Ansible Automation Systems Engineer

Position Title: Systems Engineer - Ansible Automation

Location: Columbia MD (Hybrid work schedule)

Clearance Requirements: Eligibility for a Secret Clearance, Active Clearance would be great

Industry: Government / Defense / Secure Enterprise Environment

Position Overview

We are seeking a highly skilled Systems Engineer - Ansible Automation to architect, design, and own enterprise-scale automation frameworks. This is not a "playbook user" role - we are looking for someone who has built, structured, and maintained automation ecosystems from the ground up.

The ideal candidate has deep experience designing Ansible playbooks, modular role structures, and scalable configuration management frameworks that support secure, compliant, and repeatable infrastructure deployments
. Experience operating in security-focused, federal, or DoD-adjacent environments is strongly preferred.

This role will serve as a technical leader in automation strategy, infrastructure as code (IaC), and configuration governance.

Key Responsibilities

Architect and own enterprise-wide Ansible automation frameworks

Design, develop, and maintain scalable playbooks and reusable role structures

Establish best practices for configuration management, inventory structuring, and secrets handling

Build modular, version-controlled automation aligned with infrastructure lifecycle management

Integrate Ansible with CI/CD pipelines and Dev Ops tool chains

Automate system provisioning, patching, hardening, and compliance validation

Develop standardized automation for Linux and/or Windows environments

Collaborate with Security, Infrastructure, and Dev Ops teams to ensure automation aligns with compliance frameworks (e.g., STIG, NIST, RMF)

Troubleshoot and optimize automation workflows for performance and scalability

Provide technical mentorship and governance around automation standards

Maintain documentation, testing frameworks, and change control for automation assets

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field (or equivalent experience)

5+ years of systems engineering or infrastructure automation experience

Demonstrated experience architecting and owning Ansible automation frameworks

Deep expertise in:

Ansible playbook development

Role-based architecture and modular design

Inventory and variable structuring at scale

Ansible Tower / AWX (or similar orchestration platforms)

Strong understanding of:

Linux system administration

Infrastructure as Code principles

Configuration management best practices

Experience integrating Ansible into CI/CD pipelines

Strong scripting experience (Python, Bash, or similar)

Experience managing automation in large, multi-environment infrastructures (Dev/Test/Prod)

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in security-focused or DoD-adjacent environments

Familiarity with:

STIG hardening

NIST 800-53 / RMF controls

FedRAMP or IL-level environments

Experience in containerized or cloud environments (AWS, Azure, Gov Cloud)

Active or prior security clearance

Experience automating patch management and vulnerability remediation workflows

Familiarity with Git Ops methodologies

What Makes This Role Different

We are specifically seeking someone who has:

Designed automation architecture - not just executed tasks

Owned lifecycle management of automation frameworks

Built reusable, scalable automation standards adopted by teams

Driven governance and technical direction around configuration management

$125,000 - $150,000 a year