Network Automation Engineer
Ansible + Python against network gear, CI for configs, less CLI than you'd think.
One of the best forward-looking seats inside networking. Take it if you can actually code, skip it if 'automation' means Ansible playbooks you copy from a vendor wiki.
- Domain
- Networking
- Entry
- £32–48k
- Senior
- £75–105k
- You've got real networking depth and want to keep it relevant
- You're comfortable writing Python, not just patching it
- You enjoy version-controlled, peer-reviewed network changes
- You want a salary closer to platform engineering than netadmin
- You don't actually like coding, you'll be miserable
- You expect every employer to be ready for network-as-code, most aren't
- You'd rather keep clicking through the firewall GUI for another decade
What "doing well" looks like in the seat
- Your changes go through CI and get reviewed like software
- You've replaced a tedious manual workflow with code that survives the next engineer
- Other network engineers borrow your modules and patterns
- You can hold your own in a platform engineering review
The market is bifurcated. Some orgs have the maturity to treat the network as code, give you tooling budget, and trust you with merge rights. Most don't, and you'll be the one engineer trying to drag a CCNA-heavy team into pull requests they don't want. Interview the team's tooling stack and review process. If it's still copy-pasting configs into PuTTY, you're going to be lonely.
Tradeoffs at a glance
Hover any chip for the calibrated meaning. Ratings are directional, not absolute.
Promotion ceiling
High. Niche but premium-paid bridge role between networks and DevOps.
Who actually gets in
- +Senior network engineer who codes
- +Cloud engineer with L2/L3 depth
Common misconceptions
- −That networking automation is mostly Cisco DevNet. Python beats certs here.
Where this leads
- Cloud Network Engineer
- Platform Engineer
- NetDevOps
Certifications people pair with this
Listed because the graph connects them to this role, not because you need all of them. Most practitioners pick one or two.
Tech you'll see
- Ansible
- Python
Pathways that pass through here
What this is based on
Practitioner judgement. External evidence review pending.
Last reviewed: not yet reviewed · UK market
The next step
You've read about the role. The harder question is whether it's the right one for you.
A Career Verdict is the written, practitioner-authored call on your specific route into and out of this role. Six primitives, same format every time.
A route shows what is possible. A Career Verdict makes the call.
Career Verdict
Helpdesk → Security Architect
- 01The callA clear judgement on whether your route is realistic, and under what conditions.
- 02Where the route breaksThe most likely point to stall, and why it happens in practice.
- 03What to do nextSpecific priorities for the next 6–24 months, and what to drop.
Career Verdict
- The callA single written judgement on whether the route is realistic for you.
- Plateaus and failure modesThe flat years and the specific ways this route tends to stall.
- Where you standThe strongest and weakest parts of your current position, named.
- Salary realityWhat this route actually pays, set against what you've been told it pays.
Usually within minutes of payment. Kept 24 months, then deleted. Deletion on request at any time.
Built on POST's practitioner-authored assessment framework, informed by two decades across helpdesk, infrastructure and security. The verdict applies that framework to your inputs.