Infrastructure Automation Engineer, Vice President

Citi - Fixed Income Technology is seeking a highly motivated and experienced Infrastructure Automation Engineer to drive productivity through application development knowledge and build robust tools and automation for manual infrastructure tasks. This role is based in Pune, India. The Lead Engineer will play a pivotal role in transforming traditional infrastructure management into a scalable, automated, and code-driven process. This involves collaborating closely with development teams, integrating with Citi infrastructure, QA, SA, DBA, and Production support to embed Infrastructure as Code (IaC) principles. The Infrastructure Automation Engineer will be responsible for automating infrastructure activities including server provisioning, software installation and configuration, OS and software lifecycle management (EOVS remediation), and environment setup. The candidate will champion the provisioning and configuration of new infrastructure requests for multiple applications through IaC, as well as leverage automation for troubleshooting application setup and deployment configurations. The ideal candidate will have strong communication skills to engage with diverse application stakeholders, coordinate multiple initiatives concurrently, and possess a keen ability for deep-dive investigations to deliver results. Key Responsibilities: * IaC Development: Design, develop, and implement automation for repetitive infrastructure tasks such as server builds, software installation/upgrades, database patching, and operating system patching using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools (e.g., Terraform, Ansible, CloudFormation), alongside Shell and Python scripting. * Automated Application Environment Setup: Automate the setup and configuration of application frameworks and middleware, including but not limited to IBM WebSphere, WebLogic, Tomcat, WMQ, and other messaging services, ensuring seamless connectivity with upstream and downstream systems. * Strategic Planning & Problem Solving: Create comprehensive project plans, perform thorough impact analyses, and proactively identify and resolve high-impact infrastructure problems through automated solutions to restore services efficiently. * Root Cause Analysis: Drive Root Cause Analysis (RCA) post service restoration, implementing automated preventative measures and permanent solutions. * Infrastructure Design: Review application requirements, define infrastructure-as-code specifications, and continuously examine and update infrastructure processes and procedures to align with automation best practices. * Network & Security Fundamentals: Possess a strong understanding of Virtual IP, Load Balancers, and Firewalls, integrating network configuration into automated deployments. * Technical Leadership: Provide technical and strategic direction, acting as an advisor and coach to junior engineers in infrastructure automation and IaC methodologies. * CI/CD Integration: Implement and maintain Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipelines for infrastructure changes, ensuring automated, reliable, and consistent deployments. * Unix/Linux Automation: Leverage extensive hands-on Unix/Linux experience for automating application environment setups, debugging complex issues, and developing robust automation scripts. * Architectural Contributions: Contribute to technical direction and strategic decisions by preparing, discussing, and implementing strategic automated solutions to proactively prevent recurring issues. * Autonomy & Ownership: Operate effectively with a limited level of direct supervision, taking ownership of automation initiatives from conception to deployment. * Stakeholder Engagement: Act as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) to senior stakeholders and team members, articulating complex technical concepts clearly. * Cross-Functional Coordination: Coordinate infrastructure automation activities with Solution Architects, System Administrators, and other solution teams. *...