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Hunter Griffin

Systems Administrator & DevOps Engineer — Linux + Windows Enterprise Infrastructure

I sit at the intersection of people and systems: enterprise infrastructure modernization, cloud cost and architecture, and the automation that keeps it all reliable. Deep hands-on experience across AWS/GCP, virtualization (VMware, KVM, Hyper-V), containers, and both Linux and Windows Server environments — backed by a self-hosted homelab I run to the same standard as production.

Experience

Enterprise Platform Engineer, ITS II Oct 2025 – Present
State of California, Department of Motor Vehicles, Sacramento, CA
  • Managed enterprise Linux, AIX and Z/OS environments, ensuring high availability and performance.
  • Implemented automation scripts to streamline routine administrative tasks.
  • Design and Implement WebSphere Application Server environments for enterprise applications.
  • Manage and Imp lement IBM MQ environments for enterprise messaging solutions.
Senior Software Analyst Apr 2022 – Oct 2025
Catalis, Sacramento, CA
  • Manage AWS infrastructure and billing; identified overspending through systematic cost analysis, saving the company over $20K in one year.
  • Partner with cross-functional engineering teams to integrate new features into existing systems with minimal production disruption.
  • Contribute to strategic planning sessions, evaluating emerging technology trends against business objectives.
  • Build technical proposals for sales engineering, translating platform capabilities into client-facing value.
  • Maintain high client satisfaction through direct, responsive technical support.
Software Contractor Apr 2018 – Apr 2022
Griffinworks, Sacramento, CA
  • Cut developer interruptions by up to 50% by standing up structured ticket management and a knowledge base in Jira and Confluence.
  • Built reusable code libraries that reduced delivery time across future client projects.
  • Delivered custom software solutions tailored to individual client requirements, improving satisfaction and retention.
  • Collaborated cross-functionally to design and ship new product features.
Senior Support Engineer Apr 2016 – Apr 2018
Software Consulting Associates LLC, Red Hook, NY
  • Led a full infrastructure modernization: rebuilt Active Directory (Server 2003 → 2016), migrated domain controllers, virtualized an Exchange 2003 mail server ahead of a later move to Google Workspace, and replaced consumer networking gear with HP Enterprise equipment to support a new VOIP rollout — completed in a 48-hour cutover window with no unplanned downtime to business-critical systems.
  • Architected a cloud deployment pipeline for legacy Delphi applications using AWS AppStream, EC2, S3, Route 53, and Lambda — the platform is still in production today, having survived two company acquisitions.
  • Reduced ticket escalations by building a knowledge base addressing recurring client issues; managed up to 60 inbound calls, emails, and tickets daily.
  • Developed internal software add-ons and end-user reporting tools that grew annual support contract revenue by 20% year over year.
IT Consultant Feb 2013 – Mar 2016
American Science and Technology Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
  • Sole IT resource for a nonprofit organization, owning infrastructure end-to-end.
  • Installed and maintained servers, networks, and PCs; implemented and managed email and web services.
IT Consultant Jan 2014 – Mar 2016
CMI-Tec, Kingston, NY
  • Administered SQL/Access databases and managed Windows Server environments alongside Linux systems.
  • Deployed and maintained Hyper-V virtualization, led cloud migrations, network installs, and Wi-Fi diagnostics/mapping, and delivered one-on-one client training.
Intern, Hardware & Systems Jan 2012 – Aug 2015
Dutchess Community College, Poughkeepsie, NY
  • Deployed and maintained lab computers and VMs, ran Cat5e/6 and fiber cabling, installed Cisco networking gear, and handled OS deployment and general hardware repair.

Skills

Cloud & Virtualization

AWS (EC2, S3, Lambda, Route 53, AppStream) Google Cloud VMware KVM / libvirt Hyper-V Proxmox

Systems Administration

Linux Windows Server Active Directory Unix AIX Z/OS

Containers & Automation

Docker Kubernetes Ansible Bash / PowerShell Git

Development

Python Java SQL SDLC

Networking

Cisco networking VOIP DNS VPN mesh (Tailscale) Fiber / Cat5e-6

Observability

Grafana Prometheus Loki Splunk

Projects & Highlights

2016 · AWS Summit NY

AWS Security Jam — Winner

Competed on a randomly-assigned 5-person team in AWS's timed security jam: real-world breach scenarios spanning website and JavaScript vulnerabilities through S3 and Lambda integrations behind VPC load balancers. My team completed the most challenges in the time given and took first place.

Enterprise Infrastructure Modernization

Full-stack AD, mail, and VOIP overhaul — SCA

Planned and executed a ground-up infrastructure refresh: Active Directory rebuilt from Server 2003 to 2016, domain controllers migrated, Exchange 2003 virtualized ahead of a later Google Workspace migration, and consumer networking gear replaced with HP Enterprise equipment to support a new VOIP system. Weeks of planning and testing kept business-critical systems available through a 48-hour cutover window.

Active Directory Hyper-V Exchange HP Enterprise Networking VOIP
Cloud Migration

Cloud deployment pipeline for legacy Delphi applications

Spearheaded a cloud-based delivery pipeline for legacy Delphi desktop products using AWS AppStream 2.0, EC2, S3, Route 53, and Lambda. Trained and deployed the same pattern for other legacy applications as the company grew through two acquisitions — the platform is still running in production today.

AWS AppStream EC2 S3 Route 53 Lambda

Homelab

Everything below runs on hardware I own and administer to production standards — version-controlled, documented per host, and treated as a real environment rather than a toy. It's also where I test things before I'd ever trust them at work.

Virtualization

Proxmox cluster with a purpose-built LXC fleet

A Proxmox host runs dedicated containers for storage/NAS, a media automation stack, reverse-proxy/TLS termination, and a management & Ansible control node — each isolated by function, each with its own runbook.

Proxmox VE LXC Ansible nginx reverse proxy
GPU Passthrough

One machine, two identities: bare-metal Linux + GPU-accelerated Windows VM

A single physical workstation serves as both an Arch/Fedora Linux host and, via libvirt/KVM with full PCIe GPU passthrough, a Windows 11 guest with near-native GPU performance. Along the way: raw NVMe passthrough, Secure Boot key enrollment through virt-firmware, VFIO hook automation, and tracking down a Core Isolation/VBS bug that was silently pegging a virtual CPU.

libvirt / KVM VFIO / IOMMU Secure Boot
Observability & Networking

Fleet-wide monitoring and a private mesh VPN

Grafana, Prometheus, and Loki cover metrics and logs across every host, with systemd-journal-remote centralizing logs for post-incident diagnostics. Tailscale ties every device into a private mesh, with Funnel used to selectively expose specific services.

Grafana Prometheus Loki Tailscale
Automation

AI-delegated ops across the fleet

Every homelab host runs an agent server that a central Claude Code instance can delegate real file edits and command execution to directly — plus local API-backed integrations for Proxmox and Grafana. It's a practical testbed for how much day-to-day sysadmin work can be safely delegated to an AI agent, and where the guardrails need to be.

Education

Computer Science — Information Systems Management
Dutchess Community College, Poughkeepsie, NY
2015
OSHA Training & Certification — Electrical & General Work Safety
Dutchess Community College, Poughkeepsie, NY
2015
High School Diploma
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School, Hyde Park, NY
2012

Contact

Open to Systems Engineer, Systems Administrator, and DevOps roles. Reach out directly: