AWS costs by £120k annually through reserved instances and right-sizing.”
10) Communication & Stakeholder Collaboration
Why it gets you hired:
Cloud projects involve developers, security, finance, and executives. Employers look for candidates who can explain architectures, justify costs, and align technology with business needs.
What job ads often say:
“Strong communication skills”, “stakeholder management”, “ability to explain technical concepts”.
How to evidence it:
“Presented cloud migration strategy to leadership, securing £2m investment.”
“Created documentation and training for cross-functional teams, boosting adoption.”
Honorable Mentions
AI/ML on cloud platforms (SageMaker, Azure ML, Vertex AI)
Edge computing integration
Disaster recovery & business continuity planning
Green cloud & sustainability practices
How to Prove These Skills
Portfolio: GitHub repos, architecture diagrams, or demo projects deployed on cloud.
CV: measurable achievements (cost savings, downtime reduced, performance gains).
ATS optimisation: mirror job ad terms (Terraform, Kubernetes, Azure DevOps, serverless).
Interview prep: be ready for scenario-based and whiteboard architecture questions.
UK-Specific Hiring Signals
London leads in financial services cloud roles (AWS, Azure).
Cambridge & Manchester see growth in cloud data engineering and AI/ML integration.
Public sector ads often highlight compliance and security clearance requirements.
Suggested 12-Week Learning Path
Weeks 1–3: Cloud fundamentals (AWS/Azure/GCP) + networking basics.
Weeks 4–6: Infrastructure as Code (Terraform) + CI/CD setup.
Weeks 7–8: Containers (Docker/Kubernetes) + monitoring tools.
Weeks 9–10: Serverless + microservices design.
Weeks 11–12: Data engineering on cloud + cost optimisation project.
FAQs
What is the most in-demand cloud skill in the UK?
AWS and Azure expertise remain the most frequently requested skills in job postings.
Do employers expect multi-cloud skills?
Yes. Multi-cloud awareness is increasingly valuable, though most roles focus on one primary platform.
Are DevOps skills required for cloud roles?
Almost always. CI/CD pipelines, IaC, and containerisation appear in most UK postings.
Is cloud security really that important?
Yes. Compliance with GDPR, ISO27001, and financial regulations makes cloud security one of the most frequently cited skills.
Final Checklist
Headline & About: cloud computing focus.
CV: measurable outcomes (savings, uptime, performance).
Skills section: AWS, Azure, GCP, Terraform, Kubernetes, DevOps, serverless, data, monitoring, communication.
Portfolio: 2–3 projects (IaC repo, serverless app, Kubernetes demo).
Keywords: mirror UK job ad language.
Conclusion
Cloud computing roles in the UK demand a balance of technical expertise, automation, security, and communication. Employers consistently highlight cloud platforms, IaC, containers, security, serverless, DevOps, networking, data engineering, monitoring, and stakeholder collaboration.
By mastering these areas and showcasing them with measurable achievements, you’ll align closely with LinkedIn and Indeed postings—and stand out in a competitive UK cloud job market.
