Automation Engineer [AQ-21158]

Aquent; Worthing; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

Aquent in Worthing is seeking an Automation Engineer to design, build and continuously improve secure, scalable automation solutions within the Process Engineering & Intelligent Automation team. You will translate business processes into robust automations using Power Automate, Power Apps, Copilot Studio and Dataverse, and contribute across discovery, design, build, testing and live-service improvement.

You'll work within Agile squads, ensure security and compliance, create documentation, and

Qualifications

• Experience building automation with Power Platform, Power Automate, Copilot Studio or similar.
• Experience with Dataverse, Power Apps and REST APIs.
• Understanding of security, privacy and auditability in automation projects.
• Familiarity with Azure DevOps, CI/CD and release management.

Responsibilities

• Design, build and test automation solutions within the Process Engineering & Intelligent Automation team.
• Translate business processes into production-ready automations using Power Platform tools.
• Participate in end-to-end automation lifecycle from discovery to live-service improvement.

Skills

Power Platform

Power Automate

Copilot Studio

Dataverse

APIs

Azure DevOps

Agile

Testing

Tools

Power Automate Desktop

APIs

Copilot Studio

Job description

The Automation Engineer designs, builds, tests, deploys and continuously improves secure, scalable and supportable automation solutions within the Process Engineering & Intelligent Automation team.

• Working as part of a multidisciplinary delivery squad, the role translates approved business processes, user stories, solution designs and non-functional requirements into production-ready automations using Microsoft Power Platform, Power Automate Desktop (Unattended), Copilot Studio and associated integration capabilities.
• The Automation Engineer contributes throughout the end-to-end automation lifecycle, from technical discovery and feasibility assessment through sprint delivery, testing, release, Early Life Support and live-service improvement.
• The role ensures that solutions comply with architectural patterns, security controls, engineering standards and operational acceptance criteria, while delivering measurable business process, customer and financial outcomes.

Accountabilities Estimated

• Technical Discovery, Solution Design, Build & Testing
• Participate in technical discovery and feasibility assessments, providing engineering estimates, delivery assumptions, integration considerations and technical risks.
• Work with business stakeholders and Process Engineers to translate approved process designs, user stories, acceptance criteria and non-functional requirementsinto secure, supportable automation solutions.
• Develop automation solutions using Power Automate cloud flows, Power Automate
• Desktop, Power Apps, Copilot Studio, Dataverse, APIs and approved integration patterns.
• Configure exception handling, retry logic, logging, alerting, environment variables, connection references and secure credential handling.
• Develop and execute unit, functional, integration, regression and non-functional tests, maintaining evidence against acceptance criteria.
• Participate in sprint planning, daily stand‑ups, demonstrations, retrospectives and backlog refinement.
• Maintain solution designs and engineering documentation as the solution evolves.
• Identify and use reusable components, APIs, templates and common engineering patterns

Technical Discovery, Solution Design, Build & Testing 45%

• Engineering Quality, Documentation & Assurance
• Produce technical and support documentation, including solution diagrams, test scripts, runbooks
• Follow ALM practices using Azure DevOps for deployment and version control.
• Apply secure development practices and ensure solutions meet auditability, resilience, and compliance requirements.
• Conduct peer reviews and support continuous code/configuration review throughout each sprint.

Engineering Quality, Documentation & Assurance – 25%

Job Description

• Ensure solutions meet Definition of Ready, Definition of Done, Design Authority, security, privacy, auditability and operational acceptance requirements.
• Record known business and technical exceptions and confirm agreed remediation or fix‑forward actions
• Ensure reusable components and assets are documented and added to the approved asset library
• Identify and record technical debt arising from delivery decisions.
• Collaboration with Platform, Process & Architecture Team members
• Work alongside the Platform Engineer to ensure environments, connectors, and platform capabilities support reliable delivery.
• Engage with our Automation Architect during design reviews or when solutions require architectural guidance.
• Collaborate with our Process Architect and Process Engineers to ensure processes are well‑understood, standardised, and ready for automation.
• Support the Senior Automation Engineer with solution quality reviews, component reuse, and delivery consistency.
• Work with Scrum Masters to estimate user stories, maintain delivery visibility and resolve impediments.
• Work with Support Engineers to agree support requirements, monitoring, operational documentation and handover criteria.
• Engage business process owners and SMEs through demonstrations, testing, UAT and operational‑readiness activities

Collaboration with Platform, Process & Architecture Team members – 20%

• Support, Troubleshooting & Continuous Improvement
• Support controlled deployment to test, pre‑production and production environments.
• Conduct post‑deployment smoke testing and support cutover activities.
• Complete the engineering elements of the production handover pack and verify operational monitoring. Investigate and resolve defects, workflow failures, integration issues, and performance bottlenecks.
• Contribute to continuous improvement by identifying reusable components, automation candidates, standard patterns, and optimised delivery methods.
• Participate in early life support and transition to operations.
• Support live automations as an L3 engineering resolver, working with support and platform teams

Support, Troubleshooting & Continuous Improvement – 10%

• Strong engineering capability across Power Automate cloud flows, Power Automate Desktop, Power Apps, Dataverse and Copilot Studio
• Ability to design and build robust workflows, low‑code automations, API integrations
• Understanding of environment strategies, managed solutions, connection references, environment variables, DLP, RBAC and secure credential management.
• Strong problem‑solving and logical thinking applied to process automation challenges.
• High attention to detail, strong documentation discipline, and willingness to follow structured delivery frameworks.
• Experience with Azure DevOps, CI/CD pipelines and structured release management.
• Ability to design robust exception handling, telemetry, logging, alerting, retry and recovery mechanisms.
• Strong testing capability across unit, functional, integration, regression and non-functional testing.
• Ability to diagnose defects, identify root causes and implement resilient fixes rather than short‑term workarounds.
• Strong documentation discipline, including solution designs, test evidence, release notes, runbooks and operational handbooks.
• Ability to work effectively within Agile multidisciplinary squads and communicate technical matters clearly to business stakeholders
• Commitment to component reuse, coding standards, peer review and continuous engineering improvement.

Knowledge Qualifications

Technical

• Hands‑on experience with Power Platform (Power Platform) and Co‑Pilot Studio
• Awareness or some working knowledge of Foundry, or other ML tooling such as Azure ML
• Awareness of enterprise systems such as Workday, ServiceNow, SAP Risk & Compliance
• Understanding of GDPR, information security, and compliance requirements in regulated environments.
• Awareness of platform security practices including identity management, DLP, RBAC, and secure data access.

Essential

• Experience in automation development using Power Automate and CoPilot Studio
• Strong analytical and digital problem‑solving ability.

Desirable

• Microsoft certifications: PL‑500, PL‑200, PL‑400, AB‑620 relevant Azure or AI credentials for roles expected to contribute to Copilot or AI‑enabled solutions