Senior AI & Automation Engineer

Senior AI & Automation Engineer - Azure/Terraform/AI Automation

Location: Hungerford
Salary: Up to £70,000 per annum
Working Pattern: Hybrid - 3 days onsite
Employment Type: Permanent, Full-Time

The Opportunity

We're working with an established international software organisation seeking aSenior AI & Automation Engineer to join its growing Cloud Operations team. You'll play a key role in modernising cloud infrastructure, developing scalable automation solutions and introducing AI-powered technologies. This hands-on position offers the opportunity to work across multi-cloud environments, improve operational efficiency and influence engineering practices.

The ideal candidate will bring strong experience inTerraform, Microsoft Azure, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), scripting and CI/CD, alongside experience with AI-assisted development tools, LLMs or automation agents.

This isn't simply a role maintaining existing infrastructure. You'll have the opportunity to influence engineering standards, develop reusable automation frameworks, mentor engineers and help shape the future of cloud operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop and implement scalable infrastructure automation solutions across cloud environments.
• Build, maintain and optimise Infrastructure as Code (IaC) solutions, primarily using Terraform.
• Support cloud migration and infrastructure modernisation programmes, automating provisioning, deployment and configuration.
• Identify repetitive manual processes and introduce automation to improve operational efficiency, reliability and consistency.
• Design, develop and enhance CI/CD pipelines to streamline infrastructure deployments and operational workflows.
• Explore and implement AI-powered automation solutions, including LLM-assisted tooling and AI agents.
• Develop reusable automation frameworks, engineering standards and best practices.
• Collaborate with Cloud, Infrastructure, DevOps and Platform Engineering teams to improve existing processes.
• Integrate cloud security, identity and access management (IAM) and secrets management into automated solutions.
• Improve cloud resilience, disaster recovery capabilities and infrastructure performance through automation.
• Investigate complex technical challenges and independently design effective solutions.
• Provide technical guidance, mentoring and knowledge-sharing to engineers across the wider business.

Essential Skills & Experience

We're looking for an experiencedCloud Automation, DevOps or Platform Engineering professional with strong hands-on technical expertise and a passion for infrastructure automation.

Terraform & Infrastructure as Code

• Extensive hands-on experience with Terraform, including designing, building and maintaining reusable infrastructure modules.
• Strong understanding of Infrastructure as Code principles and automated infrastructure provisioning.
• Experience developing scalable and maintainable automation solutions.

Microsoft Azure & Cloud Engineering

• Strong practical experience working with Microsoft Azure.
• Experience supporting cloud migration, infrastructure modernisation or cloud transformation initiatives.
• Solid understanding of cloud infrastructure, provisioning, configuration management and operational processes.

Scripting & CI/CD

• Strong scripting and automation capabilities using Python, PowerShell or Bash.
• Experience designing, building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines.
• Ability to automate infrastructure deployments, configuration processes and operational workflows.

AI & Intelligent Automation

• Experience using AI-assisted development tools, Large Language Models (LLMs) or automation agents within an engineering environment.
• An interest in exploring how AI can improve infrastructure management and cloud operations.
• Ability to evaluate emerging technologies and identify practical opportunities for implementation.

Security & Technical Leadership

• Knowledge of cloud security, identity and access management and secrets management.
• Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills.
• Experience mentoring engineers and promoting engineering best practices.
• Excellent communication skills, with the confidence to challenge existing approaches and recommend improvements.
• Ability to work independently and take ownership of technical solutions.

Desirable Experience

• Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) or other cloud platforms.
• Exposure to Infrastructure as Code technologies such as Pulumi or Bicep.
• Experience automating large-scale cloud migrations or complex infrastructure environments.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted development tools such as GitHub Copilot or Cursor.
• Experience developing AI agents or integrating LLM capabilities into operational workflows.
• Knowledge of disaster recovery, cloud resilience and recovery objectives (RTO/RPO).
• Understanding of FinOps and cloud cost optimisation.
• Familiarity with security and compliance frameworks including ISO 27001, SOC 2 or GDPR.