Role Summary:
The Senior Automation Engineer is responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) and automation solutions using Ansible and Terraform. The role requires strong scripting capabilities using Python and PowerShell, along with deep understanding of CI/CD workflows, configuration management, cloud provisioning, and enterprise automation standards.
Key Responsibilities:
1. Automation Design & Implementation:
- Build, maintain, and optimize Ansible playbooks, roles, inventories, and automation pipelines.
- Develop Terraform modules for provisioning cloud/onprem resources.
- Create reusable templates, automation frameworks, and standardized IaC patterns.
2. Infrastructure-as-Code Lifecycle Management:
- Manage version control, branching strategies, and code reviews.
- Ensure idempotent, modular, and scalable IaC deployments.
- Maintain documentation for deployment maps, workflows, and automation logic.
3. CI/CD Integration & Workflow Automation:
- Integrate Ansible/Terraform with CI/CD tools (Azure DevOps, GitLab, Jenkins).
- Automate build, test, and deployment pipelines.
- Perform automated configuration drift detection and compliance enforcement.
4. Cloud & On-Prem Provisioning:
- Use Terraform for provisioning compute, network, storage, and PaaS services.
- Support multi-cloud environments (AWS/Azure/GCP) as applicable.
- Automate VM builds, patching workflows, and configuration baselines.
5. Scripting & Tooling (Python & PowerShell):
- Develop automation scripts, REST API integrations, and task orchestration.
- Build CLI utilities, log processors, and workflow enhancements.
- Automate infrastructure checks and reporting.
6. Security, Compliance & Hardening:
- Enforce secure coding and least privilege in automation workflows.
- Integrate scanning tools for compliance validation.
- Manage secrets and sensitive data using vaulting technologies.
7. Troubleshooting & RCA:
- Identify failures in automation pipelines, Terraform plans/applies, and Ansible executions.
- Analyze logs, debug playbooks, and fix module/provider issues.
- Prepare RCA reports and corrective actions.
8. Monitoring & Optimization:
- Track automation success metrics, efficiency gains, and resource optimizations.
- Improve code efficiency, reduce execution time, and enhance maintainability.
9. Decommissioning & Lifecycle Procedures:
- Automate teardown, cleanup, archival, and lifecycle workflows using IaC.
- Maintain CMDB accuracy and resource tagging compliance.
10. Collaboration & 3rd-Party Coordination:
- Work with cloud teams, DevOps teams, and application owners.
- Coordinate with tool vendors, module authors, and support teams.