A versatile and dedicated systems engineer with over 15 years experience in the field. From traditional system administration / engineering / architecture to DevOps, Automation, Orchestration, Config Management, Containers and everything in between.

Skills

Cloud Computing

Master
  • AWS
  • AZURE

Linux

Master
  • RHEL based
  • Debian based

DevOps

Advanced
  • Ansible
  • Terraform
  • Docker
  • Kubernetes
  • CI/CD
  • Process

Solutions Architecture

Advanced
  • enterprise migrations
  • new cloud-ready solutions design
  • hybrid solutions design
  • high performance compute

Work Experience (11)

Oct 2023 - Current
Consulting Architect - OpenShift
Red Hat

Red Hat is the leading provider of enterprise open source software solutions and the biggest enterprise Linux vendor in the world

  • Architecture, Consulting, OpenShift, OpenShift Virtualization, OpenShift Data Foundation, OpenShift Advanced Cluster Management, OpenShift Advanced Cluster Security, Quay, Kubernetes, Config Management, Linux.

  • Architect, plan, manage and deploy customer projects.

  • Present and lead design workshops to onboard new OpenShift customers, elaborate on our products and determine their needs.

  • Implement designs / solutions based off of these findings, whilst teaching the customer about our technologies, and showing them the pain points they can eliminate in their environments. All the while, ensuring the customer has a great experience in the process.

Feb 2022 - Sep 2023
Senior Cloud Consultant - OpenShift
Red Hat

Red Hat is the leading provider of enterprise open source software solutions and the biggest enterprise Linux vendor in the world

  • Architecture, Consulting, OpenShift, OpenShift Data Foundation, OpenShift Advanced Cluster Management, OpenShift Advanced Cluster Security, Quay, Kubernetes, Config Management, Linux.

  • Architect, plan, manage and deploy customer projects.

  • Present and lead design workshops to onboard new OpenShift customers, elaborate on our products and determine their needs.

  • Implement designs / solutions based off of these findings, whilst teaching the customer about our technologies, and showing them the pain points they can eliminate in their environments. All the while, ensuring the customer has a great experience in the process.

Dec 2019 - Jan 2022
DevOps Engineer - Open Source
DigiOutsource

DigiOutsource is a global technology and e-commerce leader with 20 years in the industry, offering employees valuable international experience in the world of online gambling and advanced systems.

  • Automation, Orchestration, Config Management.

  • Plan, manage and facilitate elimination of technical debt.

  • Plan, manage and facilitate migration of traditional workloads to Kubernetes via means of Ansible, Terraform and CI/CD pipelines.

  • Mentor and provide both informal / formal training to colleagues.

May 2018 - Nov 2019
Linux Cloud Engineer
Amazon Web Services

AWS - The Largest Cloud Provider In The World. Assisting enterprise customers like - Disney, Netflix, Siemens, Shell, Amazon.com to make use of all AWS Services related to Linux.

  • Enterprise Escalation Point for various AWS services like EC2, EBS, EFS, SSM etc.

  • Developed and released internal training for other engineers on specific AWS services.

  • Mentored junior engineers and facilitate their grown / promotion.

  • Performed over 50 technical interviews and participated in numerous hiring events.

  • Worked with Solutions Architect Team at AWS Public Events, like re:Invent to onboard and assist new clients.

Jun 2017 - May 2018
Senior Linux Engineer
RedPixie (acquired by HPE)

RedPixie was one of Europe’s leading cloud specialists. I built, managed and maintained one of Europe's biggest insurers (Legal And General) HPC Linux environment.

  • Managed and helped design and deploy, a Linux HPC Algo One Cluster (300+ VMs) in Azure.

  • Implemented and wrote several Puppet manifests to better control environment.

  • Implemented and wrote several monitoring scripts to better monitor environment.

  • Provided internal Linux training to staff.

