Automation Engineer

Location: Breda, Netherlands | Hybrid working The company

Smurfit Westrock is a global leader in sustainable paper and packaging solutions. With more than 96,000 colleagues, over 500 packaging and other facilities, and 57 mills across 40 countries, we combine global expertise with local insight to develop innovative solutions for a more sustainable future.

Circularity is at the heart of our business. We use renewable, recyclable and recycled materials to create packaging that helps our customers meet their operational and sustainability goals.

The team

You will join our global IT Infrastructure and Services organisation as part of the IT Automation team. The team currently comprises two engineers and a manager and is responsible for developing and supporting automation tools that improve productivity across IT and the wider business.

Working collaboratively with infrastructure teams, IT business users and colleagues across our core business functions, the team removes unnecessary manual work, improves accuracy and enables processes to be completed more efficiently.

Role summary

As an Automation Engineer , you will help transform the way work gets done by creating scalable, reliable automation solutions that make a measurable difference across our global organisation.

You will develop new scripts and tools, improve existing workflows and design custom processes within the Enterprise Job Scheduler. This is an important role within the team, enabling colleagues to spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time delivering valuable outcomes for the business and its customers.

What you will be doing

You will be:

• Developing scripts and complex automations using PowerShell or Python.
• Working with stakeholders to understand manual processes and recommend effective automation solutions.
• Designing supportable solutions using good coding practices and API integrations.
• Improving existing workflows to increase reliability, customer satisfaction and speed of delivery.
• Applying automation across infrastructure environments, including Windows Server, Linux, VMware, AWS and Azure.
• Using Infrastructure as Code technologies such as Ansible or Terraform to create and manage repeatable infrastructure solutions.
• Using DevOps tools such as Azure DevOps or Jenkins to store, deploy and update code.
• Supporting Enterprise Job Scheduler upgrades and escalated issues.
• Delivering an average of three to five larger automation projects each year.
• Providing knowledge transfer and practical guidance to the teams using and supporting the tools you develop.
• Managing competing priorities and communicating progress, risks and issues clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

The impact you will make

Your work will directly improve productivity by reducing manual effort, simplifying processes and creating more consistent ways of working.

By delivering automation that is faster, more accurate and requires fewer manual touchpoints, you will help teams focus their time on higher-value activities. You will also have the opportunity to influence how automation is adopted across IT and the wider organisation, turning operational challenges into sustainable, reusable solutions.

Essential Experience And Capabilities To succeed in this role, you will need:

• At least five years’ experience using PowerShell or Python to develop scripts and complex automations.
• Practical experience managing IT infrastructure, such as VMware, AWS, Azure, Windows Server or Linux.
• Experience using Ansible, Terraform or comparable Infrastructure as Code technologies.
• Experience with an IT service management platform, such as ServiceNow.
• The ability to use APIs to integrate different systems.
• An understanding of DevOps tools and approaches for code storage, deployment and updates.
• Strong troubleshooting skills, including network connectivity and remote script execution.
• The ability to manage multiple projects and collaborate with several application or process owners at the same time.
• Clear communication, presentation and stakeholder-management skills.
• A collaborative and customer-focused approach, with the ability to explain technical solutions to different audiences.

We recognise that experience can be gained through different career paths. If you meet most of the requirements and believe you can make a strong contribution, we encourage you to apply.

Location and ways of working

This role is based in Breda, Netherlands . We offer hybrid working, combining flexibility with regular collaboration in the office. The position currently requires attendance at the Breda office three days per week .