Uri Gakuru Karanja

Hi, I'm Uri Gakuru. A

Nairobi, Kenya

AWS Certified Solutions Architect and Cloud Engineer who turns fragile, manual systems into infrastructure that runs itself. 7+ years in high-stakes healthcare IT — shipping Terraform and CI/CD pipelines that keep 1,200+ users online at 99.99% uptime, while cutting AWS spend 35% and saving $70K+ a year. Cloud-native by default, automation-obsessed by habit.

AWS Solutions Architect AWS Cloud Practitioner VMware VCP 2024 Fortinet NSE

About me my stats

Why Hire Me

I'm a Cloud Engineer and AWS Certified Solutions Architect who builds infrastructure that doesn't break at 3 a.m. Over 7+ years at Gertrude's Children's Hospital, I grew from IT intern to leading cloud and systems strategy for 1,200+ staff — architecting hybrid AWS environments, writing Terraform modules and CI/CD pipelines, and automating away 30% of manual ops work with Microsoft PowerApps, Shell scripts and Python. The impact shows up in the numbers: 99.99% uptime, a 35% cut in AWS costs, $70K+ in annual savings from data-centre migration and SD-WAN, and AI-powered clinical solutions projected to slash insurance-claim losses by over $800K a year. I think in infrastructure-as-code and uptime SLAs, and I bring a rare healthcare-IT perspective where reliability isn't optional. When I'm not provisioning cloud resources, I'm publishing on github, technical articles on dev.to and learning while stacking certifications. I'm looking for a Cloud Engineer or DevOps role where I can build resilient, automated systems at scale.

7+

years of
experience

1200+

Staff
Supported

70+

Systems and Cloud
Projects

6+

Professional
Certifications

My Skills

AWS

95%

Terraform

85%

Linux

95%

Python

80%

Data Analysis & Warehousing

75%

My Timeline

March 2026 – Present | Full time

Systems Analyst – Gertrude's Children's Hospital
  • Led AI-powered solutions from inception to rollout — including Turn.io for client relationship management and medilean.ai for safer, more efficient clinical decision-making — cutting insurance claim losses by over $800,000 per year.
  • Led evaluation, implementation, and training for new enterprise projects, including a Quality Management System (QMS), Learning Management System (LMS), and a cloud imaging solution.
  • Lead analysis and optimisation of hospital information systems and clinical workflows across departments.
  • Manage HMIS and EMR system enhancements, ensuring seamless data flow between clinical and administrative platforms.
  • Translate business and clinical requirements into technical specifications for system improvements and integrations.
  • Collaborate with stakeholders to identify inefficiencies and design scalable, data-driven solutions.
  • Oversee system testing, change management, and user training for new implementations.

July 2023 – March 2026 | Full time

ICT Support Lead – Gertrude's Children's Hospital
  • Managed hybrid cloud infrastructure and provided real-time support to 1200+ staff members.
  • Designed and implemented scalable AWS architectures using Auto Scaling, Load Balancers, and CloudFormation.
  • Led a team of 9 permanent staff and interns, achieving a 94% average appraisal score.
  • Implemented monitoring solutions using CloudWatch and ELK, enhancing system visibility.
  • Automated provisioning and deployment workflows using Terraform, reducing setup times by 40%.
  • Reduced manual workloads by 30% through Python automation.
  • Conducted disaster recovery planning and co-location data center migration, saving $56,000 annually.
  • Reduced connectivity costs by 35% through SD-WAN implementation while maintaining 99.99% uptime.

January 2019 - June 2023

ICT Support Specialist -Gertrude's Children's Hospital
  • Administer Windows and Linux servers, optimizing system performance and uptime.
  • Lead the deployment of telemedicine services, reaching over 56,000 patients.
  • Architect and deploy containerized applications using Docker and Kubernetes, improving scalability and resource utilization.
  • Conduct security audits and enforce data protection policies.
  • Act as a risk champion, addressing potential vulnerabilities in cloud services.
  • Design multi-tiered backup and disaster recovery solutions.

March 2018 - October 2018

ICT Systems Support -Gertrude's Children's Hospital
  • Ensured optimal performance and availability of information systems while resolving user issues promptly.
  • Recommended and implemented hardware and software upgrades to improve operational efficiency.
  • Maintained Active Directory, DHCP, and network infrastructure for seamless system operation.
  • Achievements: Transitioned the organization from physical to digital receipts via HMIS, streamlining patient workflows.

September 2017 - November 2017

ICT Support Intern -Gertrude's Children's Hospital
  • Assisted in daily IT operations, including system monitoring and troubleshooting.
  • Administered PaBX, DHCP, and Active Directory services.
  • Trained fellow interns to foster a collaborative learning environment.

My PortfolioMy Work

A selection of hands-on projects — cloud infrastructure, data engineering, Linux, and automation. Each links to a detailed write-up and the source code on GitHub.

Portfolio website hosted on AWS S3 and CloudFront

Portfolio Website Project

SQL Data Warehouse Project

SQL Data Warehouse

Recipe Sharing Application

Recipe Sharing App

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Administration

Red Hat Linux (RHCSA)

Python Bootcamp — 100 Days of Code

Python Bootcamp

Adventure Works SQL Analytics Project

Adventure Works Analytics

My Blogs My Blogs

dev.to
Static website deployment to AWS with CI/CD

Static website deployment to AWS - and add CI/CD

Host a static website on AWS using S3, CloudFront, ACM, and Route 53 — then automate deployments on every git push with GitHub Actions.

Start learning →
Amazon's 16 Leadership Principles

Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles

A breakdown of the 16 principles that guide how Amazon hires, evaluates performance, and makes decisions — with practical examples for interviews and daily work.

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Building a Recipe-Sharing Application

Building a Recipe-Sharing Application

A walkthrough of building a full-stack recipe-sharing application, covering architecture, backend design, and deployment strategies.

Start learning →
SQL Data Warehouse Project

SQL Data Warehouse Project

Modern data warehouse built on Medallion Architecture (Bronze, Silver, Gold), featuring ETL pipelines, data modelling, and SQL-based analytics.

Start learning →
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Administration

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Administration

RHCSA study repository covering Linux system administration, user management, networking, storage, and security on RHEL 9.

Start learning →
Python Bootcamp — 100 Days of Code

Python Bootcamp — 100 Days of Code

178-commit journey through the Complete Python Pro Bootcamp, covering automation, web scraping, APIs, data science, and more.

Start learning →

contact MeGet In Touch

Get in touch

Open to new opportunities, collaborations, and technical conversations. Drop me a message and I’ll get back to you within 24 hours.

Location

Nairobi, Kenya

Email

urigakuru@live.co.uk

Education

Moi University, Nairobi Campus

Currently

Zetech University, Mangu Campus — BSc Computer Science

Mobile

+254 708 ···· 39