Automation Engineer

Job Description AHEAD is searching for an Automation Engineer to be a part of our Managed Services team. This individual will provide DevOps functions supporting our growing Managed Services business. This individual will develop automated solutions, implement CI/CD processes, ensure security and compliance, and collaborate with internal teams. The automation engineer must have a strong technical background, analytical skills, and excellent collaboration skills. The ideal candidate will have experience with infrastructure as code, containerization, and orchestration technologies. Roles & Responsibilities - Develop tools to automate the standup of Elastic Observability for customers and provide ongoing lifecycle management of the platform - Develop internal automation tools and applications to reduce upgrade times - Develop applications for new customer onboardings to improve accuracy and time to go-live - Design, develop, and execute automated scripts for APIs, including functional, performance, security, and integration testing. - Partner with other teams to integrate automation functions with ServiceNow - Identify, document, and track defects found during API testing, collaborating with development teams for resolution. - Work closely with software developers, QA engineers, and other stakeholders to understand API functionalities, requirements, and testing needs. - Implement and maintain CI/CD processes to ensure that changes are tested, approved, and deployed in an automated and secure manner - Work with security and compliance teams to implement security and compliance controls and ensure that they are being followed - Create and maintain technical documentation. - Serve as a subject matter expert and escalation point for automation technologies. - Communicate with customers and internal team with transparency - Complete training and certification as assigned to further skills and knowledge. Qualifications - A college degree or equivalent in Information Systems or related field. Unique education, specialized experience, skills, knowledge, training, or certification may be substituted for education. - Minimum of 5 years of related experience. - Managed services or consulting experience required - Experience with Scrum methodologies and ability to lead Scrum sessions to optimize software release testing and deployment efforts. - Experience with databases (e.g. MySQL, ElasticSearch, etc.) - Experience with source control tools and methods (Git) - Experience with performance monitoring tools (e.g. Elastic, LogicMonitor, SolarWinds, etc. - Strong scripting skills (e.g. Python, Bash, PowerShell) - Experience integrating tools with ServiceNow. - Strong understanding of API concepts: REST, SOAP, JSON, XML, authentication mechanisms (e.g., OAuth, API keys). - Experience with API testing tools and frameworks: Rest Assured, Postman, SoapUI, Karate, or similar. - Familiarity with CI/CD tools: Jenkins, Azure DevOps, etc. - Experience with Linux and Windows operating systems - Basic knowledge of enterprise IT systems including Windows, Active Directory, DHCP/DNS, routers/switches, firewalls, storage, compute, virtualization. - Excellent written and verbal interpersonal skills and ability to build and maintain collaborative and positive working relationships at all levels. - Understanding of general IT security principles and how to ingrain security best practices in the development lifecycle. - Self-motivated with the ability to work in a fast-paced environment - Excellent problem-solving and troubleshooting skills. - Demonstrated commitment to continuous learning and personal development.