Principle Infrastructure Engineer

Cloud Software Group•San Ramon, CA

8d•$143,957 - $259,122

About The Position

A Principal Infrastructure Automation Engineer is a senior technical leader who designs, develops, and implements large-scale, automated solutions to streamline IT operations and manage complex infrastructure environments. This role balances deep technical expertise with strategic planning and mentorship responsibilities. Key Responsibilities Strategic Leadership: Define the strategy and long-term goals for automation and control systems across the organization. This includes evaluating and recommending automation tools and technologies and ensuring alignment with business objectives. Architecture & Design: Lead the design and development of robust, scalable, and secure automation frameworks and infrastructure blueprints (often using Infrastructure as Code principles). Implementation & Execution: Oversee the implementation of automation solutions for provisioning, configuration management, and application deployment, often within CI/CD pipelines. This may involve managing projects, budgets, and external vendors. Technical Expertise & Troubleshooting: Serve as the subject matter expert (SME) for highly complex issues, performing root-cause analysis and providing technical consultation. Mentorship & Collaboration: Mentor and guide junior engineers and cross-functional teams (e.g., SREs, QA, and product teams) on automation best practices, code quality, and design patterns. Compliance & Security: Ensure all automated systems comply with internal security standards and external regulatory requirements (e.g., FDA, ISO, FedRAMP, specific industry regulations). Monitoring & Improvement: Implement comprehensive monitoring and logging systems, using the gathered data to drive continuous improvement in efficiency, reliability, and performance.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in software development, IT automation, and/or infrastructure engineering.
A Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field is often required.
Extensive experience with tools like Ansible, Puppet, Chef, Terraform, or AWS CloudFormation.
Strong skills in languages such as Python, Java, PowerShell, or Bash for automation and tooling.
Expertise in managing scalable and reliable cloud infrastructure in environments such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
Proficiency with CI/CD pipelines, Docker, Kubernetes, and monitoring tools like Prometheus or Grafana.
Exceptional problem-solving, analytical, and critical thinking skills.
Strong communication and leadership abilities, with a proven ability to influence senior levels and build alignment across teams.
Strong project management skills to manage complex, large-scale projects from concept to completion.

Responsibilities

Define the strategy and long-term goals for automation and control systems across the organization.
Lead the design and development of robust, scalable, and secure automation frameworks and infrastructure blueprints (often using Infrastructure as Code principles).
Oversee the implementation of automation solutions for provisioning, configuration management, and application deployment, often within CI/CD pipelines.
Serve as the subject matter expert (SME) for highly complex issues, performing root-cause analysis and providing technical consultation.
Mentor and guide junior engineers and cross-functional teams (e.g., SREs, QA, and product teams) on automation best practices, code quality, and design patterns.
Ensure all automated systems comply with internal security standards and external regulatory requirements (e.g., FDA, ISO, FedRAMP, specific industry regulations).
Implement comprehensive monitoring and logging systems, using the gathered data to drive continuous improvement in efficiency, reliability, and performance.