Open to opportunities

Corné Bester

@cornbester

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Experienced engineer and architect specializing in distributed systems.

South Africa

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What I'm looking for

I am seeking a role that fosters innovation and collaboration, with opportunities for growth.

With over 12 years of experience in cloud-native software development and operations, I have honed my expertise in infrastructure architecture, performance, availability, and security. My journey has taken me through various sectors, including financial services, telecommunications, and logistics, where I have consistently delivered high-impact solutions that enhance operational efficiency.

As a Senior Consultant at Daemon Solutions, I have led DevOps initiatives for top retailers and insurers in the UK, focusing on cloud engineering and technical architecture. My achievements include significantly reducing latency for clients in China and optimizing AWS costs, resulting in substantial savings. I am passionate about mentoring teams and fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation, ensuring that we not only meet but exceed our clients' expectations.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Senior Consultant

Daemon Solutions

Jul 2024 - Present (11 months)

Led DevOps and cloud engineering initiatives for a UK-based short-term insurer and a top-5 UK retailer. Managed the engineering platform team for a major UK retailer, focusing on cloud infrastructure and operations.

DevOps Cloud Engineer AWS Azure Terraform CloudFormation Linux Shell Scripting Containerization Docker Swarm Kubernetes ECS

Engineering Manager - Cloud Infrastructure

xChange Solutions GmbH

Jun 2023 - Present (2 years)

Increased responsiveness of a SaaS web application for Chinese customers by decreasing latency from 5 seconds to 280 milliseconds. Implemented a production database access and permissions policy and optimized AWS and Datadog spend by a double-digit percentage.

Cloud Infrastructure Engineering Management FinOps Budgeting Problem Solving Analytical Skills AWS Datadog Jira Bitbucket S3

Cloud/Technical Architect & Backend Developer

Self

Mar 2022 - Present (3 years 3 months)

Provided technical and cloud architecture expertise, advocating for and implementing DevOps practices. Developed IoT solutions for energy, environmental, and marine sectors, including GIS applications and Python backend development.

Technical Architecture Cloud Architecture DevOps IoT Python Edge Computing Integration Data Pipelines Stream Processing Leadership Strategy

Team Lead Infrastructure

xChange Solutions GmbH

Mar 2022 - Present (3 years 3 months)

Built and scaled an Agile internal cloud platform engineering team from 2 consultants to 5 employed cloud engineers. Project managed the Docker Swarm to EKS migration, separating production and test environment shared resources.

Team Leadership Platform Engineering Agile Docker Swarm EKS Kubernetes GitOps AWS Confluent Cloud Auth0

Senior Cloud Infrastructure Architect

RapidDeploy

Feb 2020 - Present (5 years 4 months)

Architected high-availability infrastructure for a new high-volume streaming product and implemented an aggregated streaming application log solution using Azure Event Hubs and Functions. Provided 3rd-level SRE support for messaging and Kubernetes performance issues.

High Availability Streaming Azure Event Hubs Azure Functions Azure DevOps SRE Kubernetes DevOps Culture Mentoring

Cloud Infrastructure Engineer

RapidDeploy

May 2019 - Present (6 years 1 month)

Created the Infrastructure as Code (IaC) blueprint for the SaaS platform across Azure Public and Azure Government clouds. Introduced naming conventions and tagging standards for all resources to improve observability and reporting.

Cloud Infrastructure Infrastructure as Code Azure Azure Government Naming Tagging Standards Observability Reporting Datadog Cloudflare Troubleshooting

Head of IT DevOps

StatPro

Feb 2015 - Present (10 years 4 months)

Provided technical leadership and infrastructure architecture for public cloud environments, integrating with on-premises datacenters. Built out DevOps practices and culture for multiple development and operations teams.

DevOps Technical Leadership Infrastructure Public Cloud Security Governance

IT Team Leader

StatPro

Dec 2011 - Present (13 years 6 months)

Provided first-class technology support to various business units and external clients, ensuring uptime of critical systems. Managed third-line support, including monitoring, troubleshooting, and improving networking, storage systems, VMware, and Citrix deployments.

Tech Support System Uptime Networking Storage Systems VMWare Citrix Vendor Management Contract Negotiation Documentation Security

Engineer (various positions/levels)

Reuters / Thomson Reuters

Mar 1998 - Present (27 years 3 months)

Held various engineering positions and levels, contributing to projects and operations within the organization. Gained extensive experience in real-time market data distribution and telecommunications.

Engineering Market Data Telecommunications Problem Solving Technical Support Data Distributions

Education

Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework

Brackenfell High School

Senior Certificate, General Studies

Obtained a Senior Certificate, completing secondary education. This certificate prepared for further studies and professional development.

Cape Peninsula University of Technology

National Diploma, Electrical Engineering

Completed a National Diploma in Electrical Engineering. The program provided a foundational understanding of electrical systems and their applications.