Crystal Fuerte
Krum,USA
Summary
Experienced Major Incident Management and Security Incident Response Leader with 5 years in resolving critical incidents in cloud-native SaaS environments. Built and mentored global incident response teams, promoting collaboration and effective crisis management. Skilled in forensic log analysis and root cause investigation, driving safety protocols and results-oriented solutions.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
5
5
Certifications
Work History
Global Team Lead, Major Incident Management
Splunk Inc.
Remote
12.2024 - Current
- Led Global Major Incident Management team's BAU operations, ensuring effective incident response for over 21,000 enterprise customers.
- Coordinated cross-functional teams to resolve critical P0/P1 incidents, maintaining stakeholder communication throughout lifecycle.
- Established proactive monitoring strategies to detect service disruptions and security threats, contributing to reduced incident frequency.
- Innovated incident management by designing and refining workflows and standard operating procedures, enhancing operational effectiveness.
- Identified and addressed key process gaps through analysis of incident trends and customer feedback, strengthening resilience.
- Mentored team members during complex incidents, facilitating successful resolutions and maintaining customer confidence.
- Delivered upskilling programs to enhance team capabilities in technical troubleshooting and incident leadership.
- Built operational dashboards with Splunk and Atlassian tools for real-time visibility into performance metrics.
Manager and Financial Advisor
C3R Mega Auto Diagnostics
Bronx, USA
02.2010 - Current
- Directed team of over 15 auto repair technicians, improving operational efficiency for $1.5M fleet diagnostics company.
- Achieved consistent year-over-year growth between five and fifteen percent through effective leadership and strategic initiatives.
- Streamlined operational processes to enhance service delivery and boost customer satisfaction.
- Facilitated monthly staff meetings and annual training programs to drive team skill development and strengthen collaboration.
- Oversaw hiring, training, and development for office personnel, strengthening overall team capabilities.
- Executed bookkeeping functions, including payroll processing and management of incoming funds and invoices, ensuring financial accuracy.
- Maintained comprehensive financial reports and approved accounts payable for timely vendor payments.
- Provided expert technical support, troubleshooting, software installation, and LAN/WAN network maintenance.
Sr. Incident Manager, Major Incident Management
Splunk Inc.
Remote
08.2024 - 12.2024
- Developed strategic plans and led cross-functional teams, resulting in timely resolution of critical incidents.
- Collaborated with Security Engineering to restore high-severity services efficiently.
- Conducted forensic analysis using Splunk log data to identify root causes and implement corrective actions.
- Mentored Major Incident Management team members to enhance remediation skills.
- Coached teams during customer engagements, clarifying expectations and reinforcing internal processes.
- Supported continuous improvement initiatives for Global Major Incident Management methodology and tools.
- Facilitated updates to Executive Leadership on key metrics and escalation status, ensuring informed decision-making.
- Monitored operational metrics to gather insights on performance to identify trends, enabling targeted process enhancements.
Continuous Service Implement Program Manager
Splunk Inc.
Remote
04.2023 - 08.2024
- Managed incidents, implemented lessons-learned actions, ensured continuous improvements in customer journey
- Identified and implemented IT service and process improvements, increasing customer satisfaction and operational effectiveness
- Identified and mitigated customer quality risks, managed systemic incident remediation (including security-related incidents), and collaborated with cross-functional teams
- Managed response tooling and automation, streamlining process management for improved incident handling
- Tracked success measures, developed processes and procedures, ensured governance in IT service management
- Applied ITIL framework principles, project management methodologies, and effective communication across technical and non-technical teams
- Operated independently in complex environments while maintaining focus on customer success
Sr. Incident Manager, Major Incident Management
Splunk Inc.
Remote
02.2022 - 04.2023
- Managed complex incidents from initiation through resolution, creating actionable plans for successful outcomes.
- Managed L4 incidents handling critical P0 and P1 service disruptions effectively.
- Responded to emergencies with strategic direction and tactical decision-making during critical incidents.
- Coordinated stakeholder communication during escalations to ensure timely incident resolution.
- Developed and refined Incident Management processes, protocols, training materials, dashboards, and rulebooks to enhance operational effectiveness.
- Trained Incident Managers on best practices while fostering a blameless post-incident review culture.
- Identified operational gaps and implemented assessments and strategies to align incident management with business objectives.
- Performed data analysis to identify service improvements focused on cost savings and security risk reduction.
Technical Support Engineer
Splunk Inc.
Remote
04.2019 - 01.2022
- Provided technical support through user consultations and thorough diagnostics, ensuring timely issue resolution.
- Troubleshot complex technical issues, identifying root causes and proposing viable solutions.
- Managed ticketing system to prioritize and resolve customer support requests, which streamlined response times.
- Collaborated with developers to identify and resolve recurring faults, enhancing overall system reliability.
- Monitored system performance metrics and proactively addressed potential issues to maintain system stability.
- Created test environments and utilized internal monitoring tools to evaluate issues effectively.
- Maintained comprehensive documentation of troubleshooting processes in knowledge base.
- Developed deep understanding of Splunk products while assisting peers with root cause analysis.
