Automation Engineer

Summary

CyKor is a fast-growing technology solutions provider serving federal and commercial clients. The Automation Engineer will design, develop, and maintain network automation solutions using Ansible, Python, CI/CD tools, and infrastructure-as-code practices while supporting configuration management, compliance enforcement, and secure operations in classified and controlled environments.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain Ansible playbooks, roles, and collections to automate configuration and compliance for routers, switches, firewalls, and other network devices
• Create reusable automation frameworks to support multi-vendor environments (Cisco, Juniper, Arista, Palo Alto, etc.)
• Build modular automation pipelines integrated with CI/CD tools (GitLab CI, Jenkins, or GitHub Actions)
• Develop Python scripts and RESTful API integrations for custom automation and reporting workflows
• Collaborate with network architects to translate manual network operations into automated workflows
• Implement infrastructure-as-code best practices for repeatable deployments and version-controlled configurations
• Integrate network automation into change management, configuration management, and compliance enforcement systems
• Support large-scale configuration rollouts, template-based provisioning, and software image management
• Incorporate DISA STIG, DoD RMF, and Comply-to-Connect (C2C) standards into automation workflows
• Automate compliance verification and reporting against federal cybersecurity policies
• Ensure automation pipelines maintain the integrity, traceability, and security required for classified and controlled environments
• Partner with network and security teams to identify automation opportunities and standardize workflows
• Provide training, documentation, and code reviews for team adoption of automation practices

Skills

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Technology, or a related field (or equivalent experience)
• 3+ years of experience in Cisco networking, with at least 3 years in a network automation role
• Active Secret clearance
• IAT Level II or III Certification (e.g., CISSP, CISM, or equivalent)
• Strong understanding of TCP/IP, routing protocols (BGP, OSPF, EIGRP), VLANs, QoS, and ACLs
• Proficiency with Ansible, YAML, Jinja2, and Git
• Experience automating Cisco IOS-XE, NX-OS, ASA/FTD, and wireless controllers
• Familiarity with Python scripting for REST API integration and data manipulation
• Experience with configuration management and CI/CD platforms (GitLab, Jenkins, GitHub Actions)
• Familiarity with network telemetry and validation tools (pyATS, Genie, Batfish)
• Understanding of DoD networking standards, DISA STIGs, and RMF documentation requirements
• Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment and communicate effectively
• Experience with NetBox, Nornir, or Terraform for networking is a plus

Qualifications

Must Haves

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Technology, or a related field (or equivalent experience)
• 3+ years of experience in Cisco networking, with at least 3 years in a network automation role
• Active Secret clearance
• IAT Level II or III Certification (e.g., CISSP, CISM, or equivalent)
• Strong understanding of TCP/IP, routing protocols (BGP, OSPF, EIGRP), VLANs, QoS, and ACLs
• Proficiency with Ansible, YAML, Jinja2, and Git
• Experience automating Cisco IOS-XE, NX-OS, ASA/FTD, and wireless controllers
• Familiarity with Python scripting for REST API integration and data manipulation
• Experience with configuration management and CI/CD platforms (GitLab, Jenkins, GitHub Actions)
• Familiarity with network telemetry and validation tools (pyATS, Genie, Batfish)
• Understanding of DoD networking standards, DISA STIGs, and RMF documentation requirements
• Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment and communicate effectively

Nice to Haves

• Experience with NetBox, Nornir, or Terraform for networking is a plus