Lead DevOps Platform Engineer

Jobtailor

Manassas (VA)

On-site

USD 160,000 - 210,000

Full time

14 days+

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Job summary

Jobtailor is seeking a senior DevOps Platform Engineer to design and scale enterprise Ansible automation across provisioning, configuration, and lifecycle management. You will develop playbooks, collections, and reusable patterns while ensuring security, governance, and observability across the platform.

You will mentor teams, drive CI/CD and GitOps integrations, and act as a trusted advisor for end-to-end automation initiatives, collaborating with security, platform, and application groups.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science required.
10+ years of progressive DevOps Platform Engineering.
2+ years as a team lead or equivalent.
5+ years of Ansible automation experience with AWX/Automation Controller.
Experience integrating Ansible with CI/CD tools and Git workflows.
Proven leadership in enterprise automation, platform engineering, or DevSecOps.

Responsibilities

Design and implement enterprise-grade Ansible automation frameworks and zero-touch strategies.
Develop and maintain Ansible playbooks, roles, and collections.
Administer the enterprise Ansible Platform ensuring high availability and security.
Integrate automation into CI/CD and GitOps pipelines for auditable deployments.
Mentor teams on automation patterns, security, and IaC practices.
Lead architecture reviews and drive self-service adoption for developers and operators.

Skills

Ansible Automation

CI/CD Integration

IaC Principles

Technical Leadership

Python/Groovy Scripting

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science

Tools

Ansible Automation Platform

CI/CD Tools

GitOps Workflows

Automation Controller

Execution Environments

OpenShift

Kubernetes

Job description

Design and implement enterprise-grade Ansible automation frameworks for infrastructure provisioning, configuration management, and operational tasks, as well as zero-touch automation strategies for infrastructure lifecycle (provisioning, patching, configuration, decommissioning)
Develop and maintain Ansible playbooks, roles, collections, and reusable automation patterns
Administer, maintain, and evolve the enterprise Ansible Automation Platform (AAP), ensuring high availability, scalability, security, and operational excellence
Integrate Ansible automation into CI/CD pipelines and GitOps workflows for consistent and auditable deployments
Collaborate with platform, security, and application teams to standardize infrastructure automation approaches
Define and promote automation standards, reusable frameworks, and best practices for Ansible playbook, role, and collection development
Coach and mentor development and operations teams on automation design patterns, infrastructure-as-code principles, security best practices, and maintainable automation development
Review and provide guidance on automation solutions to ensure consistency, quality, security, and adherence to enterprise standards
Implement secure automation practices, including secrets management, RBAC, credential governance, and audit trail generation
Automate compliance controls, validation checks, and policy enforcement within automation workflows
Design and maintain automation observability and metrics dashboards (execution success rate, drift detection, compliance posture, and platform adoption)
Design and implement Software Supply Chain Security capabilities, including Software Composition Analysis (SCA), dependency governance, artifact integrity validation, and vulnerability management practices across the software delivery lifecycle
Contribute to the definition and adoption of Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) capabilities to improve software transparency, traceability, compliance, and risk management
Act as an end-to-end Solution Architect for strategic platform engineering and automation initiatives, translating business, security, compliance, and operational requirements into scalable technical solutions
Serve as a trusted advisor to internal customers by conducting technical consultations, solution reviews, onboarding sessions, and architecture workshops
Drive developer and operator adoption of automation frameworks through self-service capabilities, documentation, training, and enablement activities
Investigate and resolve complex infrastructure, platform, and automation-related support requests
Propose and implement case avoidance initiatives by eliminating manual operational activities through automation
Collaborate with vendors and internal teams to evolve automation tooling strategy and roadmap
Champion solutions to complex challenges, applying your senior-level problem-solving skills to optimize infrastructure, automation, platform engineering, and DevOps practices

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or related field (MUST)
10 years of progressive DevOps Platform Engineering including at least 2 years as a lead (MUST)
5+ years of expertise in Ansible automation –playbooks, roles, collections, and enterprise-scale usage. Including strong experience with Ansible Automation Platform / AWX / Automation Controller (MUST)
Experience integrating Ansible with CI/CD tools and Git-based workflows (MUST)
Experience administering and operating enterprise Ansible platforms, including RBAC, execution environments, credential management, governance, upgrades, and lifecycle management (MUST)
Proven experience establishing automation standards, performing code reviews, and coaching engineering teams on secure and maintainable automation practices (MUST)
Mastery of RHEL and OpenShift or Kubernetes platforms (MUST)
Solid understanding of infrastructure-as-code and configuration management principles (MUST)
Strong proficiency in Git and branching strategies (MUST)
Experience with secrets management and secure automation patterns (MUST)
Demonstrated experience acting as a technical lead, trusted advisor, or end-to-end solution architect for enterprise automation, platform engineering, or DevSecOps initiatives (MUST)
Strong stakeholder management, customer engagement, communication, and influencing skills, with the ability to partner effectively with engineers, architects, security teams, and senior leadership (MUST)
Strong scripting/programming skills in Python and/or Groovy (MUST)

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in Ansible automation, including playbook and role development, while ensuring adherence to security best practices and automation standards. Proven ability to lead platform engineering initiatives and integrate automation into CI/CD workflows for enhanced operational efficiency.

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