Javier Diaz Jr
@javierdiazjr
Senior Principal Cloud & Infrastructure Engineer specializing in OpenStack on Kubernetes and Ceph.
United StatesWhat I'm looking for
I’m a Senior Principal Cloud and Infrastructure Engineer with 10+ years of experience designing, deploying, and operating large-scale OpenStack and Mirantis OpenStack on Kubernetes (MOSK) platforms.
I build reliable cloud infrastructure by operating Ceph storage with ceph-ansible, cephadm, and rook-ceph, and I’ve implemented end-to-end bare-metal provisioning (Ironic, PXE, IPMI, Redfish) for dependable OpenStack Cinder and compute.
I bring deep expertise in infrastructure automation using Ansible, SaltStack, Kolla-Ansible, and Kolla-Kayobe, with a strong SRE mindset focused on reliability, observability, and operational excellence. I also provision and tune GPU & FPGA-accelerated infrastructure, including PCIe passthrough for high-performance, low-latency workloads.
In leadership roles—including Senior Principal Cloud Engineer for NorthMark Cloud and Compute and Senior Principal Engineer III for U.S. Department of Defense—I’ve migrated legacy OpenStack to MOSK, operated containerized OpenStack control planes on Kubernetes for high availability, and served as a senior technical authority for cloud architecture, platform reliability, and incident response.
Experience
Work history, roles, and key accomplishments
Senior Principal Cloud Engineer
NorthMark Cloud and Compute
Jun 2025 - Present (1 year)
Architect and operate private cloud platforms for fintech quantitative trading and predictive analytics workloads using OpenStack on bare metal. Deploy and manage Ironic-based lifecycles with Kolla-Kayobe/Ansible, operate Ceph-backed Cinder storage, and enable GPU/FPGA acceleration with PCIe passthrough.
Senior Principal Engineer III
U.S. Department of Defense - U.S. Army Cyber Command
Jan 2021 - May 2025 (4 years 4 months)
Designed, deployed, and operated large-scale OpenStack platforms using SaltStack-based automation and containerized control planes on Kubernetes for high availability and upgrade workflows. Led migrations to Kolla-Ansible and Mirantis OpenStack on Kubernetes (MOSK) and operated Ceph-backed Cinder with ceph-ansible/cephadm while driving DISA STIGs, CIS benchmarks, and FedRAMP compliance.
Led engineering and architecture efforts for multiple enterprise OpenStack accounts, designing OpenStack features and third-party integrations. Coordinated node deployments and firmware upgrades and served as the primary escalation point for complex customer issues.
Led CI/CD workflows supporting OpenStack and Kubernetes environments, reviewing and remediating infrastructure and application code across repositories. Performed kernel and hardware performance tuning, enabled GPU PCI passthrough for OpenStack VMs, and authored enhancements to OpenStack-Ansible playbooks.
Led U.S.-based OpenStack support operations, including escalation management and workflow optimization, and served as a senior escalation engineer for production OpenStack and early Kubernetes platforms. Delivered Tier 2/3 support for Mirantis OpenStack (MOS) and Mirantis Cloud Platform (MCP), supported multiple virtualization/network/storage platforms, and automated deployments using Puppet and S
Provided Tier 1 OpenStack support for U.S. and international customers by troubleshooting virtual networking, OpenStack APIs, and VM lifecycle issues. Diagnosed REST API and CLI failures impacting customer environments to restore service functionality.
Education
Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework
St. Edward’s University
Bachelor of Science, Computer Science
Earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science at St. Edward’s University.
St. Edward’s University
Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy
Earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy at St. Edward’s University.
Tech stack
Software and tools used professionally
Availability
Location
United StatesAuthorized to work in
Job categories
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