Career

I did not start as a “platform engineer.” I started writing PowerShell because I was tired of repetitive clicks and manual runbooks. That turned into a long path through IT support, DevOps, platform engineering, and now defense-oriented DevSecOps work where reliability and security are non-negotiable.

Career progression

2016 to 2020: automation first, titles later

At Nebraska Public Power District, I learned to treat scripting like a force multiplier in a regulated environment.

• Built and maintained internal PowerShell tooling and shared modules.
• Automated repetitive AD reporting and operational checks.
• Scripted DHCP and DNS migration work, including Azure DNS movement.
• Supported user access and permission workflows with policy discipline (NERC-heavy culture).
• Finished my B.S. in Computer Information Systems and earned Security+.

This was where I built the habit that still drives my work: if a task is repeated, it should be automated, tested, and documented.

2020 to 2022: formal DevOps delivery

At Ansira, I shifted from IT scripting to end-to-end DevOps delivery.

• Architected Terraform deployments for Azure infrastructure across environments.
• Built CI/CD flows with TeamCity, PowerShell, and PSake.
• Automated PKI lifecycle work that reduced hours of manual effort to seconds.
• Improved build throughput with parallelization and repeatable release mechanics.
• Worked directly with developers, DBAs, and security stakeholders to keep delivery moving without sacrificing compliance.

I also earned CISSP during this window, which sharpened how I think about tradeoffs between speed and control.

2022 to 2024: cloud-native and platform depth

At Lumen (first on a full-stack DevOps team, then on platform engineering), I went deep on Kubernetes operations and internal developer platforms.

• Built APIs and services in Go, and shipped Kubernetes resources via Helm on GKE.
• Used Terraform, Ansible, and Vault to stand up private VPC test environments with user-specific VPN access.
• Created and maintained CI pipelines across a multi-repo platform.
• Implemented Kubewarden admission policies on large clusters.
• Worked with the Kubewarden dev team on policy functionality in Go.
• Automated project and namespace creation through a simple front-end form backed by Ansible, Rancher project setup, resource quotas, and Azure AD group mapping.
• Built and configured AWX/Ansible workflows to scale consistent operations for the team.

This is where I moved from “I can ship code” to “I can build and operate platform guardrails for many teams.”

2022 to present: ansible-driven scaling projects (InFlux)

In parallel, I also worked on blockchain infrastructure automation at InFlux.

• Rebuilt rigid shell-based install/config processes into Ansible-driven workflows.
• Used Terraform and Ansible to provision and configure Flux node infrastructure.
• Converted single-node assumptions into fleet-oriented automation patterns.
• Focused on idempotent, repeatable config so scaling operations stayed predictable.

That work reinforced the same platform lesson: scale comes from reliable process and automation contracts, not heroics.

2024 to present: defense platform and DevSecOps at Raft

As a Senior DevSecOps Engineer at Raft, I support mission-critical platform delivery in high-security environments.

• Run ArgoCD-based GitOps workflows for secure, auditable Kubernetes deployments in sensitive environments.
• Operate in production OpenShift, AKS, and RKE2 ecosystems, plus local Kind workflows for development validation.
• Deploy and maintain platform capabilities in strict environments, including air-gapped operations.
• Scale and manage AKS and EKS infrastructure with Terraform and Terragrunt.
• Built Terraform-focused GitHub pipelines that validate and apply infrastructure changes with consistent controls.
• Handle strict security workflows across contracts with cross-functional teams and clear operational boundaries.
• Work across security, platform, and application roles where context switching is constant and documentation quality matters.

Specific mission details stay private, but the engineering patterns are the same: automate carefully, verify continuously, and keep accountability explicit.

Agentic engineering in production

I use agent workflows in real work. They help me move faster without giving up quality or ownership.

• When work gets big, I split it into phases: gather context, implement, then verify.
• AI helps with speed, but I still own the final decision and release.
• I prefer git-first, reproducible workflows because they are easier to review and easier to recover.
• I use the same pattern in public tooling (oh-my-claude, openkanban) and in my homelab GitOps flow.

Community, mentoring, and public work

At this point, one of my biggest goals is simple: help people. I share what worked, what failed, and what I changed.

• I publish practical notes on this site across PowerShell, Kubernetes, incidents, and AI workflow changes.
• I maintain open-source tooling tied directly to my workflow (dotfiles, home.io, oh-my-claude, openkanban).
• I stay active in community spaces and share practical patterns there too.

If sharing my work helps people, it is worth it.

Why this page exists

This page is here for the real version, not polished corporate copy. It is a straightforward record of what I have done and how I work. If it helps people, then it did its job.