Professional Summary
Customer-obsessed Cloud Engineer with 7+ years in healthcare IT and 5+ years managing production cloud infrastructure (AWS/Azure). AWS Certified Solutions Architect skilled in automation, Infrastructure as Code (Terraform/CloudFormation), Linux systems administration, and data engineering. Proven track record of reducing costs by 35%, achieving 99.99% uptime SLA, and leading teams to 97%+ resolution rates. Expert in designing scalable cloud architectures, implementing CI/CD pipelines, and solving complex technical challenges. Passionate about continuous learning and delivering innovative cloud solutions that drive operational efficiency. Seeking Cloud Support Engineer or DevOps Engineer roles to leverage deep technical expertise and customer-first approach.
Technical Skills
Cloud Platforms:
AWS (EC2, S3, VPC, IAM, Lambda, RDS, CloudFormation, CloudWatch, CloudFront, DynamoDB, ECS, EKS, Route53, ALB, Auto Scaling, AWS Backup, API Gateway), Azure, Acronis Cloud
Infrastructure as Code:
Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, AWS CDK
Programming/Scripting:
Python, Bash, PowerShell, SQL (T-SQL)
Container & Orchestration:
Docker, Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) and Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS)
CI/CD & Version Control:
GitHub Actions, Git, GitOps
Operating Systems:
Linux (RHEL, Ubuntu, Amazon Linux, Ansible), Windows Server
Virtualization:
VMware ESXi, Hyper-V
Monitoring & Logging:
Amazon CloudWatch, Splunk, ELK Stack, Datadog, QuickSight
Networking:
VPC, VPN, SD-WAN, DNS, DHCP, Load Balancers, Security Groups, NACLs
Data Engineering:
ETL Pipelines, Data Warehousing, Data Modeling (Star Schema), Medallion Architecture
Security:
IAM, Security Groups, AWS Certificate Manager, Data Encryption, Fortinet EDR/XDR
Professional Experience
ICT Support Lead
Gertrude's Children's Hospital, Nairobi | July 2023 – Present
- Manage hybrid cloud infrastructure (AWS/on-premises) serving 1200+ hospital staff with 99.99% uptime SLA, demonstrating customer obsession and ownership in high-stakes healthcare environment
- Architect and maintain production AWS infrastructure including EC2 instances, RDS databases (MySQL), S3 storage, VPC configurations, and CloudWatch monitoring for HIPAA-compliant healthcare applications
- Implemented automated backup and disaster recovery solutions using AWS Backup with cross-region replication, ensuring data protection and business continuity
- Lead technical support team of 9 staff and interns, achieving 97%+ incident resolution rate and 94% average performance appraisal scores through mentoring and knowledge sharing
- Automated infrastructure provisioning and routine administrative tasks using Python and Bash scripting, reducing manual workload by 30% and deployment time from hours to minutes
- Deployed comprehensive monitoring and alerting system using CloudWatch, ELK Stack, and custom Python scripts for 50+ AWS resources, reducing MTTR by 25%
- Conducted root cause analysis on complex technical issues including VPC networking, security group configurations, and performance bottlenecks, enhancing system reliability
- Led successful data center migration to co-location facility, saving $56,000 annually in operational costs while maintaining zero downtime during transition
- Reduced connectivity expenses by 35% through SD-WAN implementation while maintaining network uptime of 99.99%
- Optimized AWS costs by 20% through strategic use of Reserved Instances, S3 Intelligent-Tiering, and resource rightsizing based on CloudWatch metrics analysis
- Spearheaded risk analysis initiatives identifying and mitigating security vulnerabilities, reducing potential risks by 25%
- Developed knowledge base with technical documentation, how-to guides, and video tutorials, improving team efficiency and reducing ticket volume by 20%
ICT Support Specialist
Gertrude's Children's Hospital, Nairobi | January 2019 – June 2023
- Provided customer-focused technical support for cloud infrastructure and Linux systems, consistently prioritizing client needs and delivering tailored solutions
- Administered Windows and Linux servers including performance monitoring, security hardening, patch management, and system optimization
- Served as technical project lead for expanding telemedicine services across multiple remote sites, impacting over 56,000 patients in underserved areas
- Deployed and managed containerized applications using Docker, improving resource utilization and application portability
- Automated routine tasks using Python scripting, resulting in 30% reduction in manual administrative workload
- Conducted comprehensive data security audits and enforced data protection policies across the organization
- Acted as risk champion, proactively identifying and addressing potential vulnerabilities in cloud services and on-premises infrastructure
- Designed multi-tiered backup and disaster recovery solutions integrating cloud and on-premises strategies
AWS Cloud Projects & Technical Portfolio
Recipe Sharing Platform – Auto-Scaling Web Application
Technologies: EC2, ALB, Auto Scaling, S3, CloudFront, DynamoDB, CloudFormation, FastAPI, React.js
- Architected and deployed production-grade recipe-sharing application designed to handle 20,000+ concurrent users with unpredictable traffic spikes
- Implemented decoupled architecture: React.js frontend (S3 + CloudFront CDN), FastAPI backend (EC2 Auto Scaling Group)
