Security Automation Engineer

Lead Automation Engineer – Cyber Engineering Excellence 12 Month Contract INSIDE IR35 £600 P/D Role Overview We are seeking a highly experienced Lead Automation Engineer to drive the design, standardisation, and adoption of automation across Cyber engineering teams. This role will lead the shift toward automation-first delivery, embedding consistent engineering standards, scalable deployment frameworks, and reusable patterns across the organisation. This is a senior-level engineering leadership role requiring both deep technical expertise and strong organisational influence. The successful candidate will combine hands-on DevOps capability with architectural thinking, leading automation strategy while enabling teams to improve quality, efficiency, and delivery outcomes. You will play a central role in establishing and advancing the Cyber Engineering Excellence practice — shaping how automation is designed, deployed, and scaled across the enterprise.

Key Responsibilities

• Automation Strategy & Design
• Define and lead the automation strategy across Cyber workstreams.
• Design scalable automation frameworks to support secure, repeatable code deployment.
• Identify and develop reusable automation patterns to accelerate future initiatives.
• Standardise agent deployment models and automation tooling across engineering teams.
• Drive the reduction of manual processes through intelligent automation and platform engineering.
• CI/CD & Deployment Excellence
• Design and implement standardised build and deployment pipelines.
• Lead the evolution of CI/CD frameworks to support secure, automated delivery.
• Promote a “build once, use many times” philosophy to maximise reuse and reduce duplication.
• Ensure automation solutions align with operational resilience, compliance, and security controls.
• Engineering Standards & Continuous Improvement
• Establish and embed engineering best practices, patterns, and standards.
• Build and support a community of practice focused on automation and engineering excellence.
• Identify inefficiencies across the engineering lifecycle and implement measurable improvements.
• Drive consistency across tools, processes, and deployment methodologies.
• Stakeholder Engagement & Leadership
• Work closely with Engineering Leads, Product Owners, and Capability Leads to align on automation priorities.
• Influence architectural direction with a strong automation and design mindset.
• Support Agile teams in adopting reusable patterns and standardised approaches.
• Operate as a senior technical authority, capable of pulling together multiple initiatives into a cohesive automation strategy.

Experience & Skills Required

• 5+ years’ experience operating at Senior Engineer, Lead Engineer, or Technical Architect level.
• Strong DevOps expertise with both hands-on delivery and architectural design capability.
• Proven experience designing and implementing automation frameworks and CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience standardising deployment models and driving code-based infrastructure delivery.
• Demonstrated success leading engineering improvement initiatives in complex enterprise environments.
• Strong understanding of Infrastructure as Code, automated testing, and modern release engineering practices.
• Experience operating in high-change, highly regulated, or large-scale environments.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and influencing skills across technical and non-technical audiences.
• Ability to balance strategic design with practical implementation.