Principal Automation Engineer

Principal Automation Engineer

Position Title

Principal Automation Engineer

Position Summary

We are seeking a highly technical Principal Automation Engineer to lead the design, development, and implementation of enterprise automation solutions across hybrid infrastructure, cloud platforms, and application environments. This individual will serve as the organization’s technical authority for automation engineering, driving Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Configuration as Code (CaC), and orchestration strategies that improve resiliency, security, operational efficiency, and consistency.

The ideal candidate is an expert in Ansible Automation Platform, automation architecture, enterprise-scale orchestration, API integration, and software engineering principles. They are equally comfortable writing automation code, designing enterprise automation frameworks, mentoring engineers, and influencing executive technology strategy.

Key Responsibilities

• Enterprise Automation Strategy

• • Define and lead the enterprise automation roadmap.
• • Establish reusable automation standards, frameworks, and engineering best practices.
• • Develop automation that supports enterprise resiliency, cyber recovery, disaster recovery, backup and restore, and operational excellence.
• • Champion Infrastructure as Code, Configuration as Code, GitOps, and policy-driven automation.

• Automation Engineering

• • Design, develop, and maintain enterprise-grade Ansible Playbooks, Roles, Collections, and Automation Controller workflows.
• • Develop reusable automation modules and enterprise automation libraries.
• • Build automation for:
• • Server provisioning
• • Operating system configuration
• • Middleware deployment
• • Application deployment
• • Database automation
• • Storage automation
• • Network automation
• • Kubernetes/OpenShift lifecycle management
• • Public and private cloud provisioning
• • Security configuration
• • Disaster recovery orchestration
• • Cyber recovery execution
• • Patch management
• • Compliance remediation

• Platform Integration

Develop automation integrating with technologies such as:

• GitHub Enterprise

• GitLab

• Jenkins

• Azure DevOps

• Terraform

• ServiceNow

• VMware

• Red Hat OpenShift

• Kubernetes

• AWS

• Azure

• HashiCorp Vault

• Active Directory

• LDAP

• REST APIs

• Python SDKs

• Enterprise Orchestration

• • Build complex multi-step workflows spanning infrastructure, cloud, applications, databases, networking, and security.
• • Design event-driven automation triggered by monitoring, observability, or ITSM platforms.
• • Develop self-service automation catalogs for engineering teams.
• • Enable fully automated provisioning and recovery capabilities.

• Software Development

• • Develop Python modules supporting Ansible automation.
• • Build REST API integrations.
• • Create custom Ansible plugins.
• • Develop testing frameworks for automation quality.
• • Implement automated validation and reporting.

• DevSecOps

• • Integrate automation into CI/CD pipelines.
• • Implement automated testing.
• • Implement automated code quality gates.
• • Build secure software delivery pipelines.
• • Automate compliance validation.

• Enterprise Resiliency Automation

Develop automation supporting:

• Disaster Recovery

• Point-in-Time Recovery (PiTR)

• Backup Validation

• Cyber Recovery

• Air-gapped Recovery

• Isolated Recovery Environments (IRE)

• Clean Room recovery

• Automated recovery testing

• Automated evidence collection

• RTO/RPO reporting

• Infrastructure rebuild automation

• Technical Leadership

• • Serve as the enterprise subject matter expert for automation engineering.
• • Mentor automation engineers and software developers.
• • Conduct architecture reviews.
• • Lead proof-of-concepts for emerging automation technologies.
• • Drive engineering standards across infrastructure teams.

• Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related field.

• 10+ years of enterprise infrastructure engineering.

• 8+ years of Ansible automation development.

• 5+ years developing enterprise automation frameworks.

• Expert knowledge of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform.

• Strong software development background.

• Experience building enterprise APIs.

• Experience with enterprise Linux administration.

• Deep understanding of Windows automation.

• Experience automating hybrid cloud environments.

• Technical Skills

• Expert

• Ansible Automation Platform

• Ansible Controller / Tower

• Playbooks

• Roles

• Collections

• Jinja2

• YAML

• Python

• Git

• REST APIs

• Linux

• Advanced

• Terraform

• PowerShell

• Bash

• Azure

• AWS

• OpenShift

• Kubernetes

• Docker

• VMware

• GitHub Actions

• Azure DevOps

• Jenkins

• ServiceNow

• Preferred

• Red Hat Satellite

• HashiCorp Vault

• CyberArk

• Kafka

• MQ

• Splunk

• Dynatrace

• Prometheus

• Grafana

• Preferred Experience

• Financial services or GSIB environments.

• Enterprise resiliency engineering.

• Disaster recovery automation.

• Cyber recovery automation.

• Immutable backup technologies.

• Air-gap recovery solutions.

• Infrastructure rebuild automation.

• Regulated environments.

• Large-scale hybrid cloud transformations.

• Infrastructure as Code and GitOps operating models.

• Leadership Competencies

• Exceptional technical leadership

• Strategic thinker

• Strong architecture skills

• Executive communication

• Engineering mentorship

• Continuous improvement mindset

• Innovation focused

• Excellent collaboration across engineering disciplines

• Working with Us

• As a Northern Trust partner, you will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture, which has a strong history of financial strength and stability. Movement within the organization is encouraged, senior leaders are accessible, and you can take pride in working for a company committed to an inclusive workplace and assisting the communities we serve.

• Philanthropy is deeply rooted in Northern Trust’s history and is an essential element of our culture. Employees around the world give their time and talent to work for the greater good of their communities.

• Reasonable Accommodation

• Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing adjustments to individuals with health conditions and disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center, or alternatively you can discuss your individual requirements with the recruiter you are working with.

• About Our Pune Office

• The Northern Trust Pune office, established in 2016, is now home to over 3,000 employees. The office handles various functions, including Operations for Asset Servicing and Wealth Management, as well as delivering critical technology solutions that support business operations across the globe.

• Our Pune team takes our commitment to service to heart. In 2024, they volunteered more than 10,000+ hours into the communities where they live and work. Learn more.

• About Us

• Looking for greater?

• You found it.

• A global financial leader with more than 22,000 employees in 23 locations worldwide, Northern Trust empowers our employees to achieve more than just business goals. Our focus on work-life balance, career mobility and unique opportunities are just a few of the reasons we’ve been named one of the world’s most admired companies.

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• Terms and Conditions

• Terms and Conditions

• Candidate Privacy Notices

• Candidate Privacy Notice

• California Applicant Privacy Notice

• Pay Transparency

• Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision (U.S)

• Disclosures

• Transparency in Coverage Disclosure – North America

• Reasonable Accommodation

• Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center or call 1-800-807-0302, +630-276-5353, 1800-425-0333, +