Heather Harwell
Virginia Beach,VA
Summary
Dynamic OpenShift Administrator with extensive experience at NASA, excelling in Kubernetes and Ansible Automation. Proven track record in implementing Zero Trust initiatives and enhancing network security. Adept at driving growth through strategic planning and technical expertise, consistently delivering innovative solutions that exceed expectations. Strong communicator and collaborator in cross-functional teams.
Overview
10
10
years of professional experience
Work History
Red Hat Openshift administrator III
NASA
Hampton, USA
05.2025 - Current
- OpenShift Administrator for the MAS 9.1 eCMMS project on the NASA AEGIS contract
- Resolve all critical warning within 72 hours
- Document and streamline all Day 2 activities such as maintaining all health checks on production pods, assign user roles and bindings, maintain and create NetworkPolicies within the sandbox, test and production environments
- Worked with the CCS team on a POC from VMware to OpenShift Virtualization
- Creating cost management metrics on all applications currently deployed on the eCMMS and CCS teams
- Creating and maintain new FIPS enabled clusters
- Currently advising the NASA CCS team with their OpenShift clusters deployments and upgrades including but not limited to migrating from ElasticSearch to Loki, migrating from SDN to OVN and advising version controls on 300+ applications
- Troubleshooting any warnings that arise such as pull secret issues or crashloopbacksoffs
- Advising the eCMMS, NCAPs and CCS teams on planning, implementing and maintaining multiple OpenShift environments and providing best practices
- Working with network teams to establish firewall rules for each new OpenShift cluster deployments
- Working with MetalLB open-source load balancer
- Currently developing a microsegmention network plan to enhance security across applications to ensure that traffic going east and west is secured
Senior Red Hat Solutions Architect
Emergent
Virginia Beach, USA
08.2019 - 01.2024
- Organized and designed technical documentation/strategies for CMS, HHS, Fourth Estate, IRS, FRB, AO Courts, and NOAA by providing bi-monthly OpenShift & Ansible workshops, Zero Trust webinar series and budget landscape planning
- Researched, planned and implemented Red Hat Enterprise Linux migration from 6 to 8 for the Defense Microelectronic Agency in 2021 totaling $332,000 in net new revenue
- Researched, planned and implemented Zero Trust initiatives for Dekalb County, GA which included micro-segmentation of their network infrastructure, identity management, automation and Kubernetes from 2020 – 2023 totaling $150,000 in net new revenue
- Researched, planned and implemented automation for remediation for the Special Operation Commands which included implementing Ansible Automation to remediated KVEs totaling $175,000 in net new revenue
- Team Lead on co-developing, creating and implementing the Emergent/Red Hat MOVEit KVE with Ansible Remediation - Held on 8/29/2023
- Team Led on developing, creating and implementing the Emergent/Red Hat Zero Trust Architecture webinar
- Actively participated in cross-functional team engagements by developing viable paths through industry-specific strategies
- Planned and showcased how Ansible Automation can be used for compliancy reporting and for creating a true CI/CD pipeline by integrating with OpenShift Container Platform
- Collaborate on day-to-day operational tasks with extended teams of Red Hat and Emergent managers and solutions architecture leadership
- Successfully built and maintained Red Hat relationships through bi-monthly meetings and consistent communications via calls or emails
- Continually creating and delivering numerous services and product trainings that included but not limited to: Information Technology Overviews, What is RHLS, What is new with AAP2, and What is a Network
Senior Business Consultant
Endurance IT Services
Virginia Beach, USA
10.2017 - 12.2018
- Consistently achieved or exceeded targeted deadlines by developing incremental business solutions within existing accounts; worked independently with customers to drive growth within assigned technology programs including Managed IT Services and web presences programs
- Demonstrated clear product/technology expertise serving as a subject matter expert for Microsoft Office 365 product lines, 2010/2016 Microsoft Servers, and SonicWALL firewall
- Utilized advanced applications to develop customer relationships by meeting with software developers and end-users to understand functional and logical requirements
- Utilized data sources to analyze and capitalize on customer needs including development of technical roadmaps and documentation
- Communicated with key stakeholders on customer engineering requirements and trends resulting in shorter development and installation times
- Developed, wrote and provided technical documentation that enhanced customers’ networks
Managed IT Consultant
Electronic Systems, INC
Virginia Beach, USA
12.2015 - 10.2017
- Provided Managed IT Services which included infrastructure portfolio solutions including Managed Laptop/Desktop support, Managed Servers/Network services (which included thin and zero client solutions), and Cloud-based services
- Prospected managed services, products, and infrastructure opportunities within assigned regions
- Met monthly/quarterly goals (125% to goal monthly)
- Maintained technical and written knowledge of the latest trends in the Managed Services industry
Education
B.S. - Marketing management
Virginia polytechnic institute and state university
Skills
- OpenShift Plus
- Kubernetes
- RHEL
- Satellite
- Ansible Automation Platform 2
- Network Security
- Microsoft
- Remediation
- Zero Trust Network Design Implementation
- AI/ML Strategies
- Identity Management
- API management
- MicroSegmentation
- Cisco Routing and Switching
- Linux
- Microsoft OS migrations
- Salesforcecom
- Rapidfire Security Software
Additional Information - Clearance
SF85P Public Trust Clearance
Timeline
Red Hat Openshift administrator III
NASA
05.2025 - Current
Senior Red Hat Solutions Architect
Emergent
08.2019 - 01.2024
Senior Business Consultant
Endurance IT Services
10.2017 - 12.2018
Managed IT Consultant
Electronic Systems, INC
12.2015 - 10.2017
B.S. - Marketing management
Virginia polytechnic institute and state university