Jul 2016 - Jun 2017
Senior Cloud and Infrastructure Engineer
RSAWeb

RSAWEB is a South African ISP. I worked as a Cloud Engineer deploying a variety of environments. Email, hosting, virtualization, storage, DNS and anything in between

  • Converting of both authoritative and recursive DNS servers to PowerDNS (Linux), from mydns (FreeBSD).

  • Implemented Ansible to deploy and manage various client environments.

  • Implementing and building of ZFS arrays for slow archival storage.

  • Providing training and mentoring to helpdesk staff.

Feb 2016 - Jun 2016
Senior Technology Expert and Third Line Support
Marketech

Marketech is a company that specialises in POS systems. I worked as 3rd line Linux support for a tier 1 retail organisation (Pick n Pay). Provided support for an estate of +-7000 SUSE (SLES) machines.

Dec 2012 - Jan 2016
IT Team Lead
RightShift (acquired by Derivco)

Rightshift was a company that specialized in creating games for the online gambling industry. I was responsible for the management of the IT department/infrastructure.

  • All external services hosted through sister company moved in house: AD, Exchange, VMWare, Firewall, Storage and Asset Management.

  • Recruiting and training of additional IT resources.

  • Multiple seamless office moves.

  • Ansible rolled out as a config management tool of choice.

  • Procuring and setting up mobile charge stations for over 100 devices.

Jul 2011 - Nov 2012
ICT Manager
Orange Street Software

Orange Street Software specialises in outsourced IT services for medium to enterprise businesses. Client facing and outsourced to clients on a contractual basis.

  • Outsourced to a leading liquor distributor (Picardi Rebel) with approximately 80 branches nationally.

  • I managed all aspects of their IT setup.

  • Project managed, architected and deployed a National POS rollout.

  • Implemented help desk solution.

  • Converted all stores to ADSL connectivity and cut billing and reliance on old equipment.

  • Converted old company website in to a modern CMS platform.

May 2010 - Jun 2011
IT Engineer
Solid Systems

Solid Systems specialises in outsourced IT services for small and medium sized businesses. Roaming on-site support engineer. I visited clients on an ad-hoc and monthly basis and provided them with IT support.

  • This ranged from hardware / software support on a desktop level to server maintenance / administration.

  • I managed client expectations on-site and provided them with any IT services required. I also provided remote assistance / after hours support if required.

Jun 2008 - Apr 2010
IT Support Engineer
Adept Software

Adept Software creates so􀈅ware catering for the logistics / courier industries.

  • I worked as a IT Support Engineer. My work was primarily done over the phone via the IT help desk, but I did occasionally go out on-site, in order to train and assist clients in person.

  • I supported and installed Adept’s software packages. These include Parcel Perfect, PPSms, PPMobile and PPImager.

  • Linux and SQL administration.

  • Backups.

Education (1)

1999 - 2004
Matric
Certificate
Groote Schuur High
  • English
  • Afrikaans
  • Maths
  • Geography
  • Business Economics
  • History
  • Computer Science

