Principal Automation Engineer

Gofractional; Toronto; On-site; CAD 172,200 - 199,752; Full time

Job summary

TMX Group is seeking a Principal Automation Engineer to lead infrastructure automation across our hybrid data center landscape. You will shape the enterprise IaC strategy, using Ansible and Terraform to standardize self-service pipelines for bare-metal and virtualized infrastructure.

You will guide governance for security/compliance and spearhead AI-assisted automation, delivering high-availability in a regulated financial setting while mentoring Automation and Systems Engineers.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive experience in Systems Engineering, Infrastructure Automation, or Platform Engineering in an enterprise context.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a relevant field.
• Deep expertise with self-hosted datacenters and RedHat Linux (8/9/10).
• Proven Infra as Code experience using Ansible and Terraform.
• Expertise with OpenShift Container Platform/Virtualization and VMware.
• Familiarity with on‑prem storage (NetApp, PURE) and Portworx.
• Strong observability skills with Splunk and Grafana.
• Proficient in Python and Generative AI automation techniques.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive enterprise Platform Engineering strategy and IaC using Ansible and Terraform.
• Architect governance and automated guardrails for security and compliance in a regulated environment.
• Lead AI tool integration to boost automation velocity and autonomous ops.
• Provide SME leadership and mentorship for Automation and Systems Engineers.

Skills

Python

Ansible

Terraform

OpenShift

RedHat Linux

VMware

NetApp

PURE Storage

Portworx

Splunk

Grafana

Generative AI

Automation architecture

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or relevant field

Tools

Ansible Automation Platform

Terraform

RedHat Satellite

OpenShift Container Platform

VMware

Splunk Observability

Grafana

Copilot/Claude

Job description

Principal Automation Engineer (12 Month Contract)

Location: Toronto - 100 Adelaide St W
Time Type: Full time
Salary Range: $125/hour - $145/hour CAD

Role Summary

As the Principal Automation Engineer, you will serve as the strategic leader for infrastructure automation across TMX Group, driving the transition toward a "Platform Engineering" model focused on our self-hosted physical datacenters. You will define the enterprise roadmap for Infrastructure as Code (IaC), leveraging Ansible Automation Platform and Terraform to build standardized, self-service pipelines across our hybrid-cloud environment (on-premise, OpenShift, and AWS). You will also spearhead the integration of Generative AI tools (e.g., Copilot/Claude/Gemini) into the automation ecosystem, providing architectural governance and establishing automated guardrails for security and compliance.

Key Accountabilities

• Platform Strategy and Core Infrastructure: Define and drive the enterprise strategy for Platform Engineering and IaC using Ansible Automation Platform and Terraform for both bare-metal and virtualized infrastructure (RedHat, OpenShift, VMware). Lead the architecture and implementation of critical datacenter technologies (PXE, DHCP, DNS, LDAP, LVM/XFS, NetApp, PURE, Portworx).

• Governance and Technical Expertise: Establish architectural governance and automated compliance guardrails for security, ensuring high availability within a regulated financial environment.

• Generative AI Integration and Innovation: Spearhead the integration and adoption of Generative AI tools (e.g., Copilot/Claude) to augment engineering velocity, code development, and autonomous operations.

• Technical Leadership and Team Development: Act as the subject matter expert (SME) for low-level performance tuning, observability (Splunk/Grafana), and OS lifecycle management (RedHat Satellite). Provide direct technical oversight and mentorship to Automation and Systems Engineers.

Skills and Experience

• Experience: 10+ years of progressive experience in Systems Engineering, Infrastructure Automation, or Platform Engineering in an enterprise context.

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or relevant job experience.

• Core Datacenter/Linux Expertise: Deep expertise in self-hosted physical datacenters. Mastery of RedHat Linux (8, 9, 10) and core fundamentals: PXE, DHCP, DNS, LDAP, LVM/XFS storage management, host-based firewall/SSH configuration, and performance tuning.

• Automation & IaC Strategy: Proven expertise in large-scale Infrastructure as Code (IaC) strategies using Ansible Automation Platform and Terraform.

• Platform Technologies: Expert knowledge of virtualization and container platforms, including OpenShift Container Platform/Virtualization and VMware. Experience with RedHat Satellite.

• Storage Solutions: Expert-level familiarity with on-premise storage (NetApp, PURE Storage) and container-native storage (Portworx).

• Observability: Experience architecting and utilizing monitoring and logging platforms such as Splunk Observability/Cloud and Grafana.

• Generative AI & Programming: Advanced proficiency in Python. Hands-on experience leveraging Generative AI tools to automate complex workflows.

• Communication: Strong enterprise-level verbal and written communication and leadership skills.