This article will introduce you to what a Sd-Wan Engineer is, the career information of a Sd-Wan Engineer and the necessary conditions to become a Sd-Wan Engineer.

1. What is a Sd-Wan Engineer？

SD-WAN is a software-defined wide area network management method. SD-WAN Engineer refers to a professional network technician who is responsible for developing, configuring and implementing the SD-WAN system of an enterprise or organization.

2. What does a Sd-Wan Engineer do?

SD-WAN engineers mainly help enterprises build software that supports instant communication, higher security and higher performance. Therefore, they need to have expertise in SD-WAN systems to provide security functions and traffic control for the organization's wide area network. In addition, SD-WAN engineers usually work with other systems engineering teams to mainly assist in the development of SD-WAN configurations and provide advice and expertise for system construction and implementation within the organization or for the organization's customers.

3. Sd-Wan Engineer Salary

According to ZipRecruiter's June 11, 2026 data, the average annual salary for SD Wan engineers in the United States is $87,220. That's about $41.93 per hour. That's equivalent to $1,677 per week or $7,268 per month. The highest annual salary can be as high as $136,500, and the lowest is only $37,000, but most SD Wan engineers currently make between $76,500 and $97,500 per year, with the highest earners making as much as $114,500 per year across the United States. The average salary range for SD Wan engineers varies widely (up to $21,000), which means they may have many opportunities for advancement and pay increases depending on skill level, location, and years of experience.

4. What Are the Qualifications to Become a Sd-Wan Engineer ?

(1) Obtain a Bachelor's Degree

When hiring a Sd-Wan Engineer, employers usually want candidates with relevant professional backgrounds to find candidates with the appropriate skills. These academic backgrounds provide them with courses related to professional skills. The position of Sd-Wan Engineer usually requires candidates to have at least a bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology or computer engineering. Of course, some industries or companies will require higher academic qualifications.

(2) Develop professional skills

SD-WAN engineers usually need to have comprehensive network basics, automation skills, and cloud platform integration capabilities. First, they need to have a deep understanding of wide area network (WAN)-related technologies and protocols, including MPLS, IPSec, GRE, DMVPN, BGP, OSPF, static routing, QoS, etc., and be proficient in the differences and collaboration between the control plane, management plane, and data plane in the network hierarchy. In addition, with the continuous advancement of network automation, mastering Python script programming, Ansible orchestration tools, YAML/JSON configuration file formats, API calling methods, etc. have become essential skills for SD-WAN engineers. Finally, as more and more enterprises adopt hybrid cloud or multi-cloud architectures, SD-WAN engineers should also have certain cloud platform knowledge, be able to seamlessly connect SD-WAN solutions with cloud services such as AWS, Azure, and GCP, configure VPC, VPN, and cloud routing, and achieve unified management of cloud and local networks.

(3) Earn Industry Certifications

Obtaining a certification that is highly recognized by the industry can prove your professional ability and ability to perform the position, and can also enhance your competitiveness in the workplace. Therefore, we recommend that you obtain the Cisco DevNet Expert certification.Earning the Cisco Certified DevNet Specialist certification will demonstrate your expertise and proficiency in network automation, programmability, and security automation tools.

5. Similar Occupations of Sd-Wan Engineer

• Network Engineer
• Network Administrator
• Network Analyst
• Network Architect
• Network Security Engineer
• System Engineer
• Network Operations Engineer
• Network Consultant