I'd say that this is a good direction. Even better would be to take a job that isn't exactly an IT role at an org that doesn't really have an internal IT depart

I'd say that this is a good direction. Even better would be to take a job that isn't exactly an IT role at an org that doesn't really have an internal IT department, but does its data processing by sharing Excel files. Then, automate your work away but don't tell anyone.