Simon Awiti
DevOps Engineer
Nairobi
Summary
A seasoned DevOps engineer with robust and dynamic background spanning six years in infrastructure automation, continuous integration, software development, IT support, and cloud services. Expertise in scripting, system administration, and container orchestration, ensuring seamless deployments and efficient system operations. Strong focus on team collaboration and adaptability, consistently delivering reliable and effective solutions. Passionate about leveraging technical skills to drive operational excellence and support organizational goals.
Overview
7
7
years of professional experience
7
7
years of post-secondary education
2
2
Certifications
Work History
DevOps Engineer
The United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP)
04.2023 - Current
- Improved code deployment efficiency by automating processes with CI/CD pipelines leveraging Jenkins, Terraform, Ansible, and GitHub.
- Reduced system downtime for critical applications by implementing robust monitoring and alerting using Zabbix and Grafana tools.
- Championed the use of open-source tools when appropriate to reduce licensing cost without sacrificing functionality or quality standards for software development processes and infrastructure management tasks.
- Revamped system architecture, transitioning from traditional virtual machines (VMs) to Docker and Kubernetes-powered container environments. This overhaul significantly boosted agility, scalability, and resource efficiency.
- Developed dependable backup strategy for virtual machines, application systems, and databases utilizing well-designed Ansible playbooks, Microsoft Hyper-V replications, and Jenkins.
- Managed system infrastructure, overseeing Linux and Windows servers, maintaining network configurations, and ensuring reliability and performance of critical services.
DevOps Consultant
Swypt.io
10.2024 - 01.2025
- Optimized infrastructure efficiency by migrating entire setup to AWS Cloud, achieving less than 20 minutes of downtime during migration.
- Reduced infrastructure costs by transitioning from costly EC2 instances to containerized systems using ECS.
- Minimized application downtime by implementing load balancing with ELB.
- Streamlined deployment process by introducing CI/CD pipeline that automates Docker image creation from GitHub repositories and auto-deployment to ECR.
- Improved system reliability by designing and implementing robust monitoring and alerting system for critical infrastructure components using AWS CloudWatch.
- Increased collaboration between development and operations teams through cross-functional workshops, trainings, and communication channels.
Cloud Solutions Architect
7TH CENTURY MUSIC
11.2022 - 10.2023
- Increased cloud infrastructure efficiency by designing and implementing more scalable solutions like replacing costly AWS EC2 instances with AWS API gateway and lambda functions.
- Ensured business continuity by creating disaster recovery strategies, automating backup procedures, and failover plans for critical applications in the cloud environment.
- Delivered comprehensive documentation on architecture designs, processes, guidelines, and operational procedures for both internal team members and clients.
- Conducted comprehensive audits on implemented solutions to ensure alignment with enterprise policies, security standards, and regulatory compliance requirements leveraging tools like Amazon Guard Duty and Amazon Inspector.
- Contributed to successful project completion by collaborating with cross-functional teams and providing technical expertise.
Systems & Database Engineer
The Catholic University of Eastern Africa
10.2019 - 04.2023
- Contributed significantly to institution's productivity by maintaining high availability and reliability of critical databases and systems through proactive event triggers and monitoring using tools like Nagios, Cacti, and Zabbix.
- Developed custom scripts to automate routine tasks using bash and python resulting in significant time saving for the team.
- Identified opportunities for cost saving through effective capacity planning and resource allocation decisions in large-scale database and system environments.
- Implemented and optimized LAMP Stack architecture on Linux-based servers, bolstering availability and scalability of web applications through Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP-fpm configuration.
- Enhanced database performance by optimizing stored procedures and indexes, significantly reducing query response times.
- Mentored junior team members through knowledge sharing sessions on advanced concepts in systems and database engineering.
Software Engineer
Bizz-tech Solutions Limited
07.2018 - 09.2019
- Developed scalable and maintainable code, ensuring long-term stability of the software.
- Worked in distributed and culturally diverse teams across Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and USA actively participating in tech meetups and community outreach programs aimed at sharing knowledge and experiences with local tech community.
- Mentored aspiring junior developers in technical and team skills.
- Crafted components and providers for Rest API functionality, facilitating seamless data retrieval and storage.
- Developed robust, reusable code tailored for distributed cloud environments, ensuring reliability across systems.
- Integrated new technologies into existing systems, increasing capabilities and improving overall performance.
Education
MSC - INFORMATION SYSTEMS SECURITY
United States International University Africa
Nairobi 01.2023 - Current
Bachelor of Science - Computer & Information Science
Chuka University
Chuka 09.2013 - 09.2018
Skills
Linux operating system
Scripting languages
System administration
Infrastructure automation
Monitoring and logging
Maintenance and troubleshooting
Microservices architecture
Project planning
Effective communication
API development
Virtualization technologies
Containerization technologies
Version control systems
Configuration management
Certification
Certified Cloud Solutions Architect - Associate (AWS)
Timeline
DevOps Consultant
Swypt.io
10.2024 - 01.2025
DevOps Engineer
The United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP)
04.2023 - Current
MSC - INFORMATION SYSTEMS SECURITY
United States International University Africa
01.2023 - Current
Cloud Solutions Architect
7TH CENTURY MUSIC
11.2022 - 10.2023
Systems & Database Engineer
The Catholic University of Eastern Africa
10.2019 - 04.2023
Software Engineer
Bizz-tech Solutions Limited
07.2018 - 09.2019
Bachelor of Science - Computer & Information Science
Chuka University
09.2013 - 09.2018