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Robert (RK) Davies

Robert (RK) Davies

Linux, Security, Automation and AI specialist.

Imperial Beach, California, US
(619) 354-HACK (4225)

Background


About

About

Results-driven IT professional with over 20 years of experience in security, administration, and automation for thousands of nodes. Skilled in managing enterprise-level infrastructure, ensuring compliance, and excels in developing robust security controls. Pioneered groundbreaking advancements, including TuSimple's first autonomous freight delivery on US highways and uncredited contributions for an internationally broadcast TV show. Passionate about leveraging innovative technologies and data-driven strategies to address complex challenges in traditional and unconventional settings.

Work Experience

Work Experience

  • Sr. Technical Services EngineerWEKA.io

    May, 2024 - Jan, 20258 months

    Supported global customers with cutting-edge technologies, contributing to post-sales success and 5-star Gartner reviews through collaboration with internal teams. Key responsibilities included bridging customer-R&D gaps, resolving issues, providing feedback, monitoring systems, managing escalations, tracking cases, and documenting knowledge. The role required technical expertise in Linux, AWS, Kubernetes, strong troubleshooting skills, flexibility for on-call duties and travel, along with knowledge of operating systems and networking technologies.

    • Spearheaded support for some of the largest HPC storage environments globally, ensuring seamless operations and client satisfaction.

    • Delivered calm confidence and expertise in issue resolution during critical incidents with clients, fostering trust and reliability.

    • Orchestrated a dedicated hardware lab environment, providing a WEKA cluster equipped with industry-standard hardware to facilitate TSE training and testing effectively.

    • Developed and maintained comprehensive documentation of the lab environment, highlighting key aspects such as scheduling, limitations, changes, improvements, and support resources for employees, enhancing overall efficiency and knowledge sharing.

  • DevSecOps Sr. Manager101domain, Inc.

    Feb, 2023 - Jan, 202411 months

    Led cross-functional teams spanning IT infrastructure, software development, technical operations, and security to drive technological advancements and process improvements. Managed SOC II audits, ensured high system reliability, oversaw tools like JIRA and Google Workspace, and handled IT budgets. Utilized advanced technical skills in automation, CI/CD pipelines, scripting languages (Shell, Python), containerization (Docker/Kubernetes), and monitoring tools (Elastic.co, Prometheus).

    • Championed the creation and support of innovative tooling solutions for bulk domain management tasks, cutting manual work by 85%.

    • Directed and mentored a high-performing team of operations engineers, driving a culture of continuous learning and development.

    • Swiftly mastered and rolled out a custom-engineered platform, significantly enhancing our infrastructure's efficiency.

  • Cyber Security Instructional Specialist, Trilogy Education

    Feb, 2020 - Dec, 20233 years 10 months

    Led the next generation of CyberSecurity Professionals to acquire the skill-sets required in the job market today. I bring my experience as an independent security enthusiast in my youth and as a security professional in the corporate world as an adult, together for students to grow and learn from over a 6-month cyber security BootCamp.

    • Successful completion of 4 graduating classes.

    • Over 50% of students completed course and maintain active professional certifications and carreers.

    • Covers complaince, vulnerability management, analysis and exploitation in preparation of multiple certifications

  • IT Operations ManagerTuSimple, Inc.

    Sep, 2021 - Feb, 20231 year 5 months

    Led a team of engineers and analysts in managing and optimizing network and hardware infrastructure for Linux-based clusters supporting autonomous freight trucks. Oversaw system maintenance, ensured high availability, and implemented robust security measures to protect critical operations. Collaborated with cross-functional teams to resolve technical issues, drove infrastructure scalability, and aligned IT strategies with organizational goals. Stayed informed about advancements in autonomous technologies and DevSecOps practices to enhance operational efficiency continuously. Played a key role in ensuring the seamless functionality of systems vital to the safe and efficient operation of autonomous freight trucks.

    • Developed a career path program for entry-level to management positions, driving professional growth.

    • Orchestrated escalation paths between 6 IT teams, ensuring smooth operations.

    • Implemented Scaled Agile for Enterprises to enhance project management efficiency.

    • Received the "Ghost Rider Award" for enabling the world's first Autonomous Freight Delivery.

  • Linux System AdministratorTuSimple, Inc.

    Sep, 2019 - Sep, 20212 years

    Supported a world's first autonomous freight achievement by contributing build methods, standards, and security practices within their defined DevSecOps structure.

