Cloud Architect (AWS / Azure / GCP) vs Network & Cloud Connectivity Engineer: Salary & Career Benchmarks in Poland

In Poland, Cloud Architect (AWS / Azure / GCP) roles typically command a higher median salary than Network & Cloud Connectivity Engineer positions. According to our 2026 live benchmark data, a mid-level Cloud Architect (AWS / Azure / GCP) earns a median salary of PLN281K, whereas a Network & Cloud Connectivity Engineer brings in roughly PLN209K (a gap of PLN72K at the median).

Seniority, tech stack, and location all move this gap. Senior practitioners in either discipline can exceed the upper range through specialist skills. See the skills premium section below for the specific certifications and tools that push offers to the top of the range.

While both positions are vital to a modern tech organisation, Cloud Architect (AWS / Azure / GCP) and Network & Cloud Connectivity Engineer have fundamentally different daily workflows.

Cloud Architect (AWS / Azure / GCP) focuses primarily on designing the cloud landing zones, security controls, and cost governance frameworks that engineering teams build on top of. Day-to-day work revolves around designing multi-cloud landing zones, defining security and IAM guardrails, running architecture review boards, and advising on cost governance across AWS, Azure, and GCP workloads.

Network & Cloud Connectivity Engineer focuses on designing and maintaining the network infrastructure connecting on-premises systems to cloud environments, including VPN, direct connect, and SD-WAN links. Their time is spent configuring and monitoring hybrid cloud network connectivity, troubleshooting latency and routing issues, managing firewall and security group policy across environments, and supporting cloud migration network cutovers.

Transitioning between these two paths is achievable but requires targeted upskilling.

Moving from Cloud Architect (AWS / Azure / GCP) to Network & Cloud Connectivity Engineer:

Moving from Network & Cloud Connectivity Engineer to Cloud Architect (AWS / Azure / GCP): Senior DevOps or infrastructure engineers with multi-cloud governance and security exposure transition in fastest, especially those who have run landing-zone design at scale.

Neither path requires starting from scratch. Professionals in both roles share underlying technology fluency; the gap is usually domain knowledge and specific tooling rather than core engineering fundamentals.

In Poland in 2026, both roles are seeing demand, but with different drivers.

Cloud Architect (AWS / Azure / GCP) demand is extreme, particularly in the global capability centres that Nokia, Nordea, and State Street run out of Wrocław and Kraków, led by employers such as Nokia and Nordea. Network & Cloud Connectivity Engineer demand is high, concentrated in the global capability centres that Nokia, Nordea, and State Street run out of Wrocław and Kraków, led by employers such as State Street and Allegro.

Workspace flexibility significantly impacts total compensation value in Poland.

Cloud Architect (AWS / Azure / GCP) roles score 55% on our remote-friendliness index (Moderate). This is because infrastructure and platform work is codified in version control and entirely tool-driven, a norm that Poland's IT sector has broadly kept in place thanks to the widespread B2B (umowa B2B) contracting model, which gives both employers and specialists more flexibility than a standard umowa o pracę. Where in-office attendance is required, it is typically driven by incident response and cross-team release planning, which larger employers with a Kraków or Wrocław global capability centre are more likely than smaller Polish software houses to formalise into a fixed hybrid schedule.

Network & Cloud Connectivity Engineer roles score 45% (Moderate). Infrastructure and platform work is codified in version control and entirely tool-driven, a norm that Poland's IT sector has broadly kept in place thanks to the widespread B2B (umowa B2B) contracting model, which gives both employers and specialists more flexibility than a standard umowa o pracę is the primary driver of flexibility. When office days are required, it is usually for incident response and cross-team release planning, which larger employers with a Kraków or Wrocław global capability centre are more likely than smaller Polish software houses to formalise into a fixed hybrid schedule.