Automation Operations Engineer [AQ-18822]

Aquent; Worthing; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Aquent is seeking a seasoned automation operations expert to oversee the stability, security, and reliability of automated workflows and AI-enabled services. You will manage external teams, incident resolution, and change processes while collaborating with Architecture, Platform, and Engineering teams to maintain high availability.

The role emphasizes running and scaling Power Platform, RPA (Blue Prism/ServiceNow), and Azure-based solutions with a strong focus on operational resilience and

Qualifications

• Significant experience in automation operations and IT operations.
• Strong background supporting Power Platform, RPA, or Azure solutions.
• Proficient in troubleshooting automation, integration, and workflows.
• Knowledge of operational resilience, incident management, and runbooks.

Responsibilities

• Lead and assure work of an external managed-service team for automations.
• Manage incidents, defects, and platform issues to meet SLAs (ITIL aligned).
• Provide reporting on incident trends, platform health, and reliability.
• Oversee live automations across Power Platform, RPA, Alteryx, and Logic Apps.
• Lead root-cause analysis and implement corrective actions for stability.
• Monitor using Application Insights, Azure Monitor, and RPA consoles.
• Collaborate with Architecture, Platform, and Integration teams on issues.
• Support change requests and deployments with engineering teams.
• Own operational change processes, approvals, testing, and comms.
• Coordinate patching cycles for RPA infra and environments.
• Maintain SOPs, runbooks, and audit evidence.
• Support regulatory reporting with accurate metrics.
• Drive continuous improvement of processes, tooling, and dashboards.

Skills

Automation operations

Power Platform

RPA (Blue Prism/ServiceNow)

Azure solutions

Incident management

Log analysis & telemetry

Stakeholder management

Vendor management

Security & RBAC

Regulatory compliance

Tools

Power Platform

ServiceNow RPA

Blue Prism

Alteryx

Logic Apps

Application Insights

Azure Monitor

RPA consoles

Job description

Join a leading organization dedicated to delivering essential services and driving innovation through technology. This company plays a critical role in ensuring reliable operations for millions, constantly seeking to optimize processes and enhance service delivery through cutting-edge automation and AI solutions. Your work will directly contribute to operational excellence and customer satisfaction.

Are you a seasoned automation expert passionate about ensuring the seamless operation of critical digital solutions? We are seeking a highly skilled individual to take the helm in operationalizing and optimizing our advanced automation and AI ecosystem. In this pivotal role, you will lead the charge in maintaining the stability, security, and reliability of automated workflows, RPA solutions, integrations, and AI-enabled services, directly impacting our ability to serve our customers efficiently and effectively. Your expertise will be crucial in shaping the future of our operational excellence and driving continuous improvement.

What You’ll Do

• Lead and quality-assure the work of an external managed-service team responsible for supporting operational automations and AI solutions.
• Manage the intake, prioritization, and resolution of incidents, defects, and platform issues, ensuring all operational activities meet service level agreements and internal service management standards (ITIL aligned).
• Provide clear reporting on incident trends, platform health, automation reliability, and improvement needs.
• Oversee the day-to-day running of all live automations, including Power Platform flows, RPA bots (ServiceNow/Blue Prism), Alteryx workflows, Logic Apps, and AI agents, managing operational schedules, job queues, bot controllers, runbooks, orchestrations, and environment health.
• Lead analysis of recurring failures, conduct root-cause investigations, and implement corrective actions to improve long‑term stability and resilience.
• Ensure proactive monitoring and effective usage of platform observability tools (e.g., Application Insights, Azure Monitor, RPA consoles).
• Collaborate closely with Architecture, Platform, and Integration teams to resolve environment, connector, access, or dependency issues impacting live solutions and ensure alignment with architectural guardrails and security models.
• Partner with Engineering teams to support change requests, enhancements, and improvements to automation solutions.
• Own operational change processes for automations, including approvals, deployment coordination, regression testing, and communications.
• Coordinate patching cycles for RPA infrastructure, connectors, gateways, Logic Apps, and Power Platform environments.
• Ensure clear version control, rollback procedures, and operational readiness for new or updated automations.
• Maintain comprehensive operational documentation, standard operating procedures (SOPs), runbooks, incident logs, maintenance plans, and audit evidence.
• Support regulatory reporting activities through accurate tracking of automation outcomes, incidents, and performance.
• Drive continuous improvement of operational processes, tooling, dashboards, and support models.
• Contribute insights for automation retirement, consolidation, or redesign decisions.

What You’ll Bring

Must-Have Qualifications

• Significant experience in automation operations, platform support, or IT operations roles.
• Strong background supporting Power Platform, RPA, or Azure solutions.
• Strong troubleshooting and diagnostic skills across automation, integration, and workflow technologies.
• Deep understanding of operational run, incident management, and resilience for digital/automation solutions.
• Ability to coordinate and uplift performance of an external managed-service operations team.
• Skilled in interpreting logs, telemetry, monitoring dashboards, API traces, and system run histories.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management across business, technical, and vendor audiences.
• Ability to work in a fast‑paced environment with a focus on stability, compliance, and service continuity.
• Knowledge of automation engineering practices and how design choices impact operational reliability.
• Experience supporting Power Platform solutions (Power Automate, connectors, environment management).
• Experience running and maintaining RPA platforms (ServiceNow RPA or Blue Prism), including bot controllers, queues, and runtime scheduling.
• Knowledge of Azure components including Logic Apps, Functions, API Management, Key Vault, and monitoring tools.
• Strong understanding of Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), identity management, audit, logging, and secure operations of cloud and automation platforms.
• Awareness of regulatory requirements related to operational resilience.
• Awareness of enterprise system landscape (e.g., Maximo, GIS/ArcGIS, Workday, ServiceNow, SAP).

Nice-to-Have Qualifications

• Certifications: PL-400, PL-600, AZ-104, Blue Prism ROM/Support, ServiceNow RPA certifications, ITIL v4.
• Experience with monitoring tools such as Application Insights, Splunk, Dynatrace, or Azure Monitor.
• Understanding of AI solution monitoring (e.g., model drift, prompt behavior, telemetry).
• Understanding of Alteryx Server/Designer operations, Foundry pipelines, and Co-Pilot agent management.
• Familiarity with data governance (e.g., Purview), Databricks integration patterns, and enterprise API dependencies.

Additional Role Requirements

• Ability to work occasional out-of-hours windows for releases, patches, or critical incident resolution.
• Comfortable working in a vendor-managed, multi-supplier environment.

Client Description

Imagine an enterprise with over 3,000 employees, serving millions of people daily, undergoing the largest infrastructure and technology overhaul in their history. Backed by a sizeable multi-year investment program – underpinned by top‑tier global infrastructure investors – our client is fundamentally rewriting how heavy their sectors operates.

Instead of treating technology as a back‑office utility, this client is putting Artificial Intelligence, Power Platform, RPA, and Cloud Orchestration directly onto the frontlines.

Joining our client today means getting in on the ground floor of a high‑visibility digital transformation journey. You will not be maintaining old systems; you will be architecting, running, and scaling the future digital engine of a high profile, well known brand.

Other Requirements

• 1 day in the office a week (Monday) the remainder remote.