Automation Flex Developer

Why we're hiring:

WPP is a creative transformation company, helping clients create growth by combining technology and creativity. As one of the world's largest marketing and advertising services organizations, we are committed to driving innovation and operational excellence across our vast global network.

You will be joining the Automation Operations Centre within WPP's Enterprise Technology, Automation & AI department. This is a pivotal time for us as we're building a dedicated, in-house team to deliver, manage, monitor, and optimize our growing portfolio of automation solutions. This team is at the forefront of our digital transformation, ensuring the seamless operation and continuous improvement of critical automation capabilities across WPP globally

You will play a crucial role in solution delivery and day-to-day technology management of the Global Automation Operations Centre (AOC) program. Reporting to the AAI Operations Director and AAI Product Lead, you will lead the architecture, standards, and advanced development requirements for our global automation portfolio. Alongside AAI Leadership, you will guide a crew of 6-10 developers to ensure the release of high-quality automation products on time and within budget.

The AOC is chartered to develop and delivery automation products, support global automation products or projects delivered by Automation delivery teams from around WPP. Our support apparatus gives those teams confidence and freedom to hand over their existing successes and continue innovating.

Are you a visionary technical leader with a deep mastery of the Microsoft Power Platform and a passion for engineering excellence? We are looking for an Automation Engineering Lead to drive our technical strategy and architectural standards. In this senior role, you will be responsible for conducting research spikes, providing technical guidance to development teams, and ensuring that our global automation suite is built on a foundation of robust, scalable, and maintainable components. You will combine your extensive experience from the D365/Dataverse era with modern ALM practices to keep our global operations at the cutting edge of AI and automation.

• →Automation Monitoring & Maintenance: Proactively monitor, troubleshoot, and maintain Robotic Process Automation (RPA) bots (e.g., UiPath, Microsoft Power Automate Desktop) to ensure continuous, uninterrupted operations and peak performance.
• →Incident Management & Resolution: Actively respond to automation incidents, conduct thorough root- cause analysis (RCA), and implement effective corrective and preventive actions to minimize recurrence and impact.
• →Power Platform Support: Provide expert support, maintenance, and optimization for Microsoft Power Automate flows, Power Apps, and basic Typescript solution components.
• →Technical Troubleshooting: Diagnose and resolve complex run-time errors, exceptions, permission issues, and environment configuration challenges within automation platforms.
• →Environment Governance: Assist in critical environment governance activities, including data loss prevention (DLP) policy enforcement and seamless solution deployments across Development, UAT, and Production environments.
• →Database & Data Integrity: Write and optimize SQL/FetchXML/Dataverse API queries for data validation, to support intricate automation logic, and to efficiently troubleshoot workflow failures. Investigate and resolve database-related issues, perform controlled data corrections (adhering to control guidelines), and ensure robust integrations with various automation platforms.
• →Dependency Management: Proactively manage data sources, connections, and backend dependencies crucial for automation functionality.
• →Updates & Upgrades: Support the deployment of updates, patches, and version upgrades for RPA tools and Power Platform components, ensuring minimal disruption. Participate actively in impact analysis and rigorous testing procedures before rolling out any changes to production environments. Documentation & Knowledge Sharing: Maintain comprehensive and up-to-date documentation for workflows, logic, runbooks, configuration items, and detailed troubleshooting guides. Develop and contribute to a knowledge base of articles to reduce recurring issues and significantly improve first-time resolution rates.
• →Collaboration & Communication: Collaborate effectively with business users, developers, Quality Assurance (QA) teams, and infrastructure teams to resolve issues, implement enhancements, and foster a culture of continuous improvement. Communicate incident updates, RCA findings, and enhancement plans clearly and promptly to relevant stakeholders.
• →Continuous Improvement: Identify and propose opportunities for process optimization and automation expansion based on recurring patterns and operational insights. Track key performance metrics of automation solutions and recommend strategic enhancements to increase stability, efficiency, and overall value.

• Deep understanding (5 years+) of automation operations and technology, tools, and techniques
• At least 3 years of hands-on experience specifically with Robotic Process Automation (RPA) or Power
• Platform and broader automation technologies
• Effective communicator – Excellent writing and verbal communication skills
• Problem-solving – proven experience dealing with technical blockers.
• Advanced capability (mid-level certified or equivalent experience) in our automation tech stack or alternatives:
  • Microsoft: Office365, Azure Portal, Azure SQL, Power Platform: PowerApps, PowerAutomate, (Cloud, Desktop), Dataverse
  • UiPath: Orchestrator (Cloud), Studio, Robots, Insights, and other cloud services
  • ITSM/ITIL credentials and/or equivalent certification (Agile/Scrum/Lean Enterprise)
• Mandatory Certifications
  • PL-500: Microsoft Certified Power Automate RPA Developer Associate (or equivalent).
  • PL-400: Microsoft Power Platform Developer Associate
• Preferred/Valued Certs
  • Automation Developer Professional (relevant certification from a major RPA vendor like UiPath, Automation Anywhere, or Blue Prism)
  • Microsoft GH-300: Github CopIlot

Who you are: