As a senior engineer on Lincoln's cloud platform engineering team, I contribute to the development and operation of a massively multi-account Amazon Web Services (AWS) footprint, built on a heavily customized version of Amazon's Landing Zone solution.My key responsibilities include:- Collaborating with the Cloud Security team to enable new AWS services, building guardrails using AWS Lambda and AWS Config for security and operational scalability- Advocating for an Infrastructure-as-Code mindset, leveraging GitLab CI/CD, AWS CloudFormation, Docker, and other modern tools to drive automation and scalability- Promoting the responsible use of AI technologies in the workplace, including leveraging GitHub Copilot to improve development efficiency- Partnering with Network Engineering to architect and manage a multi-region cloud network across hundreds of VPCs, using AWS Transit Gateway, Direct Connect, and EC2-based Palo Alto firewalls with Gateway Load Balancing (GWLB)- Managing hybrid DNS across hundreds of VPCs, utilizing AWS Route 53 Profiles, PrivateLink, and Infoblox for on-prem DNS and IPAM- Developing Lincoln's custom Cloud Development Kit (CDK) library with the Cloud Architecture team, embedding Lincoln-specific best practices and security policies- Acting as a senior escalation point for troubleshooting AWS cloud-related issues using tools like Splunk, AWS CloudTrail, and VPC Flow Logs- Managing and scaling Lincoln’s customized Landing Zone platform, supporting hundreds of AWS accounts with AWS Service Catalog, ServiceNow, Ansible, and GitLab- Providing informal leadership and mentoring to team members, promoting growth and collaboration across the team

Led the College’s Infrastructure staff (two teams of four engineers) though a period of rapid transformation as the College invested heavily in the campus network and cloud transition to Amazon Web Services. This role spanned the engineering and executive realms, requiring both strategic planning and roll-up-your-sleeves technical involvement.- Inherited primary responsibility for a $3 million campus network refresh project at risk of failure, jeopardizing College business and instructional operations; designed and executed a program to put the effort back on track and successfully concluded the project within 12 months- Rehabilitated IT’s relationship with other campus departments and executive stakeholders through outreach and partnership, including with Facilities, Police, Investments, and the Library, resulting in a considerable reduction in cross-functional institutional risk - Instituted controls on network and infrastructure management practices, driving down the rate, scope and duration of core network incidents by over 80%- Embarked on a rapid security modernization strategy to improve the College’s cybersecurity posture, with emphasis on retirement of old, un-securable systems and migration of services to modern platforms, reducing unpatched/out-of-date service exposure by 53%- Implemented a storage replacement program to standardize on-premise storage systems on NetApp, retiring end-of-life storage- Led replacement of legacy VPN technologies with Palo Alto GlobalProtect, in response to the depopulation of campus due to COVID-19 in March 2020- Drove standardization of Amazon Web Services design patterns using tools like CloudFormation, AWS CLI and PowerShell- Offloaded amherst.edu web traffic to AWS CloudFront using Route 53 DNS- Provide executive and technical leadership for ongoing migration of Colleague application migration into AWS

Lead technical infrastructure resource on a multi-phase migration and transformation project. This undertaking involves the conversion and consolidation of all existing administrative IT systems onto a single converged infrastructure platform, and the transformation of Columbia University IT’s processes, service delivery paradigms, and organizational culture to produce a next-generation organization capable of empowering the Columbia community with rapid technology delivery and self-service interaction.My contributions and responsibilities in this endeavor include:- Directly supporting the Associate Vice President for Infrastructure Services in providing a world-class infrastructure experience from request, through delivery and operations, to decommissioning- Establishing and documenting standard configurations for our two key x86 platforms, Windows Server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux- Ensuring compliance with internal Standard Operating Environment security controls- Developing middleware and database designs that are both structured—to allow for consistency of management, security, and automated deployment—as well as flexible enough to meet the individual needs of application teams and internal clients.- Overseeing the redeployment or conversion of 1,000 existing virtual and physical x86 systems to our standard Windows and RHEL release versions- Collaboration with Development, Configuration Management and Operations teams to identify, procure, and implement a DevOps toolchain- Providing Tier 3 support for all technical challenges relating to compute, storage and networking within the converged infrastructure environment- Engaging with on-site and offshore consultants to facilitate ongoing migration factory operations- Mentoring and teaching junior resources within Infrastructure Services to foster professional growth, a team oriented and success driven work atmosphere, and to effect lasting positive change within the organization

Virtual infrastructure specialist providing vSphere domain knowledge to a team tasked with delivering solutions supporting a highly visible multiagency initiative for a large U.S. Federal client.As a key member of the implementation team, I drive design documentation efforts and am responsible for technical implementation of a dedicated private cloud infrastructure based on HP BladeSystem and Virtual Connect technologies, and powered by VMware vSphere 5.1.I also serve in a reinforcement role for colleagues working at the network layer (F5 load balancing, Cisco switching/routing, Juniper firewalling) as well as guest OS and tools layers (Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Tripwire Enterprise, NetBackup, Active Directory).

After several years in Systems Administration, a realignment of roles divested Engineering from Administration. I was selected to join the newly formed Systems Engineering team to focus on building the University’s next generation of infrastructure, to include a multi-site VMware vSphere 4.0 virtual server offering, as well as maintenance and Level 3 support of the existing Active Directory domain.- Collaborate with Network Engineering team to bring two Cisco Nexus 5010 switches online to create a subnet spanning two datacenters 1 mile apart, thus allowing free movement of virtual machines between the two without service interruption.- Play a continuing leadership role in migrating an external department into the central IT infrastructure, including moving off of a Juniper-based network.- Manage HP LeftHand iSCSI storage network, our primary repository for virtual machines.- Configure HP c7000 Blade Enclosure for use with VMware, from scratch.- Configure and manage HP VirtualConnect Flex-10 switches on c7000 interconnect layer.- Collaborate with storage/backup group to enable agentless CommVault virtual machine backups, utilizing VMware vStorage APIs.

In the wake of a number of personnel changes and vacancies, I was asked to step up and take primary responsibility for a portion of the organization's servers, including 40 physical and 20 virtual servers (VMware ESX). Actively assisted with a “merge” of resources with other IT groups on campus, to consolidate capital equipment and VMware environments.- Lead and mentor two-person systems team- Provide constant feedback as to the stability and robustness of the environment, including advising on short- and long-term investment priorities- Apply routine firmware updates to NetApp filers, as necessary to maintain service levels and platform stability- Oversee installation of additional NetApp storage shelves and upgrade to VMware vSphere 4.0 (from ESX 3.5)

With the gradual elimination of development services from my organization's primary focus, I was asked to migrate into a systems administration role. The emphasis was on administration of our numerous instances of Microsoft SQL Server, while also taking on various general server maintenance tasks.- Managed 15–20 databases, spread across numerous flavors of Microsoft SQL Server (2000, 2005, MSDE in some cases)- Took initiative in planning a centralized SQL Server 2008 cluster to consolidate a handful of physical servers into a single, two-node cluster that is more easily managed, protected and cooled- Interacted with application vendors to facilitate this transition- Streamlined database backup protocols to ensure a restore granularity of 30 minutes (transaction log backups on the hour and half hour)- Participated in VMware ESX capacity planning and optimization- Assisted in managing NetApp filer failover cluster, as well as a disaster recovery filer utilizing SnapMirror technology- Assisted in interviewing and screening candidates for a desktop support opening within the group

After starting my career as a junior member of a two-person development team, I stepped into a leadership role after one year. Early responsibilities included providing Level 2 assistance to our Desktop Operations team, to include Active Directory reporting and bulk process batching. After becoming development lead in July 2007, I took on responsibility for several high-visibility projects, including iTunes U and the Office of General Counsel’s online Conflict of Interest reporting application. In this role, I became the primary development contact for over 50 administrative and business units within the University.- Developed BU's initial, proof-of-concept implementation of Apple's iTunes U using the vendor’s authentication/authorization API- Overhauled the university-wide Conflict of Interest application, bringing enhanced reporting and functionality by porting from classic ASP to ASP.NET (VBscript to C#)- Responsible for oversight of maintenance and standard compliance for dozens of departmental web sites- Ongoing development resource for ISPS Desktop Operations, assisting with automation of DO workflows for management of thousands of workstations.- Technical coordination of periodic and one-time mass email campaigns for University entities