Network Engineer Trainee
Borough of Manhattan Community College
Manhattan, USA
07.2018 - 02.2019
- Installed operating systems and configured Cisco routers and switches, improving overall network performance.
- Led team in implementing LAN and WAN solutions, ensuring adherence to operational standards.
- Troubleshot and repaired computer hardware issues, restoring functionality and minimizing downtime.
Education
Associate of Applied Science - CCNA Routing And Switches
New York (City), NY
New York (City), NY12.2019
Network Engineer Trainee - Manhattan, New York
Borough of Manhattan Community College
Manhattan, New York02.2019
CompTIA A+ Certification - Information Technology
Manhattan, NY
Manhattan, NY12.2018
Associate of Arts - Economics and Computer Science
St. Lawrence University
Canton, New York12.2008
Skills
- SPLUNK Enterprise
- Process improvement
- Service restoration
- Operational dashboards
- Customer relationship management
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Risk management
- Data analysis
- Team leadership
- Effective communication
- Problem solving
- Mentoring and coaching
- Strategic decision making
- Strategic planning
- Resource allocation
- Trend tracking
- Performance improvement
- Workflow management
- Attention to detail
- Conflict resolution
- Project management
- Quality control
- Task delegation
- Key performance indicators
- Work planning
- Team assessment
- Complex Problem-solving
- Work Planning and Prioritization
- Linux
- Microsoft Windows Server 2012 & 2016
- Packet Tracer
- Microsoft Active Directory
- VMware
- MS Office
- AVG Internet Security
- Firewalls
- VirtualBox
- Wireshark
- IncBot
- Slack
- VictorOps
- Eloqua
- Marketo
- Atlassian Suite
- SplunkBot
- Workday
- Forma
- GroupID
- IT service management
- Salesforce
- NICE
- Lucidchart / Lucidspark
- SAP Concur
- Assembled
- Incident management
- ITIL framework
Experience Highlights
Major Incident Management & Security Incident Response Leader with 5+ years of progressive experience driving critical incident resolution in cloud-native SaaS environments serving 21,000+ enterprise customers. Proven people leader skilled in building, mentoring, and scaling global incident response teams while fostering psychological safety and operational excellence during high-pressure situations. Expert in crisis management, forensic log analysis, root cause investigation, and cross-functional collaboration across Engineering, Security, Customer Support, and Legal teams.
Qualifications Summary
Incident Management & Crisis Leadership
- P0/P1 critical incident response including security events, data exposure investigations, and service disruptions
- On-call rotation management and incident commander role during complex, high-severity incidents
- Strategic and tactical decision-making under pressure with proven track record of rapid resolution
- Emergency response coordination across distributed teams and time zones
- Customer-facing incident communication and executive stakeholder management
People Leadership & Team Development
- Built and scaled global incident response teams with focus on performance management and career growth
- Comprehensive onboarding, training, and enablement program development for incident managers
- Mentorship and coaching through complex incidents and challenging customer engagements
- Fostering blameless culture and psychological safety in high-stress environments
- Team performance metrics, success tracking, and continuous improvement initiatives
Process Innovation & Program Maturity
- Incident response playbook, runbook, and standard operating procedure development
- Process gap identification and operational workflow optimization
- Proactive monitoring strategies and early warning system implementation
- Post-incident review facilitation and lessons-learned action tracking
- Continuous service improvement methodologies and systemic risk mitigation
Technical Investigation & Forensics
- Advanced log analysis using Splunk for root cause determination and pattern recognition
- Forensic data collection, timeline reconstruction, and attack vector identification
- Systemic vulnerability analysis and corrective measure implementation
- Integration with Security Engineering and Detection teams for preventive controls
- SIEM investigation and correlation across cloud infrastructure
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partnership with Security Engineering, Threat Intelligence, and Detection Engineering teams
- Incident response coordination with Product Management, Customer Support, and Account teams
- Executive communication including metrics reporting, escalation status, and strategic recommendations
- Stakeholder management across technical and non-technical audiences
- Unified response tooling and automation integration
Certification
Splunk Admin
Accomplishments
Regents with Advanced Designation
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Global Team Lead, Major Incident Management
Splunk Inc.
12.2024 - Current
Sr. Incident Manager, Major Incident Management
Splunk Inc.
08.2024 - 12.2024
Continuous Service Implement Program Manager
Splunk Inc.
04.2023 - 08.2024
Sr. Incident Manager, Major Incident Management
Splunk Inc.
02.2022 - 04.2023
Technical Support Engineer
Splunk Inc.
04.2019 - 01.2022
Network Engineer Trainee
Borough of Manhattan Community College
07.2018 - 02.2019
Manager and Financial Advisor
C3R Mega Auto Diagnostics
02.2010 - Current
Associate of Applied Science - CCNA Routing And Switches
New York (City), NY
Network Engineer Trainee - Manhattan, New York
Borough of Manhattan Community College
CompTIA A+ Certification - Information Technology
Manhattan, NY
Associate of Arts - Economics and Computer Science
St. Lawrence University