Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Security Clearance
Certification
Strategic Achievements
Personal Information
Timeline
Generic

Solomon Williams

Glen Burnie

Summary

Dynamic Cloud DevOps Engineer with a proven track record at GridIron, specializing in multi-cluster Kubernetes orchestration and DevSecOps automation. Achieved a 25% reduction in deployment times through CI/CD pipeline optimization. Adept at leveraging Terraform and Ansible while fostering collaboration across teams to enhance operational efficiency and security.

Overview

17
17
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification

Work History

Cloud DevOps Engineer

GridIron
El Segundo
12.2022 - Current
  • Automated security scans using GitLab SAST/DAST, SonarQube, and OWASP ZAP
  • Applied CIS Benchmarks, RBAC, and robust networking configurations
  • Implemented enterprise security best practices in Azure AKS, RHEL 9, and Entra ID
  • Engineered resilient, multi-cloud Kubernetes clusters using Spectro Cloud Palette across AWS, Azure, vSphere
  • Configured GitLab CI workflows automating build, test, and deployment processes
  • Automated CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins with Python and Bash, reducing deployment times by 25%
  • Integrated Ansible with CI/CD pipelines enabling seamless deployment across cloud and on-prem
  • Deployed and optimized AWS EKS, Tanzu Kubernetes, Rancher, VMware, Azure AKS for scalable container orchestration using Terraform modules
  • Configured Prometheus and Grafana for proactive system health tracking
  • Architected fault-tolerant environments using multi-node RHEL Ansible Automation Platform and Azure AKS
  • Designed and deployed scalable, secure Kubernetes clusters using Terraform, implementing modular code for VPCs, subnets, and security groups ensuring high availability
  • Automated provisioning of Amazon EKS clusters, node groups, and infrastructure achieving consistent deployments
  • Developed Helm charts for 15+ large-scale applications across AWS, streamlining release processes
  • Automated infrastructure provisioning using Terraform, Terragrunt, and Ansible
  • Deployed multi-node Tableau cluster on EKS with AWS ALB Ingress Controller and WAF
  • Supported full-stack Kubernetes platform using IaC with Terraform
  • Migrated on-premises applications to EKS cloud environments
  • Configured Prometheus, Grafana, Alertmanager for monitoring and ELK Stack for log management
  • Established CD workflows using ArgoCD with Helm for application deployment
  • Managed cluster upgrades, patching, and secrets with Sealed Secrets
  • Deployed, configured, and administered RHEL, Amazon Linux, and Ubuntu to support application hosting and Kubernetes worker nodes
  • Launched and supported application workloads by preparing OS environments, managing packages, services, users, and system dependencies
  • Hardened Linux systems using STIGS, CIS Benchmarks, secure SSH configurations, firewall rules, SELinux/AppArmor, patching, and access controls
  • Automated Golden Image creation using Packer and AWS EC2 Image Builder, producing standardized, hardened AMIs for consistent, repeatable deployments
  • Automated OS provisioning, configuration, and compliance enforcement using Ansible, ensuring consistency across cloud and on-prem environments
  • Centralized governance of 50+ Kubernetes clusters with integrated policy, security, and lifecycle automation
  • Provisioned GPU-accelerated clusters for AI/ML workloads using NVIDIA GPU Operator and Kubeflow
  • Secured container distribution using Harbor as private registry with RBAC and CVE scanning via Trivy
  • Space Force
  • Tools: Linux, AWS CLI, Spectro Cloud, Rancher, Terraform, Ansible, GitLab CI, GitHub, Docker, Kubernetes, Helm

