Systems Engineer - Randstad Digital

Story Behind the Need

What is the purpose of this team?

• Build and run Ansible automation for the Windows Server estate-standardizing provisioning, config, patching, and remediation on AAP with integrations (vSphere, ServiceNow, CyberArk, Dynatrace).
• Describe the surrounding team (team culture, work environment, etc.) & key projects.
• 5-person, agile, remote-friendly dev team with strong code-review culture. Current work: Terraform+Ansible provisioning migration, event-driven remediation (Dynatrace?AAP?ServiceNow), EE/CI hardening, and Windows 2022/2025 upgrades.
• Do you have any additional upcoming hiring needs or is this request part of a larger hiring initiative?
• We have no other upcoming hirings.

location: Saint Louis, Missouri

job type: Contract

salary: $48 - 58 per hour

work hours: 8am to 5pm

education: Bachelors

responsibilities:

Typical Day in the Role

Walk me through the day-to-day responsibilities and a description of the project (Outside of the Workday JD).

• Start the day by checking AAP/Tower job health, pipeline status (GitLab/GitHub), and open PRs/issues; participate in daily stand-up.
• Design/implement Ansible playbooks, roles, and collections for Windows Server (patching, config, remediation, app/service changes).
• Build/maintain AAP assets: dynamic inventories, credentials, surveys, job templates/workflows, RBAC, schedules.
• Write Molecule tests and ansible-lint rules; troubleshoot WinRM, idempotency, and module behaviors (ansible.windows/community.windows).
• Integrate automations with platforms and APIs: ServiceNow (ITSM/CMDB), Dynatrace (event-driven remediation), Splunk, CyberArk/Conjur (secrets).
• Contribute to IaC initiatives: Terraform modules for Windows/vSphere provisioning and Packer image pipelines (Windows 2022/2025).
• Code reviews, pair programming, and documentation; partner closely with Windows Admins to productize repeatable tasks.
• Project focus this year: migrate server provisioning to Terraform orchestrated by AAP, finalize golden image pipeline, expand event-driven remediations (e.g., disk cleanup, service restarts) from Dynatrace ? AAP ? ServiceNow, and uplift existing playbooks (Splunk forwarder mgmt, in-place OS upgrades) to modern standards.
• What are the performance expectations/metrics?
• Delivery: on-time completion of sprint commitments; PR time-to-first-review ? 1 business day; small, frequent merges.
• Quality: ? 98% AAP job success rate; idempotency verified in Molecule; 0 high-severity ansible-lint findings before merge.
• Reliability/Operations: mean time to restore failed automations ? 4 hours; WinRM connection success ? 99%; low change-failure rate (<5%).
• Test/CI: meaningful Molecule coverage on new roles; pipelines stay green; versioned EEs with reproducible builds.
• Adoption/Impact: reduce manual admin hours; increase % of Windows provisioning via pipeline (goal: move from ~70% to ? 90%); measurable ticket reduction from automated remediations (e.g., sustained low C:\ space incidents down by ? 30%).
• Collaboration: clear runbooks/docs; constructive code reviews; mentorship contributions to uplift junior teammates.

What makes this role unique?

• End-to-end ownership: you ship code, run it in AAP at scale, and see immediate impact across thousands of Windows servers.
• Modern stack on Windows: deep Ansible on Windows + Terraform + Packer + event-driven ops
• High integration surface: meaningful automation with ServiceNow, Dynatrace, Splunk, CyberArk/Conjur-real platform engineering, not just scripting.
• Greenfield + hardening: help define Terraform patterns and golden images while refactoring legacy playbooks into clean, tested roles.
• Growth & influence: strong buy-in for automation, opportunities to mentor, set standards, and shape our Windows automation roadmap.

qualifications:

Candidate Requirements

• Required: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field
• Red Hat Certified Specialist in Ansible Automation
• Microsoft Windows Server/Azure certification preferred

Years of experience required:

• 2-4 years overall in infrastructure automation or systems engineering
• 2+ years hands-on building/maintaining Ansible playbooks/roles for Windows (win_* modules, WinRM)
• 2+ years PowerShell scripting for Windows Server administration
• 1+ year working with AAP/Tower (inventories, credentials, job templates, RBAC)

Disqualifiers:

• No demonstrable Ansible-on-Windows experience (Linux-only Ansible background without Windows work)
• Little to no PowerShell proficiency for real-world admin tasks
• No experience with Git-based workflows (branches, PRs/MRs, code reviews) or CI/CD
• Inability to explain/implement idempotency, handle WinRM connectivity, or debug failed Ansible tasks
• No exposure to AAP/Tower in production (only local ansible-playbook runs, classroom labs, or theory)
• Reliance on auto-generated code without understanding (can't articulate what the playbook/role is doing)

Additional qualities to look for:

• Strong troubleshooting mindset (logs, verbose runs, test-driven changes with Molecule/ansible-lint)
• Practical API integration experience (ServiceNow, Dynatrace, Splunk, CyberArk/Conjur, vSphere)
• Clean code habits (modular roles, variables, defaults, docs, and meaningful commit messages)
• Security-aware automation (secrets handling, least privilege, CIS/STIG familiarity)
• Systems knowledge of Windows services (AD/GPO/DNS/WSSCCM) and change management practices
• Collaborative communicator who participates in code reviews, writes clear runbooks, and mentors peers
• Bias for small, frequent, reversible changes and measurable impact (uptime, ticket reduction, job success rates)

skills: Top 3 must-have hard skills stack-ranked by importance

• 1 Ansible
• 2 Powershell
• 3 Windows Server Administration

Equal Opportunity Employer: Race, Color, Religion, Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, National Origin, Age, Genetic Information, Disability, Protected Veteran Status, or any other legally protected group status.

At Randstad Digital, we welcome people of all abilities and want to ensure that our hiring and interview process meets the needs of all applicants. If you require a reasonable accommodation to make your application or interview experience a great one, please contact

Pay offered to a successful candidate will be based on several factors including the candidate's education, work experience, work location, specific job duties, certifications, etc. In addition, Randstad Digital offers a comprehensive benefits package, including: medical, prescription, dental, vision, AD&D, and life insurance offerings, short-term disability, and a 401K plan (all benefits are based on eligibility).

This posting is open for thirty (30) days.

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.