Contract: Automation Architect Start Date: ASAP Duration: 6 months Location: Remote - UK Rate: circa £550 - £590 per day outside of IR35 Reference: 20059

This role is for a highly skilled and experienced

Automation Architect

responsible for the end-to-end delivery of

on-premise private cloud infrastructure automation

solutions. The ideal person will bridge the gap between architectural design, process analysis, and hands-on implementation, ensuring that infrastructure is provisioned and managed efficiently via

Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

principles utilizing a robust

CI/CD pipeline

orchestrated by

Git runner

technology. This automation will specifically target the deployment and management of environments hosting

Containers

(e.g., Kubernetes, OpenShift) and traditional

Virtual Machines (VMs) .

Responsibilities

Strategy and Analysis

Architectural Design:

Design and document the target state architecture for

private cloud

infrastructure automation, ensuring scalability, security, and maintainability for both

VM-based and containerized platforms . Feasibility Analysis:

Analyze and evaluate available on-premise automation technologies, tools, and platforms (e.g.

OpenStack, Ansible, Terraform, configuration management tools ) to determine the optimal approach for implementing IaC and CI/CD within the private data center. Process Flow Definition:

Create detailed

process flow diagrams

and technical specifications outlining the complete lifecycle of private cloud infrastructure deployment and teardown through the automated pipeline. Tooling Selection:

Recommend and justify the specific tools and technologies required for the CI/CD pipeline, Git runner orchestration, and IaC implementation targeting the private cloud environment.

Development Guidance and Enablement

Technical Leadership:

Provide

expert guidance and mentorship

to development and infrastructure teams on best practices for IaC, CI/CD methodology, and Git runner configuration, specifically tailored for

on-premise automation . Platform Expertise:

Guide development of IaC modules for provisioning and configuring resources required to host

Containers (e.g., provisioning host OS, networking for clusters)

and stand-alone

Virtual Machines . Standardization:

Define and enforce coding standards, security policies, and deployment patterns for all automated infrastructure deployments in the private cloud. Code Review:

Participate in code reviews to ensure quality, efficiency, adherence to design specifications, and proper integration with the automation ecosystem.

Delivery and Quality Assurance

End-to-End Accountability:

Maintain full accountability for the delivery and successful functioning of the developed on-premise automation solutions. Quality Assurance (QA) Testing:

Design, implement, and execute comprehensive

QA test cases

and scripts to validate the functionality and idempotency of the automation outcome (e.g., successful deployment of a VM, correct configuration of a Container host)

before

release to client teams. UAT Participation:

Actively participate in the

User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

phase with client teams, gathering feedback on functionality, usability, and identifying defects or areas for improvement related to the automated provisioning of

Container and VM infrastructure . Defect Management:

Triage, track, and manage all issues and enhancement requests arising from QA and UAT, ensuring their timely resolution. Documentation:

Ensure all architectural designs, process flows, test results, and operational runbooks for the private cloud automation are accurately documented and maintained.

Required Skills and Qualifications

Experience:

Proven experience (5+ years preferred) in a similar role focused on

on-premise infrastructure, DevOps, or automation engineering . Must haves - Private cloud experience, Greenfield automation, Ansible/terraform, Gitlab, CI/CD Infrastructure as Code (IaC):

Deep expertise with at least one major IaC tool (e.g.,

Terraform, Ansible ) for provisioning and configuration management, including integration with

private cloud APIs

(e.g., OpenShift, OpenStack). Private Cloud/Virtualization:

Strong expertise in virtualization technologies and platforms and managing the underlying infrastructure for

Virtual Machines and Container hosts . Container Infrastructure:

Solid understanding of the infrastructure requirements for hosting and managing

Container orchestration platforms (e.g., Kubernetes, OpenShift) . CI/CD:

Extensive knowledge and practical experience designing and implementing end-to-end CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions) and configuring

Git runners

for private cloud deployments. Scripting:

Proficiency in scripting languages (e.g., Python, Bash, PowerShell) for developing automation glue logic and utility scripts. Analytical Skills:

Excellent ability to analyze complex technical problems, map out process flows (e.g., using

BPMN

or flow charts), and propose clear, actionable solutions. Communication:

Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, capable of presenting technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences. Networking People (UK) is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.

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