Lead Network Automation Engineer — Python & Ansible Expert

General Dynamics IT; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

General Dynamics IT is seeking a Lead Network Automation Engineer to lead the development, implementation, and sustainment of automation across a complex, multivendor enterprise network environment.

The role emphasizes hands-on leadership, Python and Ansible expertise, mentoring a small team of automation engineers, and delivering scalable, reliable automation that improves deployment speed and consistency for network operations.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of related experience.
• US citizenship required.
• Top Secret/SCI clearance currently possessed.
• Certifications: None

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, test, deploy, and maintain network automation solutions using Python and Ansible.
• Develop Ansible playbooks, Python scripts, and reusable automation modules to support network configuration management, provisioning, patching, maintenance, and operational tasks.
• Automate network device configuration changes, software updates, configuration backups, compliance checks, and operational validation across multivendor environments.
• Develop automation capabilities supporting Cisco, Juniper, Arista, Aruba, and other enterprise networking technologies.
• Implement automated configuration validation, network state verification, and configuration drift detection to improve network reliability and compliance.
• Build automation solutions for network monitoring, reporting, inventory management, and operational data collection.
• Develop standardized, reusable automation components that reduce repetitive administrative activities and improve engineering consistency.
• Incorporate appropriate error handling, logging, validation, and rollback capabilities into automated network changes.
• Troubleshoot automation failures and resolve integration challenges between automation tools and network infrastructure.

Skills

Automation

Configuration Management

Network Automation

Systems Design

Job description

General Dynamics IT is seeking a Lead Network Automation Engineer to lead the development, implementation, and sustainment of automation across a complex, multivendor enterprise network environment.

The role emphasizes hands-on leadership, Python and Ansible expertise, mentoring a small team of automation engineers, and delivering scalable, reliable automation that improves deployment speed and consistency for network operations.