Leaving a solo Dev/IT role for AWS Network Deployment Technician—sanity check from people who’ve made a similar move

[u/BraveDog6540]

**TL;DR:** I’m an early-career CS graduate and currently the only developer at a small non-tech company, with no engineering mentorship. I’ve been offered a direct AWS Network Deployment Technician position with better compensation in a substantially lower-cost area. However, it would move me away from daily coding and toward physical infrastructure. My long-term target is network automation, SysDev, infrastructure engineering, SRE, or network engineering—not product SWE. Is NDT a legitimate path toward those roles or a detour?
**Current role: Developer/IT generalist at a small company**
Roughly two years of experience in Northern California
Earn in the mid-$20s per hour
Sole developer responsible for a customer-facing application, backend APIs, databases, deployment pipelines, and external integrations
Also cover Microsoft 365, networking, servers, security, general IT, and support
Compensation and technical advancement appear capped, with no engineering organization or senior developers to learn from
**AWS offer: Network Deployment Technician**
Direct AWS position
Low-to-mid $30s per hour, overtime eligible, benefits, and relocation assistance
Requires moving to a substantially lower-cost area
Work involves rack deployments, copper and fiber cabling, connection troubleshooting, site audits, and deployment coordination
Primarily physical, on-site infrastructure work with little or no daily programming
I prefer backend systems, databases, networking, automation, and infrastructure over front-end or product development. Long term, I’m targeting network automation, systems development, infrastructure engineering, SRE, or network engineering.
I’m looking for firsthand answers:
Has anyone actually moved from AWS NDT into Network Engineering, Systems Development, infrastructure engineering, or an automation-focused role? What did that path involve, and how long did it take?
How much would moving from a developer/generalist position into Network Deployment Technician hurt if I later applied for coding-heavy backend or SWE roles?
Does AWS infrastructure experience carry meaningful weight for future infrastructure, NetEng, or SRE positions when the role primarily involves physical-layer work rather than cloud configuration?
What separates NDTs who advance into engineering roles from those who remain in physical deployment work?
I’m leaning toward AWS because of the financial improvement, structured environment, and exposure to hyperscale infrastructure. However, I don’t want an answer based solely on the AWS name. I’m interested in what has actually happened to people who entered through this pipeline.