Job Title: Senior Ansible Automation Engineer (Win & Linux)
Location: Toronto, ON (Hybrid)
Estimated Duration: 6 Months
Requisition Title
Senior Ansible Automation Engineer (Win & Linux)
Project Description
We are seeking a Senior Ansible Automation Engineer to lead automation initiatives within a large enterprise IT operations environment. This role is responsible for designing and implementing automation solutions that improve consistency, security, and operational efficiency across enterprise Windows and Linux server infrastructure.
The successful candidate will combine deep Ansible automation expertise with advanced systems administration experience across Windows Server (2019/2022) and enterprise Linux platforms, supporting large-scale operational environments with strong governance, reliability, and compliance requirements.
This is a hands-on technical role focused on reducing manual operational work through automation while ensuring stability, security, and scalability of production systems.
Key Responsibilities
Enterprise Automation & Standardization
- Design, develop, and maintain enterprise-grade automation using Ansible.
- Build reusable Ansible roles, playbooks, inventories, and automation frameworks aligned with enterprise standards.
- Automate provisioning, configuration management, patching, compliance enforcement, and operational workflows across Windows and Linux environments.
- Establish automation governance, coding standards, and reusable automation patterns.
- Lead the transition from manual administration processes to automation-first operations.
- Maintain source-controlled automation repositories and technical documentation.
Windows Server Infrastructure Administration
- Provide senior-level administration and support for Windows Server 2019 and 2022 environments.
- Manage server lifecycle activities including provisioning, configuration, patching, upgrades, and decommissioning.
- Administer and troubleshoot:
- Active Directory and Group Policy
- DNS, DHCP, and core enterprise services
- File and application services
- Implement OS hardening aligned with enterprise security standards.
- Support backup, disaster recovery, and high availability solutions.
Linux Systems Administration
- Administer enterprise Linux environments (e.g., Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Rocky Linux, Ubuntu, or equivalent).
- Perform installation, configuration, patch management, and system upgrades.
- Manage system services, package management, and OS security configurations.
- Implement automation for configuration enforcement and system compliance.
- Troubleshoot performance, networking, and system-level issues.
- Support enterprise authentication integrations (LDAP/AD integration preferred).
Operational Excellence
- Automate routine operational tasks including patching, configuration validation, and remediation.
- Reduce configuration drift through automated compliance enforcement.
- Develop operational runbooks and automated recovery procedures.
- Participate in incident response, root cause analysis, and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Partner with Security, Architecture, and Infrastructure teams to align automation with enterprise policies and standards.
Collaboration & Technical Leadership
- Act as a technical lead for infrastructure automation initiatives.
- Mentor systems administrators and operations teams in automation practices.
- Promote automation adoption across infrastructure teams.
- Work within enterprise change management and release processes.
- Provide strategic input into automation tooling and infrastructure standards.
Required Qualifications
- 7+ years of enterprise IT infrastructure or systems administration experience.
- 3+ years of hands-on Ansible automation experience in production environments.
- Advanced administration experience with:
- Windows Server 2019 and 2022
- Enterprise Linux distributions (RHEL, Ubuntu, or equivalent)
- Strong scripting experience:
- PowerShell (Windows automation)
- Bash or shell scripting (Linux automation)
- Experience automating Windows systems using WinRM and Ansible Windows modules.
- Solid Linux administration skills including package management, services, permissions, and networking.
- Deep knowledge of enterprise infrastructure services:
- Active Directory
- DNS and networking fundamentals
- Experience operating within structured enterprise or ITIL-based environments.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with Ansible Automation Platform, AWX, or Ansible Tower.
- Experience managing environments with hundreds or thousands of servers.
- Hybrid or cloud infrastructure experience (Microsoft Azure preferred).
- Experience with security baselines, CIS hardening, or compliance automation.
- Familiarity with Infrastructure as Code and DevOps practices within enterprise operations.
- Virtualization experience (VMware, Hyper-V, or similar).
Technical Skills
- Ansible automation (roles, playbooks, collections)
- PowerShell and