Network Automation Engineer

Core4ce is a team of innovators, self-starters, and critical thinkers—driven by a shared mission to strengthen national security and advance warfighting outcomes. In this role, you will design, build, and maintain robust infrastructure and network automation solutions, integrating systems and enabling operational scalability.

Responsibilities:

• Automation & IaC: Design, develop, and maintain advanced automation workflows, playbooks, and modules using Ansible and Terraform to provision, configure, and manage infrastructure and networking devices
• Scripting & Integration: Write clean, scalable scripts (primarily in Python) utilizing libraries like Paramiko for SSH-based network/server automation and interact seamlessly with RESTful APIs for third-party integrations
• Network Automation: Apply a deep understanding of networking concepts (routing, switching, firewalls, load balancing) to automate network provisioning, state validation, and configuration management
• System Architecture: Collaborate with cross-functional engineering and operations teams to architect automated, self-healing, and scalable infrastructure solutions
• Tool Development: Build and maintain custom tooling, utilizing both frontend and backend development skills, to create self-service automation portals for internal teams
• Troubleshooting & Optimization: Proactively identify performance bottlenecks, troubleshoot complex automation failures, and ensure the reliability of CI/CD pipelines
• Mentorship & Best Practices: Champion code quality, perform code reviews, maintain comprehensive documentation, and help guide junior engineers in automation best practices

Requirements:

• 3–5 years of proven experience in IT automation, DevOps, Network Engineering, or a related field
• Secret Clearance with Tier 5 investigation
• Hands-on, production-level experience with Ansible (playbooks, roles, inventory management) and Terraform (state management, modules, providers)
• Solid understanding of core networking concepts (TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, VPNs, BGP/OSPF) and experience automating network hardware or virtual appliances
• Strong proficiency in Python, including practical experience with Paramiko (or Netmiko) and consuming/building REST APIs
• Strong background in Linux/Unix systems administration
• Proficiency with Git and collaborative workflows (e.g., branching, merging, pull requests)
• Excellent analytical skills with the ability to troubleshoot complex, multi-tier system issues independently
• Experience with backend development (e.g., Flask, FastAPI, Django, Node.js) and frontend development (e.g., React, Vue.js, or HTML/CSS/JS) to build custom internal automation dashboards
• Relevant industry certifications such as Red Hat Certified Specialist in Ansible Automation, HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate, or Cisco DevNet
• Experience provisioning resources in AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform
• Familiarity with Docker, Kubernetes, and pipeline orchestration tools (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions)
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Network Engineering, or equivalent practical experience