Automation Engineer

Location: Maastricht Area (80% Remote / 20% Onsite)

Contract Type: Freelance

Contract Duration: 1 year with option for extension

Working Hours: 08:00 – 17:00 CET

On-Call Requirement: 1-hour response time for critical incidents

Role Overview

Our client is seeking a highly experienced Freelance IT Automation Engineer to support enterprise cloud-native infrastructure and hybrid platform automation initiatives. The consultant will be responsible for lifecycle management, Infrastructure as Code implementation, GitOps deployment models, security hardening, and continuous platform evolution within a high-security, mission-critical environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Maintain and perform lifecycle updates of OpenShift and MicroShift environments.
• Maintain and update bare-metal provisioning software and deployment engines.
• Administer and secure enterprise secrets management platforms (e.g., Vault).
• Maintain Kafka environments (Strimzi-based).
• Automate containerised workloads using GitOps principles (FluxCD).
• Execute hybrid cloud automation tasks across Nutanix AHV, VMware, and on-prem OpenShift environments.
• Assist with application containerisation and onboarding to OpenShift.
• Develop Infrastructure as Code coverage using Terraform and Ansible.
• Develop CI/CD automation pipelines using Tekton framework.
• Manage configuration deployments with Helm and Kustomize.
• Implement Kubernetes policies using policy engines (e.g., Kyverno).
• Harden OpenShift clusters (security, monitoring, observability, policy enforcement).
• Implement monitoring using Prometheus, Grafana, and OpenTelemetry.
• Manage logging stack using Elastic and Kibana.
• Manage load balancing using HAProxy and MetalLB.
• Build and manage container images using Podman.
• Support incident response and provide expert analysis for critical infrastructure components.

Mandatory Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in ICT, Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent professional experience.
• Minimum 2 years demonstrated experience with OpenShift (enterprise level).
• Minimum 2 years experience with Nutanix AHV and/or VMware environments.
• Minimum 2 years hands-on experience with Terraform and Ansible (Infrastructure as Code).
• Minimum 2 years experience with GitOps frameworks (FluxCD preferred).
• Minimum 2 years experience with Kubernetes security tools (policy engines, Vault).
• Professional certifications obtained within the last 5 years: CKA, CKAD, CKS and/or LPI (or equivalent Linux certification).
• English language proficiency: Listening & Speaking C1; Reading & Writing B2.

Security & Compliance Requirements

• Certificate of Good Conduct (maximum 6 months old, in EN/NL/DE).
• Must sign confidentiality agreement prior to assignment start.
• Must adhere strictly to internal security procedures.

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