Open to opportunities

David Marais

@davidmarais

Message

I lead global infrastructure programs, turning complex technical commitments into reliable managed-service delivery.

South Africa

Message

What I'm looking for

I'm looking to lead global infrastructure, cloud, managed-services, and technology delivery programs where I can translate commercial commitments into executable roadmaps and successful operational handovers.

At LeafTech Consulting, I manage 50–70 concurrent technical projects, coordinating 18+ cross-functional resources from pre-sales scope review through operational handover. I lead Jira-based Agile delivery for managed services, Microsoft 365 migrations, Entra ID and Intune deployments, security rollouts, and BCDR programs.

Across Canonical, Faircape Group, Evolve IT Solutions, and MSP environments, I've delivered data centre, cloud, fibre, network, telecoms, and cybersecurity initiatives internationally. I bring 20+ years of experience aligning executive stakeholders, vendors, engineering teams, budgets, scope, and margins around practical delivery outcomes.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Senior Technical Program Manager I

Current

LeafTech Consulting

Sep 2024 - Present (2 years)

Managed a portfolio of 50–70 concurrent technical projects, directing priority setting, resource allocation, and dependency management for 18 cross-functional resources. Partnered with executive management on strategic initiatives and led Jira-based Agile delivery using Scrum and Kanban workflows.

Jira Scrum Kanban Agile Portfolio Management Resource Allocation Dependency Management AutoTask M365 SharePoint Entra ID Intune MFA SentinelOne Datto BCDR NIST HIPAA ISO 27001

Technical Project Manager – 10G Fibre Network Upgrade

HBD (Pty) Ltd

May 2024 - Jul 2024 (2 months)

Led end-to-end initiation, solution design, contractor management, and execution for a complete office-park network refurbishment. Oversaw deployment of 65 network devices including 10Gb UniFi fibre aggregation, enterprise PoE switching, Wi-Fi 7 access points, and single-mode fibre backbones.

10G Fiber POE Switches VLAN network design Project Management Contractor Management

MSP Remote Support Technician

Platinum Systems

Jan 2021 - Mar 2024 (3 years 2 months)

Owned complex L2/L3 service engagements spanning Microsoft 365, Azure/Entra, virtualized environments, networking, endpoints, and backup infrastructure for public/private sector clients. Managed P1–P3 incident response, threat remediation, and technical escalation pathways in a high-volume MSP context.

Microsoft 365 Azure Azure Entra Virtualization Networking Endpoint management Backup Incident Response SentinelOne NinjaOne QNAP

Infrastructure & Telecoms Project Manager / Operations Specialist

Faircape Group

Jun 2018 - Dec 2020 (2 years 6 months)

Directed open-access fibre, ISP high-sites, and 3,000+ camera CCTV network builds across multiple luxury estate developments serving 300+ home communities. Oversaw data centre design, server room builds, hardware procurement, civil works, vendor contracts, and carrier relationships.

Fibre Network ISP CCTV Hardware Procurement Vendor Management AWS Vodafone

Founder & Technology Delivery Lead

Evolve IT Solutions

May 2016 - Jun 2018 (2 years 1 month)

Founded and scaled an IT services firm delivering contracted technology support, infrastructure design, and project execution across Southern Africa. Successfully built and sold the business to a Cape Town MSP.

IT Services Infrastructure Design Project Execution Business Management

Data Centre Project Manager

Canonical

Nov 2012 - May 2016 (3 years 6 months)

Managed Tier III UK data centres, infrastructure deployment for global cloud conferences, and enterprise OpenStack, Ubuntu, and virtualized environment operations.

Data Centre Management OpenStack Ubuntu Virtualization Infrastructure Deployment