Senior Automation Engineer

Yale Corporation; New Haven (CT); Hybrid; USD 116,000 - 174,000; Full time

Job summary

Yale University seeks a Senior Automation Engineer to lead the design and evolution of the Foundation Technology Services automation platform. You will align automation architecture, establish reusable patterns, and guide complex initiatives spanning infrastructure domains.

The role requires hands-on engineering, mentoring, and cross‑team collaboration across FTS. You will shape orchestration, IaC, configuration management, and observability practices using ServiceNow, Terraform, Ansible,

Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing automation for complex enterprise infrastructure environments, including Terraform/IaC architecture, modularization, state management, versioning, testing and drift management.
• Experience with Ansible Automation Platform and enterprise configuration-management practices.
• Expertise in enterprise networking including routing, firewalls, load balancing, DNS, IPAM, and security.
• Knowledge of Kubernetes and OpenShift in enterprise contexts.
• Experience with Datadog and other monitoring/observability platforms; Linux and Windows infrastructure familiarity.

Responsibilities

• Design, analyze, code, test, debug, document and maintain highly complex enterprise systems; develop enhancements that enable a positive end‑user experience.
• Define project scope and objectives to develop or modify highly complex software systems.
• Analyze and amend software errors in a timely and accurate fashion and provide status reports.
• Lead project activities; guide less experienced staff; instruct and check work of others.
• Research, analyze, design, document, and modify software specifications throughout production life cycle.
• Create and implement project specifications/plans for interdependent systems and projects.
• Develop or modify procedures to solve complex problems related to capacity, performance, and results.

Skills

Automation architecture

Infrastructure as Code

CI/CD practices

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Terraform

Ansible Automation Platform

OpenShift / Kubernetes

Argo CD

Datadog

ServiceNow

CI/CD tooling

Job description

Working at Yale means contributing to a better tomorrow. Whether you are a current resident of our New Haven-based community, eligible for opportunities through the New Haven Hiring Initiative, or a newcomer, interested in exploring all that Yale has to offer, your talents and contributions are welcome. Discover your opportunities at Yale!

Overview

The Senior Automation Engineer serves as a technical lead for the design and evolution of the Foundation Technology Services (FTS) enterprise automation platform. In addition to hands‑on engineering, this position is responsible for defining automation architecture, establishing reusable technical patterns and standards, and leading complex initiatives that span multiple infrastructure and service domains.

The Senior Automation Engineer will determine how technologies such as ServiceNow, Terraform, Ansible Automation Platform, CI/CD platforms, Red Hat OpenShift, Argo CD, Datadog, and enterprise infrastructure systems work together as a cohesive automation framework. The position will guide technical decisions involving orchestration, Infrastructure as Code, configuration management, monitoring, security, and operational readiness.

This role requires broad enterprise infrastructure experience and the ability to work across networking, storage, compute, virtualization, security, and application delivery. The Senior Automation Engineer will mentor other engineers, lead architecture and code reviews, collaborate with technical teams across FTS, and remain actively involved in implementation, prototyping, and troubleshooting.

• Serve as a technical lead for the design and evolution of the FTS enterprise automation platform, providing architectural direction while remaining actively involved in implementation and troubleshooting.
• Define how ServiceNow, Terraform, Ansible Automation Platform, CI/CD tooling, OpenShift, Argo CD, Datadog, and enterprise infrastructure systems should integrate into a cohesive automation architecture.
• Establish reusable architectural patterns, engineering standards, and reference implementations for Infrastructure as Code, configuration management, orchestration, CI/CD, GitOps, monitoring, security, testing, and operational readiness.
• Lead the design and implementation of complex automation workflows that span multiple enterprise domains including compute, networking, storage, virtualization, security, identity, and application delivery.
• Set technical direction for Red Hat OpenShift automation, including containerized applications, virtual machines, networking, storage, security, lifecycle management, and GitOps delivery patterns.
• Establish observability by default as an architectural requirement, defining reusable Datadog integration patterns for infrastructure, applications, logging, metrics, health checks, dashboards, alerting, and service ownership.
• Lead cross‑functional automation initiatives with networking, storage, security, systems, application, and service‑management teams, resolving architectural and integration issues that cross organizational boundaries.
• Review automation architecture, Terraform modules, Ansible content, pipeline design, and code produced by other engineers; identify technical debt and drive improvements in maintainability, scalability, reliability, and security.
• Mentor engineers and technical teams in Infrastructure as Code, automation, source control, CI/CD, APIs, OpenShift, and related engineering practices, helping teams adopt and contribute to common automation capabilities.