DevOps Kubernetes Engineer

ActioNet
Washington
08.2019 - 12.2022
  • Orchestrated OpenShift on Airgap on-premises clusters using Dell iDRAC servers
  • Administered Domino platform for Data Science analytics
  • Managed Data Scientists' workspace provisioning with tools like Hadoop, Python
  • Implemented RBAC with Okta and AD
  • Integrated Azure Entra ID with Jira/Atlassian enabling secure SSO
  • Automated Azure networking, AKS clusters, and infrastructure using Terraform
  • Created Azure VNets, subnets, NSGs, and private endpoints for secure communication
  • Architected production-grade EKS and RKE2 clusters using Crossplane
  • Managed AWS infrastructure (VPCs, subnets, EC2, IAM, S3, RDS) via Crossplane
  • Designed reusable XRDs standardizing Kubernetes deployment across teams
  • Integrated Crossplane with Git-based CI/CD for Kubernetes-native lifecycle management
  • Secured pod traffic through network policies and enabled threat detection with GuardDuty
  • Implemented image scanning in CI/CD using Trivy
  • Worked with ISSO/ISSE implementing NIST and RMF controls
  • Led deployment of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) integrating vSphere, vSAN, NSX, vCenter
  • Administered VMware Cloud Director (VCD) for multi-tenant environments
  • Implemented NSX-T Data Center networking with segmentation, security policies, load balancing
  • U.S. Courts
  • Tools: Linux, Terraform, Crossplane, Ansible, Jenkins, Docker, Kubernetes, Helm, Harbor, ECR, Bamboo

DevOps Kubernetes Engineer

SASSI
Laurel
09.2019 - 07.2020
  • Integrated Apache NiFi for real-time data ingestion and transformation
  • Developed scalable microservices architecture using Docker
  • Containerized microservices reducing delivery times from days to hours
  • Architected and deployed Kubernetes clusters using RKE2 and Rancher
  • Automated infrastructure provisioning with Terraform for AWS services
  • Configured Ansible playbooks for system configurations and security patches
  • Streamlined CI/CD using GitLab CI adhering to DevOps best practices
  • Configured Terraform remote state using Azure Storage Account
  • Implemented end-to-end CI/CD with GitHub Actions for automated deployments
  • Utilized Jira for tracking DevOps initiatives and sprint planning
  • Implemented infrastructure monitoring with Prometheus, Grafana, and custom dashboards
  • Implemented ELK stack improving system observability and troubleshooting
  • Managed RHEL Satellite Server for centralized patch management and compliance
  • Automated Linux lifecycle management including subscription and package distribution
  • DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory
  • Tools: Linux, Terraform, Terragrunt, Ansible, GitLab CI, Jenkins, Docker, Kubernetes, Helm, Harbor, ECR
  • Secured containerized environments with Harbor for image scanning and vulnerability management
  • Integrated HashiCorp Vault for centralized secrets management
  • Implemented RBAC, PodSecurityPolicies, and encrypted secrets in Kubernetes
  • Designed secure AWS architectures with IAM policies, VPC configurations, and encryption

Linux DevOps Engineer

IIA Web
Alexandria
07.2011 - 08.2017
  • Automated Red Hat OpenShift clusters using Ansible Playbooks
  • Built OpenStack environment launching and configuring instances
  • Implemented network configurations and storage integrations for various workloads
  • Mentored teams on advanced Kubernetes DevOps practices
  • Implemented CIS benchmarks for system hardening
  • Adhered to NIST security guidelines
  • Supported integrations with Active Directory and CyberArk for secure authentication
  • Automated Dell PowerEdge server setup with iDRAC and kickstart with CIS baselines
  • Leveraged LVM tools managing SAN and local storage
  • Integrated EMC, NetApp, and SIMs storage solutions for fault-tolerant services
  • Designed Kubernetes clusters in private VPC with AWS NAT Gateways for enhanced security
  • Managed complex infrastructure of 20,000+ hosts including RHEL, Unix, HP-UX, Solaris, VMware ESXi, AWS GovCloud
  • Oversaw Production, Test, Development environments ensuring high availability
  • Designed automation strategies enhancing efficiency and reducing manual interventions
  • Developed Puppet modules maintaining infrastructure and leveraging Jenkins for CI/CD
  • Migrated 3,500+ servers from RHEL Satellite 5.8 to 6.0 using Ansible Tower and Git
  • Designed complex Oracle RAC Databases on RHEL with Oracle ASM on multipath disks
  • Created multi-node Hadoop clusters in AWS using Hortonworks and Spark processing terabytes of data
  • USPTO

