System Administrator & Architect
Graham M. Heffern
Manager Software Development & Cloud Infrastructure Architect based in Iowa City, specializing in containers, cloud migration, automation, and system reliability.
Professional Experience
Manager Software Development
Collins Aerospace
- Direct the support and maintenance of engineering/development tools and infrastructure services.
- Architect and execute application migrations from legacy environments to AWS EKS cloud infrastructure.
- Containerize applications and orchestrate them using Kubernetes, managing custom Helm charts and deployment manifests.
- Establish comprehensive cluster observability and application monitoring using Prometheus and Grafana dashboards.
- Plan and execute zero-downtime Kubernetes upgrades and autoscaling configurations (HPA/VPA) to ensure high reliability.
- Design and maintain GitLab CI pipelines to automate application deployments.
Senior Business Analyst
Transamerica
- Analyzed and fulfilled ad-hoc data requests and reports for the Transamerica Life and Protection mainframe reinsurance system.
- Coordinated critical system conversions, software migrations, and project executions across cross-functional teams.
- Collaborated with business stakeholders and engineering teams to translate requirements into actionable technical plans.
Intermediate Programmer Analyst
Aegon Global Technology
- Developed and optimized SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) reports and data visualizations to drive business intelligence.
- Maintained, monitored, and enhanced the internal data warehouse to support corporate reporting requirements.
- Designed and scheduled automated ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes using IBM DataStage to populate the reporting warehouse.
Programmer Analyst
Transamerica
- Engineered a large-scale ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) pipeline for new hedging software, processing hundreds of millions of rows and terabytes of data.
- Implemented optimization enhancements to mainframe CICS Transaction Gateway (CTG) calls, yielding $70,000 in annual cost savings.
- Developed, updated, and maintained internal Java/JEE-based web applications, improving code quality and performance.
Signals Intelligence Analyst
U.S. Army Reserves
- Performed critical analysis and reporting of foreign communications and non-communications data.
- Produced and disseminated combat, strategic, and tactical intelligence reports to facilitate decision-making.
- Maintained security protocols and operated advanced intelligence processing equipment in fast-paced environments.
Skills & Technologies
Cloud & Orchestration
Containers & DevOps
Observability
Web Servers & Proxies
Languages
Open Source Contributions
- Kubernetes Project: Upstream contributor; extended the kubelet's "safe sysctl" whitelist to enable container-level kernel optimization.
- Red Hat tuned: Contributed updates to the OpenShift performance profile, optimizing network-related kernel sysctls for container workloads.
Education
Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science
University of Iowa