    • Designed and implemented distributed PXE Boot Installation systems supporting multiple Linux distributions to streamline deployment processes.

    • Engineered high-performance workstations equipped with multiple GPUs to optimize containerized processing tasks and enhance computational efficiency.

    • Spearheaded the construction of versatile server builds, including load balancers, compute nodes, and storage solutions, to fortify network infrastructure.

    • Developed specialized servers with multi-GPU configurations to accelerate processing, simulate sensors, and support robust CI/CD pipeline operations.

    • Led the design and implementation of truck builds utilizing high-performance, high-availability, low-latency systems to enable efficient offloading of tasks to multiple GPUs via containerized environments.

    • Pioneered automation services and established policy controls aligned with industry standards and security best practices to ensure compliance and safeguard infrastructure.

  • Linux Systems AdministratorSony Network Entertainment, Inc.

    May, 2016 - Apr, 20192 years 11 months

    Maintained high availability of Linux systems in a 24x7 production environment, ensuring maximum service uptime through effective system configurations and support procedures. Provided Tier 2 support for Linux and storage systems, including user management, application support, disk space management, and hardware failure response. Automated routine operational tasks using shell and Puppet scripts while documenting procedures to enable efficient Tier 1 NOC support.

    • Troubleshoot and resolve issues in production and non-production infrastructure servers and services, ensuring seamless operations across all environments.

    • Develop, document, and implement comprehensive vulnerability management policies and procedures to proactively identify and mitigate security risks.

    • Design, monitor, and maintain Security Engineering (SecEng) infrastructure using tools like Tripwire and CyberArk to enhance security monitoring and privileged access management.

    • Lead as a key resource between Infrastructure and Security Engineering/Governance teams, ensuring alignment on security practices and organizational goals.

    • Spearhead automation efforts for enforcing PCI/CIS hardening controls across thousands of nodes, both on-premises and in the AWS Cloud, to maintain compliance at scale.

    • Analyze diverse threats and risks, prioritize remediation based on severity, and implement effective solutions to safeguard the organization's assets efficiently.

Projects Experience

Projects Experience

  • MoDe

    Aug, 2022 - Mar, 20237 months

    Python program to take video input from file or YouTube stream and detect motion utilizing the OpenCV library.

  • REAPR

    Nov, 2022 - Dec, 20221 month

    Python program to monitor chat from a YouTube live stream and record custom #HASHTAGS to a database for later review.

  • GAZR

    Oct, 2023 - Mar, 20251 year 5 months

    Python program to monitor chat from a YouTube live stream for custom #HASHTAGS to control pan, tilt, and zoom cameras remotely to view celestial objects live, through YouTube.

Skills

Skills

  • System Administration

    Automation

    BASH

    Linux

    Shell Scripting

    Satellite

    Cobbler

    CFEngine

    Puppet

    Chef

    Ansible

    Python

    Remote Management

    SSH

    PSSH

    RSYNC

  • Networking

    Network Devices (Switches, Firewalls)

    Protocols (TCP/IP)

    InfiniBand

    HPC

  • Databases

    Fault Tolerance

    Hadoop

    Kavka

    MySQL

    Oracle

    Memchached

    Redis

    Replication

  • Security

    Security Incident Event Monitoring (SIEM)

    Network Intrusion Detection and Prevention

  • Cloud Computing

    AWS

    GCP

    Azure

    OCI

    Object Storage

    Terraform

    Elastic Load Balancing

  • IT Service Management

    Change/Configuration/Incident/Problem Management

    ITIL Certified

  • Disaster Recovery

    Business Continuity Planning

    Data Center Failover

    Disaster Recovery Contigency Planning

    High-Availability

    Root Cause Analysis

    Threat Detection and Response

  • Services & Protocols

    Apache Web Servers

    SSL/TLS

    DNS Management

    DHCP

    SNMP

    SMTP

Education

Education

  • Network Administration, Incomplete, ECPI College of Technology

    Dec, 2000 - Aug, 2001

    3.68

    DOS and Micro Applications

    Linux Administration

    Public Speaking

    HTML Design

    Novell Netware

    x86 Hardware

Publications

Publications

  • A Dumpster Diving Treasure , 2600: The Hacker Quarterly

    Published on: Dec 01, 2002

    Volume 19 Number 4: The article published was in regards to finding and repurposing specialized hardware in Red Hat's dumpster.