Network Automation Engineer

Competitive salary, remote working, company bonus plus other benefits

Are you passionate about network automation, Python development and using technology to eliminate manual operational effort? At Xalient, we're investing heavily in the future of network operations, automation and AI-driven services. We're looking for an experienced Network Automation Engineer to help lead that journey.

You will own and develop Xalient's network Source of Truth (SSoT) and automated network assurance platforms, centred on Nautobot and IP Fabric. The role provides the data and automation foundation that underpins our NOC, Managed Services, observability and AI/ML (MARTINA) capabilities – turning trusted network data into automated outcomes that reduce manual effort and improve service quality. You will play a leading role in developing automation capabilities supporting both internal teams and customers.

Network Automation Engineers, Net Dev Ops  Engineers, Infrastructure Automation Engineers, Senior Network Engineers with strong coding skills, or Platform Automation Specialists. We value strong networking fundamentals, Python expertise and a passion for automation.

Occasional travel to Xalient offices and customer sites, by agreement.

• Own, develop and govern Nautobot as the network Source of Truth, aligning the data model and data governance with business and service goals.
• The role will be a blend of platform ownership and hands-on automation development; as the practice and estate grow, so will the weighting of architecture and enablement versus day-to-day development.
• Ensuring Source of Truth and CMDB data is correct and accurate to the best of your knowledge, including synchronisation with Service Now.
• Administer IP Fabric across customer estates: discovery coverage, snapshots, intent verification rules and path simulation for automated assurance.
• Develop and maintain Python automation - Nautobot Apps, Jobs and webhooks, API integrations, and Ansible/Nornir playbooks - to standardise and scale network operations.
• Operate and maintain the platforms themselves: containerised Nautobot deployments (Docker/Kubernetes), upgrades, backups, performance and availability.
• Support NOC and Managed Services teams by automating L1 triage, alert enrichment, inventory reporting and customer-facing analytics, and by feeding high-quality data into observability and AI/ML (MARTINA) capabilities.

• Minimum 5 years' experience in network engineering roles, with demonstrable experience of network automation (Net Dev Ops ) in production environments.
• Hands-on experience with Nautobot (or Net Box): data model design, the Nautobot SSoT framework, Jobs, custom Apps/plugins and webhooks.
• Preferrable experience with IP Fabric: snapshot management, intent verification rules, and consuming its tables and APIs (e.g. the python-ipfabric SDK) from other systems.
• Strong Python skills, including API and SDK integration, data modelling and validation (e.g. Pydantic), and working with JSON, YAML and structured network data via REST and GraphQL.
• Solid automation tooling experience:
  Ansible and/or Nornir, Jinja2 templating, Git-based workflows and CI/CD pipelines.
• Expertise with LAN, WAN, Wi-Fi, SD-WAN and network security technologies, sufficient to model network data correctly and judge whether intended-versus-discovered differences are operationally significant.
• Professional certifications such as Cisco Dev Net Associate/Professional, CCNP, and Nautobot / Network to Code training are highly desirable.
• Ability to travel to Xalient offices and customer sites, by agreement.

Xalient is a global boutique specialising in the convergence of identity-driven…