Lead Automation Engineer

Johnston Carmichael Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers; Glasgow; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Learning programmes

Leadership Development Programme

Diversity & inclusion policy

Job summary

Johnston Carmichael Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers is seeking an experienced Lead Automation Engineer to lead design, development and operation of business, test and AI‑enabled automation across the organisation.

You will work cross‑functionally with IT and business teams, turning opportunities into secure, resilient production solutions using UiPath, Power Automate, Playwright, Selenium and approved AI services.

Qualifications

• Significant hands-on experience designing, developing and supporting production automation.
• Strong experience with UiPath and/or enterprise RPA technologies and Power Automate.
• Experience with Playwright or Selenium and test automation frameworks.
• Practical experience integrating AI capabilities, services or APIs into business processes.
• Experience designing robust error handling, scheduling, monitoring and alerting.
• Strong understanding of APIs, source control and modern software engineering practices.
• Awareness of secure development, credentials and data protection.

Responsibilities

• Lead Automation: set technical direction and hands-on in design, build, test, deployment and support of automation.
• Build & Integrate: deliver solutions using UiPath, Power Automate, APIs and scripting; integrate AI capabilities where valuable.
• Automate Testing: develop maintainable automated test suites and integrate into CI/CD.
• Productionise by Design: build scheduling, orchestration, error handling, logging and alerting into production automation.
• Secure by Design: apply least privilege, credential management and secure API integration for AI processing.
• Own the Lifecycle: maintain documentation, runbooks and support from discovery to retirement.
• Drive Improvement: identify high-value automation opportunities and avoid inefficient processes.
• Lead by Example: define standards, mentor colleagues and evaluate new automation/AI technologies.

Skills

Hands-on automation design

Leadership

API fundamentals

Secure development

Stakeholder communication

AI integration

CI/CD familiarity

Security best practices

Tools

UiPath

Power Automate

Playwright

Selenium

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

We are looking for an experienced, hands‑on Lead Automation Engineer to lead the design, development and operation of business, test and AI‑enabled automation across Johnston Carmichael.

Job Purpose:

At Johnston Carmichael, the Lead Automation Engineer will lead the design, development and operation of business, test and AI‑enabled automation. Working across IT and the wider business, you will turn opportunities into secure, resilient and supportable production solutions using tools such as UiPath, Microsoft Power Automate, Selenium, Playwright and approved AI services and APIs.

The Lead Automation Engineer will be responsible for (but not limited to):

• Lead Automation: Set technical direction and remain hands‑on in the design, build, testing, deployment and support of business, test and AI‑enabled automation.
• Build & Integrate: Deliver solutions using UiPath, Power Automate, APIs and appropriate scripting, integrating approved AI capabilities where they add real business value.
• Automate Testing: Develop maintainable automated test suites using Playwright, Selenium and API testing frameworks, integrating them into CI/CD where appropriate.
• Productionise by Design: Build scheduling, orchestration, error and exception handling, reconciliation, audit reporting, logging, monitoring and alerting into every production automation.
• Secure by Design: Apply least privilege, secure credential and secret management, data classification, controlled identities and secure API integration, with appropriate safeguards for AI‑enabled processing.
• Own the Lifecycle: Maintain clear documentation, ownership, runbooks and support arrangements from discovery and design through production operation, continuous improvement and retirement.
• Drive Improvement: Work with business stakeholders to simplify processes, identify high‑value automation opportunities and select the right approach rather than automating inefficient processes.
• Lead by Example: Define reusable engineering standards and patterns, mentor colleagues and evaluate emerging automation and AI technologies for safe, practical adoption.

About You:

• Significant hands‑on experience designing, developing and supporting production automation.
• Strong experience with UiPath and/or enterprise RPA technologies and Microsoft Power Automate.
• Experience with Playwright, Selenium or similar test automation frameworks.
• Practical experience integrating AI capabilities, services or APIs into business processes or applications.
• Experience designing robust error handling, exception management, scheduling, monitoring, alerting and audit reporting.
• Strong understanding of APIs, source control and modern software engineering practices.
• Strong awareness of secure development, least privilege, credential management, data protection and responsible AI controls.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder skills, with the ability to provide technical leadership while remaining hands‑on.

Why JC?

Johnston Carmichael helps to build success stories that change lives - whether it’s our clients, our communities, or most importantly, our people, who now number over 900 across the UK.

We work with individuals and businesses all over the country and our expertise covers almost every industry sector. We’re also an independent member firm of Moore Global Network Limited, a global accounting and advisory network of over 37,000 advisers across more than 114 countries.

Why IT?

This is an exciting time to join IT at Johnston Carmichael. We are modernising our technology estate, strengthening cyber resilience and security by design, and creating simpler, more joined‑up ways of working across cloud, data, applications and services.

Automation and AI are central to that transformation. You will have the opportunity to shape a growing capability, work with a modern technology stack and help us turn new technology into practical, secure improvements for our people and clients - with real scope to influence how we engineer, govern and operate solutions.

What you can expect

You can expect a collaborative, supportive environment with the flexibility of hybrid working and the opportunity to make a visible impact. This role offers genuine scope to shape our automation capability, influence technical standards and work with modern automation, cloud, engineering, cyber and AI technologies.

As well as working with a great team of colleagues and enjoying the balance of hybrid and flexible working, we will support your continued development through hands‑on learning, knowledge sharing and our established learning programmes and offer a range of benefits to make your time at JC even more fulfilling.

Different backgrounds and different opinions make for more interesting work and better outcomes. We’re sure we don’t have to say this, but we welcome people from all backgrounds, regardless of your heritage, ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual identity or gender identity. We also actively encourage applications from anyone who’s had an extended time away from paid employment.

Our team is made up of people who’ve taken varied routes through their careers. We’re here to give you the tools, support, and materials to develop your expertise so you can pursue your ambitions. Our JC Aspire learning programme helps everyone reach their personal goals, and we’ve also carefully created our own Leadership Development Programme, which is accredited by the University of Strathclyde Business School at master’s degree level.

We look forward to hearing from you

At Johnston Carmichael we are committed to diversity, equality and inclusion in the workplace. A copy of this policy will be made available on request. We also welcome applications from individuals who have had time away from paid employment.