Required Skills and Experience

1. Demonstrated experience designing and implementing automation for complex enterprise infrastructure environments, including substantial experience with several of the following: Terraform and Infrastructure-as-Code architecture, including reusable modules, state management, versioning, testing, and drift management.

2. Ansible and enterprise configuration‑management practices, preferably including Ansible Automation Platform.

3. Enterprise networking including routing, firewalls, load balancing, DNS, IPAM, and network security.

4. Kubernetes and/or Red Hat OpenShift.

5. Enterprise monitoring and observability platforms such as Datadog. Linux and Windows infrastructure.

Principal Responsibilities

• Design, analyze, code, test, debug, document and maintain highly complex enterprise systems; develop enhancements that enable a positive end‑user experience.
• Formulate, define, and document system scope and objectives to develop or modify highly complex software systems.
• Analyze and amend software errors in a timely and accurate fashion and provide status reports where required.
• Define projects, organize a project team, and direct project activities; provide technical guidance to less experienced programmer/ analyst; may instruct, direct, and check the work of other application developers.
• Research, analyze, design, document, and modify software specifications throughout the production life‑cycle.
• Creates and implements project specifications/plans for projects with significant inter‑dependency with other systems and/or projects.
• Develop or modify procedures to solve complex problems related to computer equipment capacity and limitations, operating time, and form of desired results.

Required Education and Experience

Bachelor's Degree and seven years of experience or equivalent education and experience.

Skills and Abilities

Well‑developed analytical, critical thinking and problem‑solving skills. Well‑developed interpersonal, written, communication, presentation, and organizational skills. Proven ability to lead and manage staff. Proven ability to manage multiple/complex projects, meeting deadlines and budget. Expert knowledge of commonly used concepts, practices, and procedures.

Job Posting Date

10/29/2026

Job Category

Professional

Bargaining Unit

NON

Compensation Grade

GS-4

Compensation Grade Profile

GS-4j

Salary Range

$116,300.00 - $174,425.00

Benefits

A general description of the benefits to be offered with this Managerial & Professional position is available at: Yale Benefits

Time Type

Full time

Duration Type

Staff

Work Model

Hybrid

Background Check Requirements

All candidates for employment will be subject to pre‑employment background screening for this position, which may include motor vehicle, DOT certification, drug testing and credit checks basedon the position description and job requirements. All offers are contingent upon the successful completion of the background check. For additional information on the background check requirements and process visit "Learn about background checks" under the Applicant Support Resources section of Careers on the It's Your Yale website.

Health Requirements

Certain positions have associated health requirements based on specific job responsibilities. These may include vaccinations, tests, or examinations, as required by law, regulation, or university policy.

Posting Disclaimer

Salary offers are determined by a candidate’s qualifications, experience, skills, and education in relation to the position requirements, along with the role’s grade profile and current internal and external market conditions.

The intent of this job description is to provide a representative summary of the essential functions that will be required of the position and should not be construed as a declaration of specific duties and responsibilities of the position. Employees will be assigned specific job‑related duties throughtheir hiring department.

The University is committed to basing judgments concerning the admission, education, and employment of individuals upon their qualifications and abilities and seeks to attract to its faculty, staff, and student body qualified persons from a broad range of backgrounds and perspectives. In accordance with this policy and as delineated by federal and Connecticut law, Yale does not discriminate in admissions, educational programs, or employment against any individual on account of that individual’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, disability, status as a special disabled veteran, veteran of the Vietnam era or other covered veteran.

Inquiries concerning Yale's Policy Against Discrimination and Harassment may be referred to the Office of Institutional Equity and Accessibility (OIEA).

Note

Yale University is a tobacco-free campus.