Infrastructure and Automation Manager

Paypoint Plc; Liverpool; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology firm in Liverpool is seeking an Infrastructure and Automation Manager who will oversee the evolution of IT infrastructure during a transformative cloud migration. This role involves managing a team of engineers, driving automation initiatives, and ensuring the scalability and resilience of services while meeting operational standards. Candidates should have over five years of experience in infrastructure management, automation proficiency, and strong leadership skills.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in IT infrastructure management and automation.
• Proven leadership experience in managing technical teams.
• Proficiency in automation scripting languages (e.g., Python).

Responsibilities

• Oversee performance of infrastructure across cloud and hybrid environments.
• Lead cloud migration from legacy infrastructure.
• Implement and operationalise reference architectures.

Skills

IT infrastructure management

Automation

Leadership

Analytical skills

Problem-solving

Tools

Ansible

Terraform

VMware ESXi

Windows Server

Linux

Job description

The Infrastructure and Automation Manager is a critical role responsible for driving the evolution of the organisation's infrastructure during a pivotal period of modernisation and cloud transformation. This role manages a team of infrastructure engineers while championing automation as a core operational principle – ensuring scalability, resilience, and efficiency across all IT services. Working closely with the Architecture team, this role will play a key part in translating the organisation's reference architectures into real, production-ready solutions. With a major migration underway from on‑premises environments to cloud platforms, this is an exciting opportunity to shape the future‑state infrastructure landscape and accelerate automation across the estate. While primarily a managerial and strategic position, the role requires hands‑on involvement in complex or high‑impact technical initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the delivery, performance, and lifecycle of the organisation's infrastructure across on‑prem, cloud, and hybrid environments.
• Lead the execution of the ongoing cloud migration programme, ensuring seamless transition from legacy infrastructure to modern cloud‑native platforms.
• Partner with the Architecture team to implement and operationalise approved reference architectures, ensuring consistency, scalability, and adherence to standards.
• Own and drive the automation roadmap, embedding automation across provisioning, configuration, monitoring, and operational workflows.
• Set standards for automation tooling and practices (e.g., IaC, CI/CD, scripting frameworks) and ensure adoption across the infrastructure team.
• Identify opportunities to eliminate manual processes, increase reliability, and reduce operational overhead.
• Lead, coach, and develop a high‑performing infrastructure and automation team.
• Set clear objectives, build capability, and foster a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.
• Prioritise work through effective planning, delegation, and alignment with broader technology strategy.
• Own end‑to‑end delivery of infrastructure and automation initiatives, ensuring they meet timelines, quality standards, and business needs.
• Act as a key point of contact for stakeholders across IT and the wider business, providing clear updates and expert guidance.
• Manage vendor relationships, ensuring high‑quality service delivery and commercial value.
• Own and manage the infrastructure and automation budget, including forecasting, procurement, and cost optimisation.
• Develop, maintain, and enforce IT policies, standards, and best practices, including disaster recovery, security, and compliance.
• Ensure infrastructure services meet operational, security, and regulatory requirements.

Qualifications

• Proven experience (5+ years) in IT infrastructure management and automation, with a strong background in system administration and cloud technologies.
• Demonstrated leadership experience with the ability to manage and motivate a technical team.
• Proficiency in automation and scripting languages (e.g., Python, PowerShell, Bash) and automation tools (e.g., Ansible, Terraform, Jenkins).
• Solid understanding of IT security principles, data protection regulations, and disaster recovery strategies.
• Excellent project management skills, with experience in Agile methodologies being highly desirable.
• Strong analytical, problem‑solving, and decision‑making capabilities.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to interact effectively with both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.

Core Technologies (Essential)

• VMware ESXi and broader virtualisation platforms (e.g., vSphere, Hyper‑V, or similar)
• Windows Server administration (AD, DNS, DHCP, Group Policy)
• Linux Server administration (Ubuntu, RHEL, or similar distributions)
• Infrastructure automation using IaC and modern tooling (Terraform, Ansible, CI/CD pipelines)
• Scripting experience (PowerShell, Bash, Python)

Cloud (Highly Desirable / Advantageous)

• NetApp storage solutions (management, provisioning, capacity planning)
• Microsoft Azure
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Hybrid architecture and cloud migration experience

Additional Relevant Skills

• Monitoring and observability tooling
• Backup, DR and business continuity technologies
• Experience designing and operating secure, scalable, and high‑performance cloud network architectures (e.g., GCP networking)

As a disability‑confident committed company, we have a passion for championing equality. We welcome all colleagues into a work environment where success is attainable for everyone, regardless of disability, age, race, religion, gender identity, or sexual orientation. We are committed to ensuring that everyone has equal access to growth and opportunities in our workplace.