- Configured Application Load Balancer with Auto Scaling Group (1-4 instances) for dynamic capacity management based on CPU metrics
- Utilized DynamoDB for consistent performance under high traffic loads, eliminating database bottlenecks
- Automated complete infrastructure deployment using AWS CloudFormation templates for repeatable, version-controlled infrastructure
- Achieved significant cost optimization through auto-scaling: minimal costs during low-traffic periods while maintaining performance during peak hours
📝 Blog Post: dev.to/gakuruuri/
Portfolio Website with Full CI/CD Pipeline
Technologies: S3, CloudFront, Route 53, ACM, GitHub Actions, HTML/CSS/JavaScript
- Built and deployed HTTPS-secured portfolio website using serverless AWS architecture with global CDN distribution
- Implemented automated CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Actions for continuous deployment, reducing deployment time to under 2 minutes
- Configured S3 static hosting with CloudFront CDN for low-latency global content delivery across edge locations
- Managed custom domain DNS with Route 53 and provisioned SSL/TLS certificates via AWS Certificate Manager
- Troubleshot and resolved GitHub Actions workflow issues including YAML syntax errors and AWS secrets management
- Documented complete architecture and deployment process in technical blog post for knowledge sharing
🌐 Live Site: urigakuru.uriroots.com | 💻 Code: github.com/GakuruUri/portfolio | 📝 Blog: dev.to/gakuruuri/
Modern Data Warehouse – SQL & ETL Project
Technologies: SQL Server, T-SQL, ETL, Data Modeling, Medallion Architecture
- Designed and implemented enterprise-grade data warehouse using Medallion Architecture (Bronze/Silver/Gold layers) for healthcare analytics
- Built robust ETL pipelines to extract, transform, and load data from multiple source systems (ERP and CRM) into unified data model
- Created star schema data models with fact and dimension tables optimized for analytical queries and business intelligence
- Developed SQL-based reporting dashboards for customer behavior analysis, product performance metrics, and sales trend forecasting
- Implemented comprehensive data quality checks and cleansing processes in Silver layer to ensure data accuracy and consistency
- Documented complete data architecture including flow diagrams, data catalogs, and naming conventions for enterprise standards
💻 Code & Documentation: github.com/GakuruUri/sql-data-warehouse-project
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Automation Projects
Technologies: Terraform, AWS CLI, Bash, Python
- Automated AWS resource provisioning using Terraform for consistent, repeatable, and version-controlled deployments
- Created reusable Terraform modules for VPC, EC2, S3, security groups, and IAM configurations following best practices
- Implemented multi-environment infrastructure setup (dev/staging/prod) with environment-specific variables and state management
- Developed Bash and Python scripts for automated backups, system maintenance, and infrastructure health checks
- Designed secure VPC architectures with public/private subnet patterns, NAT Gateways, Internet Gateways, and proper security controls
💻 Code: github.com/GakuruUri/aws_cloud_projects
Technical Writing & Community Engagement
- DEV Community Blog (dev.to/gakuruuri) – Published technical articles on AWS architecture, auto-scaling strategies, CI/CD implementation, and cloud best practices
- "Building a Recipe Sharing Application" – Comprehensive guide on handling traffic spikes with AWS Auto Scaling, load balancing, and cost optimization
- "Hosting a Static Portfolio Website on AWS with CI/CD" – Real-world implementation tutorial covering S3, CloudFront, Route 53, and GitHub Actions automation
- GitHub Portfolio (github.com/GakuruUri) – 10+ repositories showcasing cloud engineering, data warehousing, automation, and DevOps projects with detailed documentation and architecture diagrams
Certifications
AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate
(Valid: May 2023 – May 2026)
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
VMware Certified Professional – Data Center Virtualization 2024
NDG Linux Essentials
(Cisco Networking Academy – July 2023)
Fortinet Network Security Expert
Certified Risk Analyst
AMD Telemedicine Certified Administrator
In Progress:
Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) Target: Q4 2025
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Target: Q2 2026
Education
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
Zetech University, Nairobi | Expected July 2027 (In Progress)
Diploma in Information Science
Moi University, Kenya | November 2018
Key Achievements
- Reduced AWS infrastructure costs by 20% through Reserved Instances, S3 Intelligent-Tiering, and resource optimization strategies
- Led data center migration to co-location facility, saving $56,000 annually while maintaining zero downtime
- Achieved 99.99% network uptime SLA while reducing connectivity costs by 35% through SD-WAN implementation
- Improved customer satisfaction by 20% through implementation of customized support strategies and knowledge base development
- Reduced manual workload by 30% through Python and Bash automation scripts for routine administrative tasks
- Mentored and trained technical team of 9, achieving 94% average performance appraisal scores and 97%+ incident resolution rate
- Spearheaded risk analysis initiatives resulting in 25% reduction in security vulnerabilities across cloud and on-premises infrastructure