Infrastructure Engineer, Microsoft Infrastructure Developer, Consultant

Engaged on a contract basis by major cross-sector organisations requiring expertise in the areas of solutions architecture, project delivery and infrastructure engineering. Called upon to co-ordinate geographically dispersed teams of up to 25, while collaborating closely with executive stakeholders and global cross-functional teams within complex matrix structures. With a focus on early and ongoing value for client organisations, I focus on providing business acumen, regulatory knowledge and advanced expertise of technologies, such as Azure, O365, Citrix and AD. Remit includes requirements analysis, architecture design, solution development, process optimisation, testing support and third-party co-ordination.

At the forefront of a team of 15 engineers and architects migrating 140k users and computers globally to Azure as part of Siemens’ complex carve out project, notably deploying Microsoft ADMS tool to automate migration.

Key impetus behind Siemens’ technology transformation agenda in the capacity of Solutions Architect, incorporating support for a major cyber security programme and brand-new digital roadmap.
 

Key Achievements:
* Leading delivery of a project to increase security across a global IT estate for Europe's leading
card payment company.
* Managing a team of 25 Engineers and Architects across France, Germany, Belgium and the
Netherlands.
* Focusing on re-designing Active Directory, building and connecting all servers to a Global SCCM
platform, setting up an Azure platform and creating a golden image for Windows Server 2019 to
ensure all new servers meet PCI standards.
* Developing the overall project plan including tools, templates, PM processes, logs / directories
and QA procedures.
* Deploying Windows 2019 Domain Controllers physical and virtual across multiple countries
* Managing and administrating Exchange 2010, Exchange online Directory and Office 365
* Tracking progress against plans and leading risk / change assessment as well as assurance
activities.
* Ensuring adherence to best practices for project delivery, change control and risk containment.
* Chairing regular project meetings to prioritise all workloads, resolve any issues / bottlenecks
and ensure management in line with project management frameworks and best practices.
* Delivering regular updates to senior management stakeholders on project statuses and the
achievement of milestones.
* Knowledge and expertise in implementing service management frameworks such as ITIL, and a good
understanding of where and how to apply these.
* Document the design, maintenance, hardening and support procedures for Windows 2016 & 2019
* Coordinate ongoing security updates, patches, maintenance routines, and upgrades for the
Microsoft Enterprise
Selected Project / Technical Achievements:
* Completed a global technical rescue project for a complex and demanding client. The project
required me to focus on leading technologies / infrastructure change for Worldline. Established
governance frameworks, undertook change control management, managed risk, held financial
documents and reported to a senior level.
* Ran multiple large-scale technical IT projects and delivered within time and budgetary
constraints across a breadth of sectors.
* Provide analysis of root cause issues and re-engineer resources, processes and systems to improve
efficiency levels.
* Skilled in the development of sourcing strategies, undertaking vendor selection, leading on
contract negotiations and managing service delivery / transition as well as end-to-end vendor
lifecycle management.
* Ability to attract, select, motivate and empower high calibre people (including across matrix
structures), set challenging KPIs and support team members to drive projects successfully and
deliver appropriate solutions.
* Engaged effectively with stakeholders up to Executive level, won trust on transparency, fostered
confidence at all levels to enhance mutual business focus and achieve shared goals.
* Provided client side O365 support for external clients onboarding the O365 service
* Provided user training for new Office 365 users
* Deployed and configured/administered Office 365
* Lead the migration of mailboxes and provided documentation of the migration based on the Standard
Operation Procedures (SOP)
* Configured Email authentication, policy, and reporting protocols (DKIM/DMARC/SPF)
* Performed bulk user/mailbox object modifications using PowerShell.
* Troubleshoot mail flow and mail delivery issues.
* Responsible for troubleshooting migration issues to determine root cause and improving the
migration process
* Carried out remote migrations on a global scale (will involve Out of Hours work to suit the
global locations time zone including some weekends)
* Installed, configured, hardened, troubleshoot and administrated components in a large VMware 6.7
environment centered around best practices, to including vCenter, vCenter Operations Manager,
VMware Update Manager and Virtual Distributed Switch
* Upgraded ESXi hosts and VM guests using VMware Update Manager
* Virtualised physical servers to reduce HW and eventually migrate to new Datacentre
* Experience/knowledge in running scripts (PowerShell) and managing the outputs and any resultant
errors.
* Deployed, configured troubleshoot Citrix Netscalers 12, Citrix Storefront 3, Citrix Appsene,
Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktop7, Citrix PVS available for 4000 users globally.
* Configured and deployed Azure AD, ADFS, Azure AD Connect, Conditional Access, Azure AD Proxy,
SAML and Active Directory Domain Services
* Configuration and deployment experience with Azure Cloud Network Infrastructure: VNET, Azure Site
Recovery, Traffic Manager, Azure Load Balancer, API Gateways, Application Gateways, Azure AD,
Firewalls, Azure Security Centre

Key Achievements:
* Contributing technical expertise in strategic planning and providing multiple related services;
analysing requirements, making recommendations, identifying potential risks, helping in
developing roadmaps and providing the solution(s).
* Functioning as an experts Infrastructure Engineer, responding to incidents about a range of
hardware and software (infrastructure) issues raised; managing and resolving these incidents in a
timely, professional manner.
* Remaining calm and focussed at all times, within a fast-paced environment.
* Working effectively within team and ensuring end goals are understood at all levels.
Selected Project / Technical Achievements:
* Led the Microsoft Exchange and Office365 migration and troubleshooting hybrid mailflow
* Root cause analysis for Xenapp 7.15 performance issues and building new golden image for a Citrix
farm over 300 servers.
* Comprehensive knowledge of Red Hat Linux and centos deployments
* Oversaw 3par Storage recovery and upgrades as well as SQL cluster upgrades
* Daily managing Proofpoint and troubleshooting Mimecast Enterprise Proofpoint
* Successfully managing Server 2012 R2 upgrades to 2016
* Developing scripting to automate deployment of 300 Windows Server 2016 servers
* Creation of VMware 6 cluster migrated over 2000 vm's to the new cluster
* Troubleshooting of HP Enterprise enclosures