Experience Details

Spectra Logic Corporation

Senior Support Engineer & Technical Account Manager

Nov 2018 – Feb 2024 | Boulder, CO

Served as a senior escalation point for Spectra Logic’s tape and disk storage products. Provided advanced support and technical account management to enterprise and government customers, serving as a liaison between customers, support teams and engineering. Reproduced and resolved complex hardware, software and network issues and delivered sustainable solutions that kept customers happy and paying their support contracts. Routinely used Wireshark and tcpdump to perform deep packet analysis, collaborated with developers to identify product defects and rolled out fixes and workarounds before issues affected customers negatively.

Developed internal documentation and troubleshooting tools used company‑wide, facilitated knowledge transfers and mentored junior engineers. Travelled during critical escalations and on short notice for “fly and fix” missions at customer sites, helping restore operations and strengthen client trust. Through regular business reviews and proactive communication, drove customer success programmes that improved satisfaction and product adoption.

Tools, Software, and Skills

• Senior Support Engineer
  
  • Supported Products: (BlackPeal - Object Store, Verde - NAS) appliances, RIO middleware (Windows/Linux), StorCycle(Windows), Vail(AWS Cloud)
  • Supported Hardware: All tape library products from single rack to 20+ frame systems in HPC environments, included "fly and fix" premier service
  • Confluence: Wrote and maintained a knowledge base of articles for dissemination and training for lower support tiers
  • JIRA: Submission and tracking of bug reports found through customer issues or pre-release beta testing
  • Collaboration with development and engineering to resolve support issues or release windows for new features or bug fixes
  • Manage ticketing queues for Tier 3, ensuring timely response and resolution of escalations and requests for assistance from lower tiers
  • Ruby, Bash, Python, Awk/Sed, Powershell scripting - log gathering, network verification and validation, API calls, and service checks
  • Conducted Zoom and Teams based training sessions with lower tiers with Q & A sessions
  • Wireshark and tcpdump: Conducted advanced analysis for protocol issues, network failures and performance concerns(example below)
  • Served as network Subject Matter Expert(SME) for support organization
  • Bi-Monthly On-Call rotation
• Technical Account Manager
  
  • Coordinated and led customer meetings with VP of Support and senior management in Tier 3
  • Served as escalation point for customer concerns with regard to Support team service issues
  • Liason between Sales, Engineering/Development, Support to ensure all stakeholders are kept current on support issues.
  • Reporting to senior management on the state of customer happiness and customer concerns
  • Travel: Personal customer site visits and relationship management maintenance

Analysis Examples Section

• Wireshark Analysis
• Netcat Script Analysis

STG, Inc (NOAA NCDC)

Deputy Information Systems Security Officer

Jun 2004 – Oct 2011 | Asheville, NC

As Deputy ISSO for the National Climatic Data Center, developed and enforced FISMA‑compliant security plans, system security policies and incident response procedures. Built and managed a security operations centre incorporating VPNs, firewalls, IDS/IPS, and centralized logging infrastructure. Responsibilities included vulnerability scanning, penetration testing and risk assessments in accordance with NIST 800‑53 controls, as well as coordinating remediation activities.

Led the adoption of zero‑trust principles and championed the principle of least privilege across the organisation. Working alongside network operations teams, ensured system hardening, patch management and compliance reporting. Also mentored junior analysts and liaised with federal stakeholders on security audits and incident reporting.

Tools, Software, and Skills

• This was a two man operation for four years and a four person operation for the last three. The Security Operations Center was built by myself and the ISSO. All projects were either a dual effort or solo.
  • Migration of iptables firewalls in active/passive setup to two Juniper Netscreen ISG devices in active/active mode
  • Implemented IPSEC tunnels to remote sites using IKEv2 and cipher suite(hashing, asymmetric - key exchange, symmetric - data encryption, message authentication, etc) via Netscreen
  • Setup of bastion host for access to private network hosting security services
  • Wireless network backend authentication services with forwarding to SSO LDAP server
  • Router/Switch network backend authentication services with forwarding to FreeRadius/TACACS+ bridge into SSO LDAP server
  • OpenLDAP directory services migrated to Redhat Directory Services which served as main AAA service for all systems outside of Windows desktops
  • Implementation of PHP website and PHP-LDAP service as user portal for password maintenance services
  • Centralized syslog services for all *nix related systems, with custom backend log parsing and alerting
  • Migration and integration of centralized logging via Splunk implementation
  • Centralization of PKI services into security office backend integrated with DoD PKI infrastructure supporting Web, FTPS, various devices, and DoD CAC(Common Access Card)
  • Implementation of biometric services for access to data center and IT offices
  • Implementation of automated server scanning for Linux, AIX, Solaris, Windows, and Cisco/F5/Juniper network devices via Nessus, nmap, and other tools
  • Implementation of disaster recovery services for important documents for all NOAA line offices using OTP module and WinSCP
  • Network tap installation and Snort configuration and tuning of rules and preprocessors
  • And more...
• Outside of running the SOC, administrative duties include the following in no particular order
• Deputy ISSO role within NOAA: ISSO definition source
• Advises the system owner regarding security considerations in applications systems procurement or development, implementation, operation and maintenance, and disposal activities (i.e., life cycle management and data management).
• Assists in the determination of an appropriate level of security commensurate with the level of sensitivity and risk impact.
• Develops and maintains all applicable security documentation (i.e. System Security Plan, Contingency Plan, Configuration Management Plan, etc.) on behalf of the SO(system owner) FISMA ID systems under their responsibility with support from key stakeholders.
• Conducts a Security Impact Analysis (SIA) when there is a significant change to their respective FISMA system (i.e. onboarding new applications, system update, decommission, etc.) and engages with key stakeholder to ensure periodical review and potential re-evaluation of system sensitivity, data risks, and mitigation strategies.
• Coordinates with personnel with information security responsibilities (e.g., System Owner, System Administrators, Security Managers, Security Engineers, etc.) to ensure that security impact analyses are integrated in the Configuration Change Management and continuous monitoring process.
• Is the point of contact for all security incidents within their area of responsibility and reports using the Incident Response Reporting Application (NIRRA) or equivalent application determined by NOAA.
• Provides FISMA ID specific information to facilitate the investigation and mitigation of security incidents.
• Works with SO(System Owner) and other key stakeholders to ensure that hardware and software inventory for all their respective FISMA systems are adequately documented, reviewed and updated at a minimum annually or if there is a significant change.
• Assists or facilitates scans (i.e. Nessus, Nmap, manual and/or automated code reviews, penetration testing, etc.) and aids with the mitigation process for identified vulnerabilities per applicable remediation timeframes.
• Oversees that all user accounts are disabled within 24 hours of notification of user’s separation from NWS and immediately for individuals being separated for adverse reasons.
• Monitors and reviews security policy, and communicate these changes to applicable stakeholders as needed.
• Ensures the security of all interfaces whether internal or external are captured, for external systems/ entities facilitates the development, approval and consequent reviews and updates of the interconnection documentation (i.e. ISA, SLA, MOU, and MOA).
• Obtains and maintains a role-approved professional certification at a minimum commensurate with DOC and NOAA requirements.
• Develops, tracks, and manages POA&Ms(Plan of Action & Milestones) on behalf of the SO(System Owner).