Linux Administrator

Future Electronics
Bolton
12.2008 - 06.2011
  • Implemented system hardening, password security, and policy enforcement
  • Wrote UNIX shell scripts automating routine tasks
  • Managed VERITAS Backup implementing backup and recovery environment
  • Administered Volume Management using Veritas Volume Manager
  • Integrated UNIX File Systems using ZFS/VxFS/SVM for Oracle Databases
  • Implemented proactive monitoring using Zabbix and Nagios
  • Maintained Jira, Confluence, and Bamboo servers
  • Developed comprehensive technical documentation and SOPs
  • Created Ansible scripts configuring Tableau, JBoss, NGINX, HTTP applications
  • Performed installation and administration of Solaris 8/9 on SPARC using custom Jumpstart
  • Managed multi-OS platforms including Solaris 8/9 and Red Hat Linux 3/4 servers
  • Tracked and resolved tickets, performed day-to-day maintenance of Linux servers
  • Managed Hortonworks Hadoop and Spark clusters in AWS processing terabytes in HDFS
  • Designed and maintained CISCO UCS server profiles, RHEV, VMware ESXi 5/6, OpenStack 8/9
  • Developed and supported JBoss highly available clustering applications
  • Managed Oracle databases and scheduled backups for Oracle and MSSQL servers
  • Performed live/offline migration of 3,000+ Linux VMs and storage
  • Tools: OpenStack, RHEV, Puppet, Ansible, Foreman, RHEL Satellite, AWS, Jenkins, CyberArk, Git, GitHub
  • Installed and maintained security packages using pkgadd tool

Education

B.Sc. - Cyber Security

University of Maryland University College (UMUC)
01.2022

Skills

  • Multi-cluster Kubernetes orchestration
  • Infrastructure as Code
  • DevSecOps automation
  • NIST/RMF compliance
  • AI/ML platform engineering
  • Kubernetes
  • Docker
  • OpenShift
  • EKS
  • AKS
  • GKE
  • RKE2
  • Rancher
  • Spectro Cloud
  • Helm
  • AWS GovCloud
  • Azure
  • GCP
  • VMware (VCF/VCD)
  • RHEV
  • OpenStack
  • RHEL Linux (v2-v9)
  • Ubuntu
  • CentOS
  • Unix
  • Solaris
  • AIX
  • Windows
  • Terraform
  • Crossplane
  • Ansible
  • CloudFormation
  • Puppet
  • RHEL Satellite
  • GitLab CI
  • GitHub Actions
  • Jenkins
  • CircleCI
  • ArgoCD
  • Bamboo
  • Python
  • Go
  • Bash
  • Java
  • CIS Benchmarks
  • DISA STIG
  • NIST RMF
  • HashiCorp Vault
  • Trivy
  • SonarQube
  • Prometheus
  • Grafana
  • ELK Stack
  • Splunk
  • Nagios
  • Zabbix
  • PagerDuty
  • MySQL
  • PostgreSQL
  • Oracle RAC
  • DB2
  • MariaDB
  • Couchbase
  • AWS VPC
  • VPN
  • Transit Gateway
  • NAT
  • WAF
  • CNI
  • DNS
  • SSL/TLS (Cert-Manager)
  • Azure Entra ID
  • Keycloak
  • Okta
  • DEX (OIDC)
  • AD/LDAP
  • AWS ECR
  • ACR
  • Harbor
  • Artifactory
  • GitLab Registry
  • Docker Hub

Security Clearance

Active Top Secret

Certification

  • AWS Certified Security Specialty
  • AWS Certified Developer Associate
  • Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
  • Docker Certified Associate
  • Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE)
  • Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA)
  • CompTIA Security+
  • Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
  • Oracle Solaris Certified Associate (OCA)
  • Information Technology Infrastructure Library Certified (ITIL v3)

Strategic Achievements

  • Infrastructure as Code & Platform Engineering, Architected provider-agnostic IaC using Terraform and Crossplane for production-grade EKS and RKE2 clusters.
  • DevSecOps & Compliance, Automated NIST 800-53 and RMF controls ensuring 100% compliance for AWS GovCloud and Airgap environments.
  • Enterprise Observability & Logging, Deployed full-stack observability (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, Dynatrace) transitioning from reactive to proactive management.
  • AI/ML Operations, Enabled data science acceleration provisioning GPU-optimized clusters using NVIDIA GPU Operator and Kubeflow.

Personal Information

Citizenship: U.S. Citizen

Timeline

Cloud DevOps Engineer

GridIron
12.2022 - Current

DevOps Kubernetes Engineer

SASSI
09.2019 - 07.2020

DevOps Kubernetes Engineer

ActioNet
08.2019 - 12.2022

Linux DevOps Engineer

IIA Web
07.2011 - 08.2017

Linux Administrator

Future Electronics
12.2008 - 06.2011

B.Sc. - Cyber Security

University of Maryland University College (UMUC)
Solomon Williams