Lead Automation Engineer, Director

Job Description:

Purpose: 

As Lead Automation Engineer, partner with technology and business to deliver automation solutions that boost productivity and reduce operational cost and risk. Acts as team lead of an Automation team with a primary focus on using generative AI to accelerate automation across all phases of the software development life cycle and drive a shift-left quality strategy to achieve continuous improvement and engineering excellence.  Manage client relationships to resolve complex support issues and improve reliability through root-cause analysis and continuous improvement. Cultivate a culture of quality through continuous learning and staying current with automation, AI, and modern software engineering practices. Provide technical mentorship and lead a high-performing team to deliver secure, resilient, and maintainable automation capabilities.

Major Accountabilities:

• Act as a team lead of a Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Test Automation team, fostering innovation, continuous improvement, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Contribute to an AI-enabled automation roadmap aligned with organizational objectives.
• Monitor emerging AI and automation technologies, tools, and industry trends, and advocate for new products and upgrades to drive automation maturity.         

• Develop intelligent RPA solutions enhanced with intelligent document processing (IDP) capabilities.
• Harness generative AI to accelerate automation development, test script generation, and synthetic test data creation to expedite delivery cycles.

• Assess project requirements, provide technical direction, and lead the implementation of automation solutions ensuring alignment with the automation roadmap and shift-left principles.
• Direct team projects by applying agile practices, establishing deadlines, and ensuring adherence to quality gates and engineering excellence standards.
• Accelerate the continuous improvement of engineering processes including secure coding standards, automated code reviews, CI/CD integration, and shift-left methodology.
• Address customer queries and concerns in a timely fashion. Monitor issues, identify trends through root cause analysis, and initiate solutions to eliminate future issues.

• Oversee technical support of automation solutions.
• Adhere to roadmap of improvements and upgrades including platform updates and tool consolidation strategies.

• Identify training needs and deliver coaching to the team on AI and modern automation tools.
• Perform ad-hoc responsibilities as needed to support organizational automation goals.

Education/Experience/Skills/Knowledge:

Education:  Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field or equivalent work experience required.

Experience:

• Minimum of 7 years of progressive experience as an automation lead in information technology, encompassing installation, support, and development of enterprise automation solutions.
• Proven experience with outsourced and offshore delivery models, including distributed team collaboration.

Skills & Knowledge:

• 5+ years of hands-on experience with RPA and test automation platforms such as UiPath, Playwright, Power Automate, Selenium, and FitNesse.
• Experience leveraging generative AI tools (Kiro, GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude) for code generation, test case generation, and intelligent automation development.
• Strong proficiency in Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) principles and design patterns, with expertise in at least one programming language (Typscript, Javascript, Python or Java).
• Proven experience implementing shift-left testing methodologies, embedding quality gates and automated testing early in the SDLC.
• Knowledge of test-driven development (TDD) and behavior-driven development (BDD) practices using frameworks like Cucumber.
• Experience integrating automation solutions with CI/CD systems such as Jenkins, GitHub Actions, and Azure DevOps.
• Working knowledge of Relational Database Management Systems including Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and Amazon RDS, with ability to write and optimize SQL queries.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, mentor, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver results in a fast-paced environment.
• Proficiency with Jira, Confluence, Xray and agile project management tools for backlog management and documentation.
• Exceptional problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with ability to convey technical concepts to diverse audiences.
• Experience in cloud-native automation with AWS and Azure environments, including serverless and containerized solutions, is highly desirable.
• Working knowledge of financial domain and Capital Markets is highly desirable.
• Knowledge of SAFe and agile delivery practices is desirable.

SALARY RANGE: $190K - $230K

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco is committed to the principles of equal opportunity in employment (e.g., employees, applicants) and in contracting (e.g., suppliers, vendors) regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, genetic information, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a parent, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are committed to cultivating a workplace free of unlawful discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, and are dedicated to fostering vibrant communities by serving as a reliable source of liquidity and resources for affordable housing and economic development.

Salary ranges reflect the base salary that the Bank reasonably expects to pay for a given role and is not inclusive of annual incentive award opportunities, retirement benefits or the value of other health and welfare or other ancillary benefits. We consider many factors when determining base salaries such as individual background and experience, the competitive environment, education, particular skill set(s), and industry and institutional knowledge.

The Bank is committed to offering all team members challenging and engaging work with market competitive pay, retirement, and benefit offerings. In support of this commitment, the Bank routinely engages in market competitive benchmarking surveys and analysis to ensure our team members continue to be paid fairly and competitively.