Awards

2011
Apple Certified Support Professional 10.6
Apple

Offical Certification

2011
Apple Certified Support Professional 10.7
Apple

Offical Certification

2012
LPIC 1
Linux Professional Institute - LPI

Offical Certification

2012
SUSE Certified Administrator
SUSE

Offical Certification

2012
SUSE Certified Engineer
SUSE

Offical Certification

2012
Comptia Linux+
Comptia

Offical Certification

2015
RHCSA (Red Hat Certified System Administrator)
Red Hat

Offical Certification

2016
LPIC 2
Linux Professional Institute - LPI

Offical Certification

2017
RHCE (Red Hat Certified System Engineer)
Red Hat

Offical Certification

2017
AWS Architect Associate
Amazon Web Services

Offical Certification

2017
Microsoft - Implementing Microsoft Azure Solutions
Microsoft

Offical Certification

2017
LFCS (Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator)
Linux Foundation

Offical Certification

2017
MCSA: Linux on Azure (Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate)
Microsoft

Offical Certification

2018
AWS Developer Associate
Amazon Web Services

Offical Certification

2018
Red Hat Certified Specialist in Ansible Automation
Red Hat

Offical Certification

2018
Red Hat Certified Specialist In Hybrid Cloud Managment
Red Hat

Offical Certification

2018
Red Hat Certified Specialist In Virtualization
Red Hat

Offical Certification

2019
Red Hat Certified Specialist in Configuration Management
Red Hat

Offical Certification

2019
Red Hat Certified System Administrator in Red Hat OpenStack
Red Hat

Offical Certification

2019
RHCA (Red Hat Certified Architect)
Red Hat

Offical Certification

2020
CKA (Certified Kubernetes Administrator)
Cloud Native Computing Foundation

Offical Certification

2021
CKD (Certified Kubernetes Developer)
Cloud Native Computing Foundation

Offical Certification

2021
CKS (Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist)
Cloud Native Computing Foundation

Offical Certification

2021
Red Hat Certified Specialist in Containers and Kubernetes
Red Hat

Offical Certification

2022
Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Administration
Red Hat

Offical Certification

2022
Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Application Development
Red Hat

Offical Certification

2022
Red Hat Certified Specialist in Containers
Red Hat

Offical Certification

2022
Red Hat Certified Specialist in MultiCluster Management
Red Hat

Offical Certification

2023
Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Virtualization
Red Hat

Offical Certification

2024
Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift AI
Red Hat

Offical Certification

2024
Red Hat Certified OpenShift Architect
Red Hat

Offical Certification

Languages

English

Native speaker

Afrikaans

Fluent

Interests

Technology

  • Open Source
  • Trending
  • Hacking

References

“ I know a lot of Linux engineers and DevOps Practitioners - and Jerome, when it comes to Linux and DevOps, is one of the best I've met. We've worked together for common clients and aside from his skill, what I appreciate most is how reliable and responsive he is. As we worked on public cloud platforms together even though in different teams, Jerome was always keen to help and share his knowledge with rest of the team. I happily recommend him here on LinkedIn, and do so in person to my clients whenever I have the opportunity. ”
Vinayak Kumar - Senior DevOps Engineer - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinayak-kumar/
“ Jerome always amazed me with his industry insight and original approach to solving problems. He is a powerful, knowledgeable and responsible Linux Engineer. Jerome is extremely enthusiastic about his work which is infectious. An eager professional - no matter how complex the problem is, he will always come up with a brilliant, elegant, and cost-effective solution. I could always rely on him to set the best example to the rest of the team. Absolutely someone I'd want to to have on my team. ”
Daniel Koszegi - Senior Cloud Architect - https://www.linkedin.com/in/koszegi/
“ It was a pleasure working with Jerome. He proved himself technically proficient in a broad range of technologies. He was able to adapt his knowledge as the business evolved and always showed great commitment to the team. He was a fun member of the team who will be missed (ask him about Chairman Meow). ”
Daniel Fiske - Technology Consultant - Private Equity - https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielfiske/
“ Jerome is extremely passionate about IT - He loves a challenge and can think outside the box. I would happily employ him again. ”
Daniel Avinir - CTO - https://www.linkedin.com/in/danavinir/
“ Jerome has an Expert and detailed understanding of IT and infrastructure delivered with attention to detail. He approaches any challenge with enthusiasm and goes the extra mile. His solutions are innovative, delivering that peculiar IT alchemy of service delivery within budgetary constraints. I have him on speed-dial! ”
Stephen Smit - Operations Manager - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-smit-ab60a359/
“ Jerome is an asset to any team, he is motivated, polite, proactive and most importantly knowledgeable. He has a great can do attitude and is always looking for ways to improve the environment he is placed in. I would both recommend and work with him in the future should oppurtunities present themselves. ”
Guido Viglietti - Technical Support Engineer - https://www.linkedin.com/in/guido-viglietti-2566a62b/