diff --git a/playbooks/roles/zuul-executor/tasks/start.yaml b/playbooks/roles/zuul-executor/tasks/start.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a6519f0d51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playbooks/roles/zuul-executor/tasks/start.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+- name: Start Zuul Executor
+  service:
+    name: zuul-executor
+    state: started
+  become: true
+  become_user: root